A Biblical Look at the Lodge

http://ericbarger.com/articles/biblical-look-lodge.htm

By Ed Decker

There have been many questions regarding the compatibility of Freemasonry and Christianity. The claim of every Mason is that Masonry and Christianity are totally compatible.

They say that religion is the experience of relating to God, and Masonry is the experience of relating to mankind. While separate, they can and do naturally co-exist. Well, if Freemasonry is truly what it professes publicly, then "Bravo!"; it is a welcome fellowship. If it is being deceptive, or as some claim, a serious danger to the Mason, his or her family and Church, then it should be exposed as such. It is that simple. Let's look at just a few of the Lodge's basic principles in the Light of Biblical truth.

NO OTHER GODS!

"And God spoke all these words: "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,"( Exodus 20:1-5 ) This is the first and primary Commandment! All other commandments find their reason in it. God put it at the top of the list for a reason! If you have a faulty view of God, your whole spiritual perspective is skewed by that error.  

Listen to God: "This is what the LORD says -- Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6) If your view of God is anything but that which God, Himself has declared above, your view is not Christian orthodoxy. If your view of Christ is not that which is equally Biblically based, your view of Christ is just as filled with danger. Let's see what the Masonic fraternity, itself has to say about the nature of God.

FREEMASONS BOW AT EVERY ALTAR

"The true Mason is not creed-bound. He realizes with the divine illumination of his lodge that as a Mason his religion must be universal: Christ, Buddha, or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar, whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding the oneness of all spiritual truth." (The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, Manly P. Hall, 33o, p.65, Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply Co., Richmond, VA., 1976.)

THE BIBLE SAYS

"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." ( John 14:6 ) "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." ( 1Tim. 2:5 )

OUR LORD AMONG THE BAALIM

"Masonry, around whose altars the Christian, the Hebrew, the Moslem, the Brahmin, the followers of Confucius and Zoroaster, can assemble as brethren and unite in prayer to the one God who is above ALL the Baalim, must needs leave it to each of its initiates to look for the foundation of his faith and hope to the written scriptures of his own religion." (Morals and Dogma, Albert Pike, 1956, page 226)

[Ed note : The word "Baalim," is simply defined as "false god or idol." The Masonic author has included the God of the Christian in that category.]

IS JESUS LORD?

The Bible says, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) That is pretty straight forward information. The question that has to be asked of the Mason here is simply, "Are you a Christian who confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord?" Is your answer, like many Masons, "yes!"?? Then my response to the Christian Mason is simply, "Why won't you just do what Jesus clearly told you to do?

THE BIBLE SAYS

"Again, you have heard that it was said to the people long ago, `Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.' But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your `Yes' be `Yes,' and your `No,' `No'; anything beyond this comes from the evil one. ( Matt. 5:33 -37 ) That was Jesus Himself talking to those who believed on Him. Surely, it would be a foolish Christian who would defy the Lord in such a serious matter. What earthly thing would be worth violating a direct instruction from our Savior? None!  

BOUND BY BLOOD OATHS

From the initiation rituals of the "BLUE LODGES" and through all 33 degrees of Freemasonry, every Mason in the world is bound by bloody oaths to maintain the secrets of the Lodge. These binding oaths are kept through the spirit of fear, because the penalties for betraying the brethren of the lodge include serious physical harm to the Mason. Look at them from the perspective of Christ's admonition. The oath sworn by the Entered Apprentice or first degree: "binding myself under no less penalty than that of having my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by its roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea, at low water mark." The Master Mason swears,"under no less penalty than that of having my body severed in two, my bowels taken from thence and burned to ashes, the ashes scatter before the four winds of heaven" (Duncan's Ritual of Freemasonry, 3rd Ed., pp. 35 396, David McKay Pub., New York, NY)

THE BIBLE SAYS

Jesus, speaking again to His disciples, clearly dealt with this exact situation. "There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs. "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him." (Luke 12:2-5 )  

TRUSTING THE BIBLE

We do well to know the Word Of God. As Jesus prayed to the Father for His disciples, His prayer was: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth." ( John 17:17) The Bible clearly teaches that the mature Christian must be grounded in God's Word. This is probably the most grievous error of those enmeshed in the web of Freemasonry. It is the ignorance of or lack of regard for the truth of God's Holy Word. What true Christian man (or woman) would dare go through the rituals of Freemasonry knowing that someday, he or she would have to stand before a Holy God and account for those acts of darkness. Let me give you a few examples.

THE JUDGEMENT OF THE DAMNED

The grave, Christless end awaiting members of the Masonic order can be demonstrated by the Apron Lecture, given every Mason in the Blue Lodge Ceremony. The following quote can be found almost word for word in most Masonic Monitors, the Craft ritual manual. Each candidate, upon completion of the initiation is given a white Lambskin Apron whose pure and spotless surface, he is told, would be "an ever present reminder of purity of life and rectitude of conduct, and when at last, after a life of faithful service your weary feet shall have come to the end of life's toilsome journey and from your nerveless grasp shall have dropped forever the working tools of life, may the record of your life be as pure and spotless as this fair emblem which I place in your hands tonight, and when your trembling soul shall stand, naked and alone, before the Great White Throne, there to receive judgement for the deeds done while here in the body, may it be your portion to hear from Him who sitteth as the Judge Supreme, the welcome words: Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee rule over many things! Enter into the joy of thy Lord."

While the words sound noble, it is to the everlasting pit of hell that the unsuspecting candidate has been assigned in the subtle words of the message. The promise is that the apron represents the works of the flesh when the Mason stands before God at the Great White Throne judgement.

There is only one Great White Throne Judgement in my Bible and it is found in REV 20:11-15. It is the judgement of those dead not in Christ, the judgement of the damned, who will be judged... not by the gift of God through Christ, but by their own works, with an end in the lake of fire. What a tragedy!

THE KING OF THE PIT OF HELL

In the seventeenth degree of the Scottish Rite, or The Knights of the East and West Degree, after the candidates have completed the initiation they are given the secret password, Jubulum, and the Sacred Word, Abaddon. Here is the clue to the true identity of the Masonic Deity. It is revealed in the "Sacred Word" of this ritual, "Abaddon." In Revelation 9:11, we learn that "they [the demons and workers from hell] had as king over them the angel of the Abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon!" Again, I must ask, "How could any true Christian dare to take upon himself that evil name as a sacred word?"

THE WORD IS OUT

The supposed quest of the Blue Lodge Masons is the search for "The Lost Word." Most Masonic ritual is concerned with the recovery of this lost word, presumed to be the name of God-supposedly lost through the murder of the architect, Hiram Abiff, during the building of Solomon's Temple. This quest is attained during the ritual of the ROYAL ARCH DEGREE.

It is here that the SECRET NAME of the DEITY OF MASONRY is revealed. That name is "JAHBULON." "JAH" is the short form of the Hebrew name of God, "Yahweh," or "Jehovah."

"BUL" is a rendering of the name, BAAL. "ON" is the term used in the Babylonian mysteries to call upon the deity, "OSIRIS"! The secret ritual book of the Craft prints the letters J.B.O. It states that: "We three do meet and agree-in peace, love and unity-the Sacred Word to keep and never to divulge the same-until we three, or three such as we do meet and agree." No Royal Arch Mason can pronounce the sacred name by himself. What is represented as the god of Masonry is a three-headed monster so remote from the Christian Trinity and so blasphemous as to damn the soul of anyone who would dare to pronounce its name in a ritual of worship.

COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM

"Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people." "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." (2 Cor. 6:14-17)

ONE OR THE OTHER

Even as Elijah called out on Mt Carmel " You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals." I cry out,"How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him."(1 Kings 18:18, 21) Dare YOU risk laying your Masonic works before the Lord on the last day only to be told, "I never knew you, depart from me!" (Matt.7:21-23) I pray that you will choose Jesus, repent and be set free from this wicked power unto whom you have submitted your very own soul, Even beyond that, you have surrendered the spiritual headship of your home ( and church if you are a leader in the congregation) to this dark, occult evil thing. If this is your desire, remember that we have this promise, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. "(1 John 1:9) If you are a Mason and you are ready to get your life back on track with Jesus, Pray this prayer with me right now: "Father in Heaven, in the name of the Lord Jesus, I confess that I have sinned. I confess that I have allowed myself to fall under the power and authority of Lucifer, the god of Masonry. I confess it as sin, and ask that you forgive me. I reject it and cast it from me and will immediately remove my name from its rolls. Jesus, I call you Lord and Savior and ask that you come into my heart and fill me with your love and Holy Spirit. Let no unclean thing remain! I am yours and yours alone! I am set free, in Jesus' name, Amen!"

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Much of the material in this tract came from the small book, THE QUESTION OF
FREEMASONRY, by Ed Decker. It is available from this ministry and can be found at most Christian Bookstores.

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TELLING IT LIKE IT IS! FREEMASONRY'S CHALLENGE
A Challenge From Ed Decker,
President-Saints Alive in Jesus

For a number of years now I have been in an intense study on the subject of Freemasonry. As many of you know, I spent 20 years in the Mormon Church where the temple rituals have been directly "lifted" from the Blue Lodge degrees. Other portions of the Scottish rites, such as the the ordination of the "Holy Melchizedek" priesthood are also common. In the book, THE GOD MAKERS, Dave Hunt and I detailed the parallels and the occult origins of each group. What I didn't share was that prior to my conversion to Mormonism, I was a member of the Masonic youth group, the DeMolay and have a family history of Masonry that goes back over 175 years.

The more I studied Masonry, the more I realized the depth of its satanic hold over those within its "strong Grip". Within the pages of the hundreds of Masonic books and secret ritual manuals I have gathered and read in my research is a tragic story of Godly men who have succumbed to the snare of the enemy and have been snatched from the very arms of Christ. They have brought the darkest side of Baal worship into their homes and congregations, opening the door to every demon in that Masonic corner of Hell. When the average American thinks of the Masonic Lodge, the thoughts are of Children's Burn Centers and Hospitals, the Shrine Circus, where handicapped children are often carried to the front row seats in the strong arms of weeping men who are wearing the Red Fezzes of their fraternity. Rarely do we see a parade without these same Shriners driving up and down the parade route in their little cars and motorcycles, wearing clothes out of the Arabian nights, bringing laughter to the little children lined up along the sidewalks. On more serious occasions, such as the laying of public building cornerstones or at the funeral service of a Lodge member, these same men, dressed in somber attire, wearing their ornate sashes and brass- medallioned chains of office, ceremonial aprons, will perform with solemn dignity pagan rites handed down through centuries of ritual secrecy.

Yet, once you get past the good-old-boy fraternal act, the funny hats and slippers of the Shriners and the sheltered reputation of the local, Blue Lodge Masonic groups, there is something beyond the colorful mask, an aura of mystery, power and intrigue, complete with undertones of conspiracy and backroom politics. As ever present as Masonry hangs on the edge of the public eye, we see it as even more subtly present in the Christian Community. Except for the ritual funeral service for the Masonic dead, and an occasional march from the Lodge to a selected Church for services, the Lodge leaves it to the individual member to select and attend the church of his choice.

On the other end of that, however, is the church on whose Board sits a majority from the Lodge, or whose Deacons or Elders share Lodge secrets that are in keeping with their higher allegiance to the Lodge, an aloofness from the rest of the Church body. These are "good" men who attend regularly and are often the financial backbone of many small congregations.

One Pastor wrote of his frustration in a rural church. He put it this way, "As faithful as these men are, I always feel at board meetings that there is a second agenda which is not open to me. It's like they get their marching orders from the Lodge on how to conduct the business of the church. They are good men, but they seem to operate with some higher' knowledge than the rest of us. There is no submission to the authority of the church and its members." The simple Christian NO list has been enough for most truly Bible based Churches to take a stand regarding Masons holding membership in their Church. First, if the Mason is a Christian, Christ's admonition to swear no oaths at all should be all one would need to stay clear. The secrets of Masonry are protected by the most vile of blood oaths, every one of which is an offense to Jesus. Second, the name and nature of the Masonic deity is an offense to the one true God. It is taught in the Royal Arch degree that Masonry draws its teachings and powers from three great teachers and gods. The combined deity is represented as a three headed snake, whose name is Joa:Bul:On, which stands for Jehovah, Baal and Osiris, Now the Mason who pronounces that name in the Masonic prayer of worship has just simply defiled the Holy name of God. Third, in the Shrine, the initiate swears a terrible binding oath in the name of "Allah, the God of our Fathers!" Friends, Mohammed was a false prophet and Allah is an evil god, a demon god destroying nation after nation of his followers. The red Fez itself was originally a badge of honor worn only by Muslims who had actually killed a Christian and dipped his cap in the martyr's blood. Fourth, At the Apron lecture, the foolish mason is usually told that the lambskin apron will be his covering at the great white throne judgement of God. The prayer and dedicatory sounds great, but there is only one Great white throne judgement and it is the judgement of the damned. (Rev.20:11) Fifth, the promise of godhood through the Lodge, the usurping of Christ's Melchizedek Priesthood, the Holy communion of the dead, drinking wine from the carved out top of a human skull......and on and on. The scriptures tell us to "not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Come out from among them and be ye separate, saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you." (2 Cor. 6:14,15,17).

(c) copyright 2001, Ed Decker

Contact Ed Decker at www.saintsalive.com