The Royal Arch Masons:


There are several Joshua's mentioned in the Bible, and in the course of study of Freemasonry, there are two (2) that we are looking at in the York Rite, and a third that will be apparent when the message of the Temple is found and heard. 

The first Joshua is found in the book bearing his name; he was the successor to Moses in the leadership role in taking the Children of Israel through the Wilderness of Zion.  Joshua was a soldier, a general of one of the largest mobile armies of the time.  Watching the movement of the Camp, was like seeing your Lodge Hall grow legs and walk.  The camp was twenty (20) miles long and ten (10) miles wide, a moving oblong square.  It is the pattern of the Lodge Hall and the church building, mobilized.  There were over 600,000 fighting men, all under four commanders, from the tribes of Ephraim, Judah, Reuben, and Dan.  The standards marked the camp of the tribes, the principal ones being The Lion, The Man, The Eagle, and The Ox.  All had esoteric meanings that were understood by Moses and passed on to Joshua.

Joshua was the son of Nun, a name that defies history, and the name is worthy; it is worthy to be praised in the annals of Freemasonry, for it was he that sent the two spies to Rahab's house, to spy out the land.  It was he who heard the commands of God, not quite as Moses did, but he heard them.  It was Joshua that asked for the sun to stand still, to give the Hebrews the victory in battle.  It was Joshua that God revealed His plan to, the plan regarding Rahab and the capture of Jericho.   It was Joshua that saw God's plan to use the patterns of heaven to bring down the walls of Jericho.  It was Joshua that God caused to adopt Rahab and all of her family, into the tribe of Judah, by her meeting and later marrying Salmon.  It was Joshua that led his people to victory at Jericho and the walls come tumbling down.  "Joshua fit the battle..."  The Joshua of Jericho was a general of a great army doing physical battle with the enemy.  Joshua of the Royal Arch, is the Joshua of Babylon, taken by Nebuchadnezzar and his Chaldeans.  This Joshua was a high priest, from Aaron's loins, and took his rightful place at the side of Zerubbabel, the Prince of Judah, as priests and prophets had done since the prophecy of Judah, when he was told by Israel his father, "The scepter shall not leave by loins, nor a lawgiver from between thy feet, until Shiloh comes.  Shiloh was the third Joshua.

Joshua came back to Jerusalem with Zerubbabel and the other captives to, "assist in the rebuilding of the Temple without hope of fee or reward."  Legend says that with Zerubbabel and Haggai, Joshua made up a council of three that sat outside the ruins of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem - it would take a 'preacher man' to identify the religious artifacts the captives had brought back from Babylon, and would know their rightful place in the rebuilt Temple.  It would give a lawgiver to decide points of religious law.  While Zerubbabel decided political law and provided the needed protection from the enemies on all sides.  It was Joshua that offered up incense to the Great God Jehovah, called I AM by his fore parent Aaron.  It was Joshua that went into the Sanctum Sanctorum once per year to offer up incense to God seeking atonement for the sins of the people.  He did this as a matter of course, for Shiloh had not come yet.

It was Joshua that identified the 'weary travelers' that sought to work on the Temple, for none but the true Israelite from God's chosen people, could work on the walls of this great work.  Legend says that when 'these three that did agree' showed up at the Temple site, it was Joshua that authorized the admittance of Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego, as 'your own true kindred'.

But, it was a Joshua of a higher calling that was a high priest that came not from the loins of Levi, but from Judah, yet he was a priest after the order of Melchezidik.  This Joshua was not only a king, but was called "The King of Kings."  This Joshua was not a Prince of Judah as Zerubbabel was, but he was called "The Prince of Peace."  This Joshua did not spell his name like "Joshua" but was called many names, including, "the Christ, the Son of the Living God."  This Joshua was Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God.


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