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CRYPTIC !!ASONRY..路
mSTORY.
The ceremonies through which you have passed have a moral and historic significance. The historic alludes to the t.aking of Jel"usalem, and the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. Zedekiah who reigned at this time in Jerusalem was the uncle ofJehoiachim, the' youthful king place~ at eighteen years路 of age upon the throne. The former llame of Zedekiah was ~fattaniah. The change of name was to indicate that the }ustice, and not the gift of the Lord, imparted to him a scepter at the pleasure of the Babylonish monarch. Nebuchadnezzar's finalalld fatal siege of Jerusalem began on Friday the 30th of December, in the 588tll year before the Christian Era, being the seventh year of . Pharaoh Hophra, King of Egypt. The King of Judah besought the aid of Egypt against the Chaldeans. Pharaoh attempted to interpose, but the result was