"In that day saith the Lord of Hosts, 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, saith the Lord of Hosts."-Haggai ii. 1-9 and 23.

This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of Hosts. 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 Iaid 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, they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth."-Zechariah iv. 6-10.

"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."-John i. 1-5.

"And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: and he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold to be set by the four corners of it even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark." Ex. xxxvii. 1--5.

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

"For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shew-bread, which is called the sanctuary. And after the second vail, the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about 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 cherubim of glory, shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly."-Heb. ix. 2, 5.

"In that day will 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."— Amos ix. 11.

"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 propriely 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 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 Sechem, where the chiefs of the people were met together to proclaim him king.

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 ofthe 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. Aud 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 for ever. But he forsook the counsel which the old men gave him, and took counsel of 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 taan 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 I will chastise you with scorpions. So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, aś the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day. And the king answered them roughly; and king Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the old men; and answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add thereto; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. And when all Israel saw that the king would not hearken unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? and we have no inheritance in the son of Jesse: every man to your tents, O Israel! and now, David, see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents."-See 2 Chron. ch. x.

But as to the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Judah and Banjamin, Rehoboam reigned over them.

In this manner were the tribes of Israel divided, and under two distinct governments, for 254 years, when the ten revolted tribes, having become weak and degenerated, by following the wickedness and idolatry of the kings who governed them, fell a prey to Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, who, in the reign of Hoshea, king of Israel, besieged the city of Samaria, laid their country waste, and utterly extirpated their government. Such was the wretched fate of a people who disdained subjection to the laws of the house of David, and whose impiety and effeminacy ended in their de struction.

After a series of changes and events, of which an account may be found in the history of the temple, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, with his forces, took possession of Jerusalem, and having made captive Jehoiachim the king of Judah, elevated his uncle Zedekiah to the throne, after binding him by a solemn oath neither to make innovations in the government, nor to take part with the Egyptians in their wars against Babylon.

At the end of eight years, Zedekiah violated his oath to Nebuchadnezzar, by forming a treaty offensive and defensive with the Egyptians; thinking that jointly they could subdue the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar immediately marched and ravaged Zedekiah's country, seized his castle and fortress, and proceeded to the siege of Jerusalem. Pharaoh, learning how Zedekiah was pressed, advanced to his relief, with a view of raising the siege. Nebuchad nezzar, having intimation thereof, would not wait his approach, but proceeded to give him battle, and in one con test drove him out of Syria. This circumstance suspended the siege.

In the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, the king of Babylon again besieged Jerusalem, with a large army, and for a a year and a half exerted all his strength to conquer it; but the city did not yield, though enfeebled by famine and pestilence.

In the eleventh year the siege went on vigorously; the Babylonians completed their works, having raised towers all round the city so as to drive the invaded party from its walls. The place, though a prey to plague and famine, was obstinately defended during the space of a year and a half. But at length, want of provisions and forces compelled its surrender, and it was accordingly delivered, at midnight, to the officers of Nebuchadnez

zar.

Zedekiah, seeing the troops enter the temple, absconded by a narrow pass to the desert, with his officers and friends: but advice of his escape being given to the Babylonians, they pursued them early in the morning,