Research on Chapter & Council and Their Relation to Solomon's Temple

Introduction

A holy temple was a place where a god lived, and where the priests of a god performed work at a location set aside for the paying of respect to a god. As a loose example, a god of metalworking might be worshiped in the local blacksmith shop, or a god of agriculture at the local grain storage.  

In Moses’ day THE God, that Hebrews know as YHWH, or as we might say it in English, Jehovah, chose to live with the Jewish people and came down from Heaven to live with them as they wandered in the dessert for a generation.  God lived in a tent, as they did, and this Tabernacle was set apart as the local place where the Hebrews could draw near to God and seek the help of those who ministered to God -- those more expert than average in conforming to God’s desires.  Even after the Hebrews were installed in the Promised Land, the Tabernacle and priests continued to function in God's dwelling and resided at Shiloh until the Ark of the Covenant was “lost” to the Philistines.

When he became king, David desired to make a more permanent place for God to live among the people, and he made preparation and acquired materials so that his Son Solomon could complete the project.  Solomon’s Temple became that place, the permanent structure that the God of Creation chose to inhabit among humanity.  David and Solomon – the warrior and the wise man – were instrumental in creating such a Temple in which God chose to dwell.  In David’s time, while the presence of God was still living in the Temple of Solomon, humanity had the “wisdom” to perceive the character of God that David and Solomon honored with Solomon's Temple.  

We know that Solomon's Temple was destroyed, our Masonic degrees dramatize this event for us. But "what's the big deal? They rebuilt another Temple didn't they?" Well, following the destruction of Solomon’s Temple when the Hebrew nation was dispersed to Babylon, the presence of God no longer “lived among the people.” You could say "God vacated the building", that's what allowed it to be destroyed in the first place. 

Though eventually the people sought to “rebuild the Temple of God” to recapture some of the previous glory of God's being in Solomon’s Temple, according to the people at that time who wrote the Babylonian Talmud, the second Temple lacked the shekhinah (the dwelling of divine presence of God) or the ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit) that was present in Solomon’s Temple. 

It wouldn’t be until the return of Jesus to the Temple, that the divine presence of God and the Holy Spirit would again be present in the Temple complex. 

The Chapter, Council and Commandery degrees illustrate for us the building, safeguarding, dedication, and destruction of Solomon's Temple. They also refer the recovery of the word, the logos. While the Chapter and Council degrees highlight the "Old Testament" events of "God living with humanity", the Commandery Order highlights the "New Testament" events of "God inviting humanity to live with God."

In the remainder of this presentation let's focus on Chapter and Council Degrees.

The Timeline

The Chapter and Council Degrees cover a time period from just after 1000 BC through the destruction of Solomon’s Temple and onto 534 BC and the recovery of the word.  Research into the history of the Chapter and Council demonstrates the following Masonic timeline:

• 974–967 BC — The Mark Master’s Degree reflects the preparation of materials and the start of the building of the Temple.

• 969–968 BC — The Select Master’s Degree reflects the building progressing and the construction of a secret vault.

• 968 BC — The Royal Master’s Degree, and the Third Degree in Masonry reflect the legend of the death of Hiram Abif.

• 967 BC — The Most Excellent Master’s Degree reflects the dedication of Solomon’s Temple.

• 586 BC — Some 381 years later, the Super-Excellent Master’s Degree reflects the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the loss of “the word.”

• 534 BC — Some 52 years later, the Royal Arch Degree exhibits the recovery of the word.

• The Order of the Temple, while focusing on the actions of a pilgrim who becomes a pilgrim warrior, a pilgrim penitent and finally a Knight of the Order of the Temple, highlights the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus during the "initiation of the first millennium".

The Degrees

The Royal Master degree and the Select Master degree originally had no relation to each other, and were only combined into a single Rite after they had each existed for many years. Most Masonic scholars attribute the origin of the degrees greater than the third degree in Masonry to one or more centers of influence which originated after the organization of the premier Grand Lodge in 1717.  The most popular center of influence was France. Certainly, the rapid spread of Masonry on the continent during the 50 year period immediately following the beginning of speculative Masonry, centered in France.

The legend of Hiram and the symbolic association with the building of King Solomon’s Temple captured the imagination of symbolists of the 18th Century. Fraternal writers began zealously popularizing the newly organized fraternity with a multiplication of Masonic degrees.  The Royal Master Degree is old to the system. The sign and pass of a Royal Master appears as early as 1740 in an English ritual which was translated from a French original.

Writers are divided as to whether the English or French version of the Royal Arch is older, but the main theme in both is the recovery of the Lost Word.  But why "a word?" There are many interpretations, but the etymology of the word word is from an ancient root meaning "to speak." It also has ties to the words command, vow, covenant, and name. The "word" preserved by Solomon in the Temple he built in which the Creator God who chose to dwell with humanity would have been the name, covenant, and commandments directed by Jehovah -- the word.

Scottish, or Ecossais, Masonry came into being as the result of Ramsey’s oration. In this system there are indeed numerous degrees which detail a method of preserving the true Word.  The legend relates to events which occurred during the construction of Solomon’s, temple. The first section takes place just before the death of Hiram Abiff and the second section occurs immediately after the tragedy and before his body is recovered. Let's dig a little.

Royal Master

In the Royal Degree of the Council, we find the introduction of a new character in Masonry – Adoniram. It is important to know that this figure is confined to the period of the construction of the Solomon's temple, and figures symbolically in a series of degrees known as Adoniramite Masonry. The legends and traditions which surround Adoniram derive from one passage of scripture, I Kings 4: 6, where Solomon refers to him as the superintendent over the laborers at Mount Lebanon. In fact, he has been called the “first of the Fellowcrafts.” In Cryptic Masonry, he is the one to whom the three Grand Masters had intended first to communicate that knowledge which they had reserved as a fitting reward to be bestowed upon all the deserving craftsmen at the completion of Solomon's temple.

It is significant to note that Adoniram is the one who is seeking to obtain the Word. He makes inquiry of Master Hiram as to how the Word may be received in the event one of the kings dies before it is revealed. This inquiry is followed by three powerful and beautiful lessons on death, each lesson ending with Hiram pointing at the base of the altar with the words; “It will be buried there.”

While the Word is not revealed by Hiram, he suggests that plans had, in fact, been made to preserve the Word by covering it in a secret place within the temple, Adoniram is given the clue as to where he should look, and after informing King Solomon of his conversation with Hiram, the King places the Word in a secret vault and invests Adoniram with a substitute.

The first section, thus, symbolizes that every man must labor on his own spiritual temple. The work of gaining divine knowledge is labor of the earth. The burial of the lost Word signifies that the character, command, vow, covenant, and name of God for whom Solomon's Temple was built would be forgotten by humanity and they would seek a substitute for God.

It also indicates that man cannot ever know all Truth while he makes his earthly sojourn. Even when he knows where to look for Truth, he can only receive a portion of it during his earthly life. He must come to the Divine Master to receive his reward. His earthly labor cannot be consummated except by the acquisition of divine Truth. Such a reward will always remain partially covered in this life, for the temple he is building is the temple of this life; and that temple must be destroyed by death and a second temple of a future life built upon its foundation. In our first temple, or life, often truth cannot be found and a substitute for the Creator God is assumed.

The second section of this degree commences with the candidate being conducted eight times about the lodge, receiving the scriptures of I Kings, chapters 6 and 7, relating to how the temple was furnished and decorated. The scripture reading concludes with readings from the Book of Revelation, Chapter 22, in which the author identifies himself as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. The candidate is then conducted to the altar and is obligated and given the steps, signs, grip and word. The work is concluded with a lecture detailing the furniture of the temple, with a detailed description of the Ark of the Covenant. 

This section represents that brief period of time after the death of the Builder, between the discovery of his body and his Masonic interment. Our friend, Adoniram, is offered the role of Hiram and  becomes the substitute for divine Truth. He is received under the wings of the Cherubim. In biblical symbolism, the cherubim represent the majesty and ruling power of God, as well as His divine attributes. In the Royal Master’s degree, they stand for the truth of God’s Being, that divine spark which must always be present in the holies of holies within us. We are told that the Cherubim spread their wings over the place of the Ark of the Covenant, and cover it. Thus, we each have this holy place within. No matter how weak we may become, or how often we err, the spirit of God is not far away from our conscious mind.

When we unite with the true character, command, vow, covenant, and name of God through spiritual thought, study, and prayer, the Word is made flesh and we begin to conform to the idea of the Divine Will. Stated more succinctly the more you learn about God, and the more you come to know God, the more that you will pursue what God has deems good. Such is the transition of the Royal Master. He who comes to ask and seek Truth, must begin by placing himself beneath the extended wings of the Cherubim, which is the protection of Divine Power, who alone is Truth, and from whom alone, Truth can be obtained.

Select Master

The Select Master is another of series of degrees in Masonry known as the Secret Vault degrees. The historical object of the degree is to commemorate the deposit of an important secret or treasure which was said to have been made by Hiram Abif. The place of meeting is a secret vault under the temple.  The events in the legend occurred during the construction of Solomon’s Temple, but before Hiram Abif’s death.

But wait.  The Royal Master’s Degree depicts the period of time between the death of Hiram and the completion of the Temple, but the Select Master occurs before that.  Why?  This apparent mis-chronology is clarified by the explanation that the secrets of the Select Master were secret, even to the craft and not brought to light until long after the Royal Master’s degree had been known. In other words, the Secret Masters were workmen on the temple who were doing their secret work without ever being openly recognized as a separate group of temple workers. Their job and their existence were unknown in the first temple.

In fact, according to legend, the incidents revealed in the Select Master were not supposed to be revealed until after the destruction of Solomon's Temple. This even we now know as the building of the second temple by Zerubbabel.  The two virtues taught in the Degree are secrecy and silence, the cardinal virtues of a Select Master because these two particular virtues are foundational to the secret tradition. The esoteric meaning here is that Select Masters work in secrecy and silence that they may prepare and preserve the sacred deposits of Truth until such time as these may be revealed, or come into full revelation. 

And this takes us to the Secret Vault Tradition in Freemasonry. We make numerous references to the mystic center, or secret chamber, in Freemasonry. We first encounter it in the Fellowcraft Degree, with our journey to the middle chamber. But we are not told what we were to find there. In the Master Mason Degree we are searching for the lost secrets and we know that they are to be found in the sanctum sanctorum, or a sacred center, but again we can’t find the center because we are not told where to look. Yet, these centers of which we speak is the same place.

In Craft Masonry, this center is presumed to be the point within the circle. It is the same center by means of which we hope, in the Chapter and Council degrees, to find the Vault and its precious content. It is the same center in which a sacred treasure is revealed within in the Royal Arch, or Holy of Holies, or center of consecrated sacredness.

But it remains unknown because it is an Ineffable idea. It is the True Word, the character, command, vow, covenant, and name of God, but a journey must still be made to in order to erect the second temple from the ruins of the first, which is no less than what the Kabbalists call the “Self-Revelation of God.”  Thus it is the passage or journey that must have the most meaning to us. It is the passage through the nine arches, where each arch or cavern contains the attributes of God which we must integrate into our own soul. In the French ritual, these are the nine sephiroth of the Kabbalah.

In the Cryptic Degrees, the vault symbolizes the human search for the essential reality and attributes of God's character, commands, vow, covenant, and name . The Mason, like the Select Master, must have access to the knowledge of the Divine Truth only by seeking ever deeper within his inmost Self, his Soul, which is the divine tool given to Man’s nature for the purpose of God Realization.

In Masonry, all circular symbols like the point within the circle, the vaulted ceiling, the arch, indeed, the number three itself, refers to a divine level of consciousness. The journey through the nine arches is both a descent and an ascent at the same time. We must descend into the center of our own being in order to discover that divine spirit within us wherein we will behold God in the mirror of existence—and there will be then, as there was in the beginning—only God.