Revelation of Jesus Christ

From the KJV 1611 with Strong's Concordance

The Third Degree in Freemasonry

Jesus said his words are spirit, therefore they are the bread of life, we are to internalise them, they are instructions to salvation, they give us insight into the wisdom of the creator, and how to become a child of the Living God. But what if you are internalising words and instructions from another spirit?

Here we will be taking a brief look into the third degree ritual of Freemasonry, what it involves, it's ancient origins, it's symbology and the hidden dangers of joining secret societies. If you are thinking of becoming a member or leaving then I hope you will find the following information useful and please feel free to share.

What is the resurrection of Hiram Abiff?

The resurrection of Hiram Abiff is a central allegorical story in the Masonic Third Degree, symbolising the Master Mason's spiritual rebirth and triumph over death, secrecy, and persecution, where his murder by three ruffians seeking secrets leads to a symbolic death and renewal for the initiate, representing the eternal search for truth and the ability to rise from adversity. After Hiram's body, marked by an acacia sprig, is found and raised using specific grips (Apprentice, Fellowcraft), a substitute word replaces the lost Master Word, signifying that true wisdom is found through spiritual evolution, not just secrets.

The Legend in Detail

Symbolic Meanings

Variations

Source: Google Ai

Interesting how Google Ai presents these answers as though programmed to sell it.

what does the initiate have to do in the resurrection of hiram?

In the Masonic allegory of Hiram Abiff's "resurrection" (raising to Master Mason), the initiate undergoes a symbolic death and rebirth, learning to overcome vice, find the "Lost Word" (divine wisdom/truth), and achieve spiritual enlightenment by internalising virtues like integrity and courage, transforming from a "dead" state to a living, perfect "Temple" of self. The initiate must symbolically 'die' to their old self (ignorance/vice) and be 'raised' through the metaphorical "grip" of the Master, representing a profound internal transformation and connection to the divine, often linked to alchemical concepts of transmutation.

Key Actions & Symbolism for the Initiate:

In essence, the initiate's journey is: To face death (of the self), discover hidden truth (the Lost Word), and achieve rebirth as a perfected Master, embodying divine wisdom and living a virtuous life, as described in texts like Manly P. Hall's "Secret Teachings of All Ages" and the Rudolf Steiner Archive.

Source: Google Ai

Does the initiate have to lie in a coffin in the 3rd degree?

The initiate does not have to literally lie in a coffin in the Freemasonry 3rd degree ceremony in most modern practices. The coffin, skull, and crossbones are typically used as symbolic emblems of mortality displayed in the lodge, alluding to the death of the legendary figure Hiram Abiff.

However, the specific rituals and customs can vary by jurisdiction and even by individual lodge. In some older or more traditional lodges, the practice of a candidate physically demonstrating the "grave" aspect of the ceremony, such as by passing over a symbolic representation of a grave or a brother lying in a shroud, has been known to occur.

The core of the 3rd degree ceremony is a dramatic allegory about death and the hope of immortality, emphasizing the principles of integrity and loyalty, which the symbols help illustrate. The focus is on the moral and symbolic lessons, rather than a literal experience.

Source: Google Ai

Important: The ritual is said to represent the killing, the death and the resurrection of Hiram who was supposedly murdered by fellow-craft, however symbolically it represents the killing, and death of the self. Symbolically the resurrection may point to the initiate inviting in another spirit to have dominion over the vessel. If there is an oath involved then ask yourself what you are binding yourself to. It might all seem harmless fun with the chance of getting on the social ladder, however oaths often come back to haunt, where the initiate may be asked to do something against his or her morals or conscience later down the road.

Hiram in the scriptures
According to Manly P Hall's "Secret Teachings of All Ages", Hiram Abiff was the builder of the temple of Solomon. Biblically there was a character called Hiram who built the temple of Solomon, though there is no mention of his surname, murder or death in the scriptures. There is however another Hiram who was the king of Tyre.

A spiritual temple or a temple made with hands?
Jesus says that we are the temple of the living God. God dwells in us, that is the Holy Spirit. Man cannot put God in a house made of stone as the ancients believed, and then go in and call on Him when ever they needed something. Those in Christ are the living stones of a spiritual temple that make up the body of Christ. Is Freemasonry an imitation, making up the body of another spirit, one that needs a vessel to dwell in, a spirit that has to be resurrected from the dead?

Are these Freemasonic rituals older than we think?
Jesus said to the chief Priests and the Pharisees, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone which the builders rejected Has become the head corner. This was the LORD’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’? Matthew 21:42.

I think this verse answers the question clearly. These rituals were going on before Christ's visitation. It also alludes to the ritual making Hiram the cornerstone of the temple that is us. But is it really Hiram or some other spirit that is being resurrected during the ritual? The ritual itself may go as far back to ancient Egypt with a ritual known as the 'Raising of Osiris'. The bigger question however is this, can the Holy Spirit of God dwell in you if you have been duped into receiving another spirit? Is this ritual not a polluting of the temple? Is this how a man becomes double minded?

What Jesus is saying in Matthew 21:42, is that God the Father has made His Son Jesus Christ the head of the corner in the spiritual temple of man. Also referring to the commandments being written on our hearts as apposed to being carved on stone tablets. The head cornerstone meaning Christ has the seizing power to take hold of the mind and convict the heart, suggesting that through the 3rd degree ritual something else had this ability. Jesus proved this power when he cast out unclean spirits. He also convicted many people to repent, that is, have a change of mind.

It is interesting that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection however it was not the resurrection that Jesus was teaching which again suggests that they either knew of the 3rd degree ritual or were performing a similar one based on the same principles. The Pharisees were the main opposition to Jesus during His ministry on earth. The were like Satan's foot soldiers, the boots on the ground. Everywhere Jesus went they seemed to be there, listening, waiting to catch Him in his words. Jesus knew their every thought and convicted them, that is, seized their minds and the thoughts of their hearts before they even spoke a word against him.

The Pharisees were in cahoots with the High Priests who were installed by Herod the Edomite who was a vassal king of Rome, which could point to origins of these rituals and even point to how Rome gained it's vast armies of foot soldiers who simply obeyed like corpses.

Head of the corner or cornerstone meaning an angle, alluding to the compass and square.

Paul's Battle against Spiritual Warefare
Saul before he became the Apostle Paul, was a Pharisee, and a Roman, which may suggest that he took part in initiation rituals in his past life. He was deeply spiritually blinded believing in the doctrines of the Pharisees. He persecuted the early followers of Christ on behalf of the Pharisees and the Sanhedrin but thankfully was converted on the road to Damascus, where Jesus seized his mind, demonstrating to the Pharisees and the High Priests that Christ is the head of the corner. Paul came to his senses when he was convicted by the Holy Spirit. It was Paul who later wrote to us regarding spiritual warefare having gone through the process of being initiated into spiritual blindness then convicted and converted by the power of Jesus Christ giving us a better understanding of the spiritual warefare we are faced with in this world. Paul was given power over the enemy where as before he was an agent of the dark forces. Jesus is Lord of the Spirits.

Paul wrote: "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
Ephesians 6:12

Jesus said to the Apostles, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Luke 10:19

Paul is saying that the real enemy is spiritual, it is men who have given themselves over knowingly or unknowingly to be controlled by dark forces that ultimately work against man and the salvation that is in Jesus Christ. It speaks to those who have been spiritually blinded to simply obey orders that are against God's will. Paul speaks from experience, having been a Pharisee and a Roman.

Related: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood

Is Hiram Abiff Osiris?
Hiram, the Widow's Son. There is much written about whether Hiram Abiff could be the Masonic interpretation of a much older legend, that of Osiris from Egypt. The most famous interpretation of the myth comes from Plutarch, the famous second century Greek writer.

Source: Google Ai

Interesting: On the Freemasonic dollar bill we see E pluribus unum: This phrase appears on the banner held in the eagle's beak on the obverse (eagle side) of the seal. It means "Out of many, one". Could this be a reference to the resurrection ritual and the Raising of Osiris? In the Egyptian legend, Osiris was killed by his brother Set leaving Isis widowed. Isis performs ritual magic to resurrect her murdered, husband and brother Osiris. Isis gets pregnant and the child was believed to be the resurrected spirit of Osiris known as Horus, the widow's son. The symbols for Horus is a bird of prey or a single eye. The symbols of Freemasonry are also a bird of prey and a single eye. On the green dollar bill their is also a pyramid with a single eye inside a capstone hovering over the top of the pyramid as though waiting to be placed into position. The eye is often referred to as the 'Eye of Horus' or the 'All Seeing Eye' pointing to surveillance which ironically is now being created using Ai (A eye). The 3rd degree ritual throughout time has been performed over and over again, therefore the motto, Out of many, one.

Origins of Freemasonry
In the book of Daniel we read of magicians who were advisors in the court of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Here is the hebrew meaning for the word:

Magician H2748 chartom {khar-tome'}
From the same as H2747; a horoscopist (as drawing magical lines or circles).
Chartom in Hebrew refers to magicians, astrologers, or diviners.

Do you think you might need a square and compass to be a Babylonian magician?

Chartom: Egyptian Origins
(chartom) identifies a class of ritual experts prominent in Egyptian and later Babylonian culture: court magicians, scribal-astrologers, and practitioners of occult arts. Archaeology and ancient texts portray them as scholars of sacred writings, divination, and medical-spiritual incantations. Their status was prestigious, yet entirely dependent on the favour of the king they served. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2748.htm

So the magicians who wielded the compass and square originated from Egypt. Credence to the resurrection ritual originating in Egypt?

From Egypt to Babylon to Rome?
The Assyrians who ruled over Babylon captured Egypt as part of their expansion and empire. These Egyptian magicians (Chartom) would have been captured and taken to Babylon to serve the king and would have remained there during the transition of the kingdom and the monarchy when it was taken by the Chaldeans under king Nebuchadnezzar. This would explain how the rituals of the Egyptians such as the 'Raising of Osiris' would have migrated throughout time. It is believed that the Chaldean priests fled to Pergamon when the Medo-Persians took over the Babylonian kingdom. Many of the Babylonian titles, rituals and rites that went to the Pergamon kings were then left to Rome by the last king of Pergamon.

The Judean connections
The Judeans were also captured by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar where they remained in captivity for seventy years. It is possible that there were those who learnt the 'Resurrection of Osiris' ritual and other Egyptian rituals whilst there. We are also told that Freemasonry today is deeply rooted in the heritage of Israel and Solomon's temple. Where there is a temple their is a priest hood. There is also the Jewish Mysticism of Kabbalah aspect that the 33 degree Freemasons Albert Pike and Manly P Hall heavily aspired too.

Hidden meanings of the square and compass symbol
When we examine the symbol of Freemasonry we see a compass placed over a square and often the letter G situated in the center. A compass has three points and a square has four points and the letter G is believed to represent the word generative or generation. So we have a 3 over the 4 and the letter G.

Is it also symbolic reference to the second commandment?
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

Note: It was this commandment that was removed by the Roman Catholic Church.

The spiritual over the material
The compass points upwards towards the heavenly realm, the high places whilst the square points to below. As above so below?

"The Square and Compasses are emblematic of the dominion of the spiritual over the material, the achievement of which is the only true purpose of meeting and working."

George Steinmetz, Freemasonry, It's Hidden Meaning Pg 82.

The initiate is the square representing the material kingdom. It is believed that in the completion of the second degree, one arm of the compass is placed over the square. In the completion of the third degree the other arm of the compass is placed over the square. The square (you, the material kingdom) is now covered (dominated) by the compass representing the spirit kingdom. This might explain why three is a very important number in Freemasonry. It could be said that at this stage the initiate has submitted themselves to become like a corpse having gone through the killing, the death and the resurrection of his self.

Jesus said, "For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together." Matthew 24:28. The symbol of Rome and Freemasonry is a bird of prey. Is the carcase those who have given themselves over to these rituals and oaths? It is also worth noting that the bird of prey is also a symbol of the Nazi's, the US military and many other nation's armies whom all require masses of spiritually blinded men and women to sacrifice in their mindless endless wars. What is the product of wars? Widows and orphans! Destroy the men and you weaken the nations, thus making it more easy to control and socially engineer a society. In the first and second world war were many high level Freemasons including Presidents, Prime Ministers and military generals on both sides who over saw the slaughter of millions.


(Left) The compass over the square - (Center) Hidden is plain sight the garb of the priest hood? - (Right) The costume worn by the KKK

Is there a deeper meaning to the ritual?
In short, the initiate through the ritual and the enactment of his own murder and death has spiritually become like a corpse, that is, spiritually dead, an empty vessel having now placed himself under the jurisdiction of the spirit realm, and the trap has been sprung. Where before he had dominion over the spirit realm through Jesus Christ, the spirit realm now has dominion/possession over him? With the compass now over the square. Is the resurrection that of another spirit in the place of or over the now empty vessel? I am hypothesising because such things need to be thought through. We are dealing with secret keepers after all, and we should be well aware of the fact that there maybe deception involved and hidden meanings to these rituals and enactments in every degree.

When we submit our soul to Jesus Christ we become dead in Christ, that is, His possession, placing ourselves under his jurisdiction in the spirit realm. Christ is Lord of the spirits, all spirits in the heavenly realm are subject to him. That said, there are spirits that would like to experience the material realm, and in order to do do this would need a vessel to dwell in. There are also spirits that strive against mankind seeking it's destruction. It would explain why we live in a world of greed, wars and men who strive for power and secret knowledge, men who see themselves as more superior believing in a divine right to rule over others, hence the hierarchical structures that we have been socially engineered to accept from childhood. They achieve their goals through interacting with the spirit realm, the rulers of the darkness of this age and as a result God sends them a strong delusion. In short we are not supposed to call on these spirits, neither bow down or serve them. But there are those who are deceived and so the desires of the flesh overtake them.

Related: Subject to the government of man or to the higher powers of Christ?

The Apostle Paul was once also under the jurisdiction of spiritual wickedness in high places but the power of Christ seized him and convicted him where he then became dead in Christ. His eyes were opened and he saw the light and was chosen to be the Apostle for the Gentiles (non Jews). Paul's story is a testimony to Christ's grace and mercy. It gives everyone hope that no matter what mistakes we have made, if we turn to Jesus and repent he can save us from ourselves and those seek to entrap us.

When we submit to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we are accepting the gift that he payed the ransom for us all with His very life, something no Pope, or Rabbi or Grand Master or Most Worshipful Master will ever do for you. Let that sink in between your ears.

It gives a whole new meaning to Christ's ministry of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and setting the captives free.

As to hierarchies, Jesus said, it is enough to be like the master.

Let no man steal your crown.

Summary
Mason means builder but the majority of members of Freemasonry are not stone masons, so what are they building? It appears they are part of a wider project of social engineering that is building a society of secret keepers. But why all the secrecy? It stands to reason that Freemasonry is part of a hidden agenda, one that must be kept secret from the public and it's lower members because if the truth was made known about it's true intentions then it would be game over.

Picture a large circle and that circle represents Freemasonry and all it's members, now picture inside that circle a much smaller circle in the center and within that circle are those who are making the decisions, driving the secret agenda. So there is a process, a series of degrees you have to go through in order to get closer to the inner circle but at what cost. Ask yourself what type of people need to operate in secret?

Jesus said to the High Priests, "I have said nothing in secret" John 18:20.

These humiliation rituals alone are very telling. It's about submitting and eroding your own will, subjecting yourself one degree at a time, and if you have not come to your senses by the third degree you are most likely caught in the net.

Calling another man master or most worshipful master means you have willingly enslaved yourself by putting another man over you who was not above you before.

Regarding oaths: "Above all, my brothers, do not swear, not by heaven or earth or by any other oath. Simply let your “Yes” be yes, and your “No,” no, so that you will not fall into judgment." James 5:12

From the moment we enter this world we learn nothing regarding the spiritual matters of this life, instead we are educated and encouraged to become debt slaves through the mass consuming of the material world. We never fully explore or develop our senses, and our critical thinking is abandoned and replaced by an education system that seeks to shut down questioning by giving us all the answers in school. We are molded to conform to a world socially engineered by cunning men. It is spiritual blindness we suffer from and there are those who will take advantage of this. Who is more dangerous, the man giving the orders? Or those who blindly obey them? How do you get a once sane man to blindly kill his brother in someone else's war for simply wearing the wrong costume? How do you get a scientist to blindly inflict cruelty onto animals in the name of science or how do you get a mother to blindly allow her child to be violated by a complete stranger with a syringe? Spiritual blindness. Christ is the antidote. I implore you to learn of Him.

I write these things in love that you do not get deceived. There is good and bad in all walks of life, and there is clearly a war for our minds and souls going on down here.

May these seeds fall on good ground and bring forth good fruit. Peace and Grace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Related: Subject to the government of man or to the higher powers of Christ?

Related: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood

Related: Should we take an oath or swear an allegiance?

Related: The Lucifer Connections

Related: Albert Pike Declares Lucifer to be the light of the Masonic Lodge in Morals and Dogma page 321

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