Freemasons, the Third Temple, and the Antichrist

Why will Satan give the Beast (Antichrist) all of his power and authority and why will the world follow this person as their savior, worship him, and take his mark? While we cannot know him by name, we can draw a composite with the biblical elements of what this person will be like just like the witness to a crime can, with the help of an artist, reconstruct the face of the defendant. He will come geographically from the former Roman Empire (Daniel 9:26), which surrounded the entire Mediterranean Sea (Daniel 7:2; Revelation 13:1); he (and or his empire) will possess the qualities (and perhaps geographic locations) of the former beasts (Revelation 13:2); he will rise up to be among the ten horns of the last beast (empire); he will have all the power and authority of Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:9; Revelation 13:2, 4); he will sit in the temple, show his powers as god and erect an image (Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31, 12:12; Matthew 24:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:4, Revelation 13:15); he will be the genetic son of Satan  (Genesis 3:15; 2 Thessalonians 2:3? Daniel 2:43). Now let’s consider in detail all of these qualities.

From the former Roman Empire

The former Roman Empire was an area that stretched from west North Africa to parts of the Middle East. He may be European

Roman Empire in NT Times

but he could also be from North Africa, Turkey or from the Middle East. He could be from a Muslim country or from a historically Christian country, though he himself will not truly be a believer in either (Daniel 1:37). Nevertheless, he will most likely be nominally religious for appearances.

Rises up out of the Great Sea

The Great Sea (Daniel 7:2; Revelation 13:1), as spoken of by Daniel is simply the Hebrew way of saying the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, the general area that the beast will come out of is the countries surrounding the Mediterranean, confirmation that he will rise out of the previous Roman Empire.

Possible Candidates

There are a number of groups such as the Theosophists, Yale’s Skull and Bones Society, Illuminati and the Masons that fit extremely well the description of the coming Antichrist (see the table below). There are many similarities between these groups and very generally speaking they are working toward the same goals. However, for simplicity, we will focus on the Masons since they comprehensively cover the beliefs and practices of the secret societies in general. As a note, the goal is not to give a complete exposé of the Masons as that would require several tomes but to see why one of their own best fits the description of the coming Antichrist. What we see is that the keys points of the coming Antichrist are in fact the key beliefs of the Masons (and others).

Comparison of the Antichrist with
the beliefs and plans of the Masons
Bible (Antichrist)Masons (and others) beliefs/doctrines plans
Serves Lucifer/SatanServes Lucifer/Satan
Opposed to GodBelieve Adonai (God) is bad
Focused on the templeTemple of Solomon of central importance
Rebuild temple (in order to be able to 
sit in it)
Awaiting right man with vision to rebuild
Will rule over the entire earthWill establish New World Order
Understands sinister schemesUse deception and symbols to keep secrets even from lower level initiates

Serves Lucifer

Only at the highest levels of his craft does the Mason discover who is the “Great Architect of the Universe” that they so often refer to. Whereas many lower level Masons are led to believe that he must be the Judeo-Christian God, the truth is that they are worshipping Lucifer. Albert Pike, one of the great Masonic historians reveals that the name of the being that the Masons are worshiping is in fact Lucifer. He says:
Lucifer, the Light Bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light and with its splendors intolerable blinds feeble, sensual or selfish Souls?
However, perhaps the most revealing as to what Pike truly believed he stated on July 14, 1889 in Instructions to the 23 Supreme Councils of the World:
The masonic religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian doctrine […] Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay also is God […] and the true and philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of light and God of good, is struggling against Adonay, the God of darkness and evil. 
Pike was not alone in his understanding that the Masons (and other esoteric societies) were worshipping Lucifer. Manly P. Hall, eulogized by the Scottish Rite Journal after his death in 1990 as the “greatest of all Masonic philosophers”, divulged one of Masonry’s darkest secrets:
When the Mason learns that the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the mystery of his Craft. The seething energies of Lucifer are in his hands and before he may step onward and upward, he must prove his ability to properly handle energy, (emphasis mine). 
It is the “seething energies of Lucifer” that the man that would be the Antichrist will endeavor to have – that “dynamo of living power”. Even though this person has presumably everything that a person could potentially desire (power, money, etc.) it is the lust for ever greater power that will cause the person to combine himself with the dark Lord that he serves.

He Will Rebuild the Temple

Many people have assumed that the Antichrist will necessarily be Jewish because of his intense drive to rebuild the temple. While it is true that there are many Jews that desire the rebuilding of the temple, the Masons (and other esoteric societies) are perhaps just as passionate about seeing the temple of Solomon rebuilt. In fact, the temple is of central importance and without the focus on the temple they would cease to exist. John Wesley Kelchner writes in the foreword toThe Holy Bible: The Great Light in Masonry, King James Version, Temple Illustrated Edition: “The Temple of Solomon is the spiritual home of every Mason.”He also declares the following:
The traditions and romance of King Solomon’s Temple […] are of transcendent importance to Masons. The Temple is the outstanding symbol in Masonry, and the legendary story of the building of the Temple is the fundamental basis of the Masonic rule and guide for conduct in life, (emphasis mine). 
In the Encyclopaedia of Freemasonry, Albert Mackey, MD, 33rd and Charles T. McClenachan, 33rd affirm that the temple is the most important object of Masonry:
Of all the objects which constitute the Masonic science of symbolism, the most important, the most cherished, by the Mason, and by far the most significant, is the Temple of Jerusalem. The spiritualizing of the Temple is the first, the most prominent and the most pervading, of all symbols of Freemasonry [...] Take from Freemasonry its dependence on the Temple; leave out of its ritual all references to that sacred edifice, and to the legends and traditions connected with it, and the system itself would at once decay and die, (emphasis mine).

The Man to Rebuild

Not only is the temple of central importance but there is also a need to “build up” the temple for truth:
The great body of the Masonic Craft, looking only to this first Temple erected by the wisdom of King Solomon, make it the symbol of life; and as the great object of Masonry is the search after truth, they are directed to build up this temple as a fitting receptacle for truth.
John Wesley Kelchner in the Temple Illustrated Version (KJV) takes the “building up” a step further by indicating that there are so many minute details associated with the Temple that all that is needed is for someone with vision to come along and rebuild the temple.
It is known to every reader of the Bible and student of Solomon’s days, that an amazingly detailed description of the Temple and its associated structures has been carried down from the mists of antiquity by the Scriptures. Lineal measurements, materials employed, and ornamental detail are so graphically presented that restoration of the Temple, at any time within a score of centuries past, awaited only the coming of a man with the vision to recognize its historic value, and the imagination to undertake the task.
Edward Waite writing in A New Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and of Cognate Instituted Mysteries: The Rites, Literature and History, declares: “in the High Grades [of Masonry] we hear of a secret intention to build yet another temple at Jerusalem.”We therefore see that there are plans to rebuild the temple and they are waiting for a man with vision to undertake the task.


The Balfour Declaration November 2, 1917

Of course, no one could even consider the reconstruction of the Temple if the people of the temple are not actually in the land. Hence, it was necessary that the Jewish people be back in the land. One of the foundational movements toward that reality was 
Balfour Declaration
the Balfour Declaration which was a letter sent by Arthur James Lord Balfour to Lord Rothschild. The letter “represents the first political recognition of Zionist aims by a Great Power."
What is significant about this correspondence is that according to researcher Dr. Stanley Monteith, Balfour was a high ranking Mason (we note, however, that God often allows and uses the wicked to bring about His own purposes i.e. He used the Assyrians to punish the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. see also 2 Kings 21:14). In fact, we will see that the Masons were centrally responsible for Israel’s reestablishment. Dr. Monteith has summarized what freemason Cecil Rhodes wrote in his “Confession of Faith”: “Lord Milner was a 33rd degree Mason, William T. Stead was a spiritualist and a Theosophist, and Arthur Balfour was a spiritualist, a Mason, and a member of the Society for Psychical Research.” Dr. Monteith rightly notes: “What most researchers have missed is the fact that most of the men who joined Cecil Rhodes’ secret society were involved in the occult.” Dr. Monteith again quotes from Cecil Rhodes “Confessions of Faith” wherein he states that he has become a Mason and then states the goal of bringing the world under British control.
In the present day I become a member of the Masonic Order. […] Why should we not form a secret society with but one object, the furtherance of the British Empire, for the bringing of the whole uncivilized world under British rule, for the recovery of the United States, for the making the Anglo-Saxon race but one Empire, (emphasis mine).
Professor Quigley notes that there were “two power blocs that controlled Great Britain during the early decades of the twentieth century. One was led by Lord Cecil, the other by Lord Milner.” Quigley writes:
One of the enduring creations of the Cecil Bloc is the Society for Psychical Research, which holds a position in the history of the Cecil Bloc similar to that held by the Royal Institute of International Affairs in the Milner Group. The Society was founded in 1882 by the Balfour family and their in-laws, (emphasis mine).
Israeli author and reporter Barry Chamish states the Masonic administration over the establishment of Israel in no uncertain terms:
Without British Freemasonry there would be no modern state of Israel. In the 1860s, the British-Israelite movement was initiated from within Freemasonry. Its goal was to establish a Jewish-Masonic state in the Turkish province of Palestine. Of course, that would mean dealing with the Turks at some point down the line, but first the country would have to be repopulated with Jews. And the idea wasn’t to bring in more of the same religious Jews who already were the majority in Jerusalem and elsewhere, but the kind of Jews who would eventually accept the Masonic view of history.
Initially, British Jewish Masonic families like the Rothschilds and Montefiores provided the capital to build the infrastructure for the anticipated wave of immigration. However, luring the Jews to Israel was proving difficult. They, simply, liked European life too much to abandon it. So Europe was to be turned into a nightmare for the Jews. This led to the rise of pogroms and Zionism. […] Then things began moving quickly. British Masons like Arthur Balfour and Herbert Samuel led the campaign for official British recognition of a Jewish homeland during World War One. At the same time, a million British troops, badly needed in the trenches of Europe, were sent marching to Palestine to oust the Ottomans.
When the war ended, the campaign for a Jewish state went into full speed at Versailles. In 1919, The Royal Institute of International Affairs was founded in London and two years later, the Council on Foreign Relations began its nefarious activities in New York. Their agendas called for a world governmental takeover and a global religion based in Jerusalem, (emphasis mine).
The above evidence strongly affirms that the Masons were behind the establishment of the modern state of Israel. Given their intense interest in the Temple and their desire to rebuild it, such testimony becomes strong circumstantial evidence that the Masons were behind the reestablishment of Israel because they desire to rebuild the temple which is central to their entire dogma. We can only guess they desire the temple rebuilt because their dark lord, Lucifer desires to have his savior to the world, the Antichrist, go in and declare himself to be god.

Sinister Schemes

David Lewis talks about a plan to set up a human and give him superhuman powers.
They are preparing to intervene in world history, to lead mankind to a higher level of consciousness. They will select a human person and endow him with superhuman powers and knowledge. This man will lead us to world government and world peace,(emphasis mine).
This leader will come from regular “human stock” apparently and then be endowed with super powers; he will become the counterfeit Christ. The New World Order will be primarily controlled by the high level Masons. 
The writer from the Cutting Edge website noted that Bill Lambert ended with this revelation linking the coming of the great leader of the Masons (called the “Christ”).
Finally, a sound will be heard world-wide which will herald the coming of this Christ. Prompted by this sound, people will be aware of his coming on three distinct levels: Spiritual, physical, and emotional.
The similarities between the last trump that is mentioned in I Thessalonians 4, the classic passage which describes in detail the event of the rapture and the description of the coming of the antichrist are uncanny. It would appear that what is suggested here is that the sound of the trumpet will indeed be something that the entire world will hear and in an attempt to distort its meaning it will be ascribed to the coming of the false Christ rather than the rapture of the true believers.
The Masonic secrets we have learned are purposefully hidden from the lower levels until they are deemed worthy to receive the truth as stated by Sovereign Grand Commander Albert Pike in his massive book of over 900 pages Morals and Dogma.
Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it. Truth is not for those who are unworthy or unable to receive it, or would pervert it. […] The truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason.
The deliberate false explanations and plethora of hidden symbols appears to be a confirmation of what was revealed to the Prophet Daniel when the angel interpreted the vision by saying that the little horn will understand sinister schemes. The Hebrew word khidot (חִידוֹת) means “riddle, difficult question, parable, enigmatic saying or question, perplexing saying or question,”that is a very good description of what they themselves have revealed – the secrets must be kept from all but the Adepts and Sages. Albert Pike even advocated the creation of a secret society within a secret society – certainly an organization of sinister schemes and enigmatic sayings!
We must create a super rite, which will remain unknown, to which we will call those Masons of high degree of whom we shall select. With regard to our brothers in Masonry, these men must be pledges to the strictest secrecy. Through this supreme rite, we will govern all Freemasonry which will become the one international center, the more powerful because its direction will be unknown.
What emerges from all that we have seen is a picture of a man who will have risen up through the ranks of an organization that at its core is committed to serving Lucifer, is taking grand steps to rebuilding the temple, has a sinister scheme to establish a New World Order. By connecting the dots we see a picture emerge that all of the efforts of the Masons in the reestablishment of Israel have been to rebuild the temple so that their leader, who will be “raised up” to go into the temple and declare himself to be god. He will declare himself to be god because he will be mingled with Satan. He will be the seed of the Serpent who God spoke of in the Garden those many years ago.