God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared unto thee."

"And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom; and he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow. And he said, Put thine hand into thy bosom again: and he put his band into his bosom again, and plucked it out of his bosom and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

"And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto thy voice, that thou shalt take of the water of the river, and pour it upon the dry land: and the water which thou takest out of the river, shall become blood upon the dry land."

Haggai ii. 1-9, 23. "In the seventh month, in the one and twentieth day of the month, came the word of the Lord by the prophet Haggai, saying, Speak now to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and to the residue of the people, saying, Who is left among you that saw this house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, and be strong, O Joshua, son of Josedech the high priest, and be strong all ye people of the land, and work: for I am with you, according to the word which I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my spirit remaineth among you: fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land: and I will shake all na

tions, and the desire of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, and in this place will I give peace."

"In that day will I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee."

Zechariah iv. 6-10. "This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might or power, but by my spirit. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the head stone thereof with shouting, crying, Grace, grace, unto it. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house, his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hands of Zerubbabel with those seven."

John i. 1-5. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not."

Deuter. xxxi. 24-26. "And it came to pass when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, that Moses commanded the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, Take this book of the law, and put it in the

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side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee."

Exodus xxv. 21. "And thou shalt put the mercy seat above, upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee."

Exodus xvi, 32-34. "And Moses said, This is the thing which the Lord commandeth, Fill an omer of the manna, to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the testimony to be kept."

Numbers xvii. 10. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token."

Hebrews ix. 2-5. "For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called The Sanctuary. And after the vails, the tabernacle, which is called The Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid roundabout with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory, shadowing the mercy-seat; of which we cannotTM now speak particularly."

Amos ix. 11. "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old."

Exodus vi. 2, 3. "And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God

Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them."

The following particulars, relative to king Solomon's Temple, may with propriety be here introduced, and cannot be uninteresting to a royal arch mason.

This famous fabric was situated on Mount Moriah, near the place where Abraham was about to offer up his son Isaac, and where David met and appeased the destroying angel. It was begun in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon; the third after the death of David; four hundred and eighty years after the passage of the Red Sea, and on the second day of the month Zif, being the second month of the sacred year, which answers to the 21st of our April, in the year of the world 2992, and was carried on with such prodigious speed, that it was finished, in all its parts, in little more than seven years.

By the masonic art, and the wise regulations of Solomon, every part of the building, whether of stone, brick, timber or metal, was wrought and prepared before they were brought to Jerusalem; so that the only tools made use of in erecting the fabric, were wooden instruments prepared for that purpose. The noise of the axe, the hammer, and every other tool of metal, was confined to the forests of Lebanon, where the timber was procured, and to Mount Libanus, and the plains and quarries of Zeredathah, where the stones were raised, squared, marked and numbered; that nothing might be heard among the masons at Jerusalem, but harmony and peace.

In the year of the world 3029, king Solomon died, and was succeeded by his son Rehoboam, who, immediately after the death of his father, went down to Shechem, where the chiefs of the people were met together to proclaim him king.

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When Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt. whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon, and whose ambition had long aspired to the throne, heard of the death of the king, he hastened to return from Egypt, to put himself at the head of the discontented tribes, and lead them on to rebellion. He accordingly assembled them together, and came to king Rehoboam, and spake to him after this manner:

"Thy father made our yoke grievous; now, therefore, ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve thee. And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed. And king Rehoboam took counsel with the old men that had stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, saying, What counsel give ye me, to return answer to this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants forever. But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him. And he said unto them, What advice give ye, that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the yoke that thy father did put upon us? And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins. For, whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will put more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but 1 will chastise you with scorpions. So Jero