An earnest question is continually asked of us who minister to members of the Masonic fraternity. “So, if Masonry is un-Christian,” people inquire, “What about the youth orders of Masonry? Are they so bad?”
This is born out of genuine parental concern for the well- being of their children. In this increasingly carnal world, are there worthwhile places one can send their son or daughter for fun and fellowship with the assurance that they will only be exposed to wholesome ideals and influences?
What about the Masonic orders for youth–the Order of DeMolay? The Rainbow Girls? Job’s Daughters? Are these innocent enough? This assumption neglects very central principles found in God’s Word–the very Bible which is found reposing on the altars of Masonry.
The first question is one of spiritual authority. Surely no Christian parents needs to be reminded of the responsibility they have for the precious young souls God has entrusted unto them. The Bible is full of admonitions to carefully train one’s child.”
And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”– Deut.11:9.”And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”– Eph.6:4.
Conversely, there are dire spiritual warnings for those who either fail to teach their children or who lead them into error-filled teachings:”But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.”– Mt.18:6.
Thus God has given Christian parents ultimate spiritual authority, or headship over their children. Even if the child has not yet received eternal life, he or she is protected under the covenant of the parents’ commitment to Jesus Christ to an incredible extent. The Lord has placed a strong hedge of protection around Christian families.(Job.1:10)
What does this have to do with Masonic youth orders? It is the same question of headship. Masonry is a false religious system, and its god is not the Biblical God. Therefore, temples of Freemasonry are temples to a false god; and Freemasons are, knowingly or not, priests of a false, Baalish system.
Please bear in mind that this is a spiritual principle that has little to do with the appearances or even the philosophies of these youth groups. None of these groups are allowed to meet without the presence of a Master Mason. They function solely under the charter of Masonic authority! They are also designed to draw young people into the adult orders. The youth groups of Freemasonry are “adoptive” orders, which means that upon being initiated the young man or woman is spiritually “adopted” into the Masonic family, even though they aren’t actually Masons. Even a Christian youth who has been adopted into the family of God (Rom.8:15- 17) comes under the spiritual authority of Masonry as well when he or she joins these orders. This cannot help but make them “double-minded” (Jas.1:5-8) at an already difficult phase of their young lives.
No matter how apparently “innocent” the ceremonies and teachings of these youth orders are, they function under the shadow of an anti-Christian spiritual power which the Master Mason brings with him.
No parent would knowingly permit their son or daughter to attend a coven of witches; and yet the same spiritual principality (Eph.6:12) which presides over witchcraft also presides over Masonic ceremonies–the false god of magic and ancient pagan fertility cults, from which Masonry proudly claims descent! (See Albert Pike 33o, MORALS AND DOGMA, pp.730-732; Albert Mackey 33o, ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY, p.560, 573.)
Thus, the youth is walking innocently into a spiritual minefield, without warning or advance knowledge, when they enter a Masonic youth order. They stand on Satan’s territory and have thus opened a doorway in their lives for him to begin to corrode their very souls! They have broken down the hedge which God has around them! (Eccl.10:8) Not only that! At the very age when their powerful emotional drives are running at peak, they are surrendering themselves to a spiritual power which is engineered to provoke lust! The elements and symbols of Masonry, even as in witchcraft, are sexual in spirit. A young person who is receiving sound moral instruction at home would be having that instruction subtly undermined by submitting to the headship of Masonic authority!
Masonry glorifies the sexual attributes of humanity, in a disguised way. The square and compass symbols actually represent the male and female reproductive organs! The “point within the circle” and the twin pillars are all disguised forms of ancient talismans of paganism designed to invoke lust! (Albert Mackey, 33o ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FREEMASONRY, P.560, p.573 and his SYMBOLISM IN FREEMASONRY, pp.352-53) Thus, while teaching pious principles on the surface, these orders only serve to pour fuel on the already smoldering fires of adolescent emotion, and the God-given rights of the Christian parent are diluted by the very real authority of a strange god who appeals to all that is carnal in the young person.
The desire to be “something special,” and to “lord it over” others is enhanced by these groups, which bestow impressive, high sounding titles upon their officers (“Honored Queen” etc.) and dress them up in all the pomp of royalty! Crowns and scepters, satin robes or cloaks and chains of office: these all serve to glorify the egos of the young people instead of conforming them to the humble image of Christ (Phil.2:5-9,Romans 12:1-2).
Certainly, these orders make a show of teaching “religion;” but religion is not what our young men and women need. They need the gospel of grace! Subtly but completely, a doctrine of salvation by works and labor is taught in these orders; contrary to scripture. The secrecy and elitism of these groups is both uncharitable and forbidden by Jesus Christ Himself, who forbade the taking of oaths. (Matt.5:34-37) True Christian love does not exclude, but rather embraces whosoever will come.
Listen to the Word of the Lord through the prophet Jeremiah:”And they built the high places of Baal, which are the valley of the son of Himnon, to cause their sons and daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”– Jer.32:35.
Elsewhere the Lord specifically commanded : “Thou shalt not let any of they seed pass through the fire to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the Lord.”– Lev.18:22 (also Lev.20:1-5).
Now, obviously what is being spoken of is a particularly vile form of child sacrifice. Molech was a god of the Ammonites, and his idol was metal and heated up by flames within. The child was placed in the idol’s red-hot arms and one hesitates to even imagine the result. (EERDMANN’S HANDBOOK TO THE BIBLE, p.178). The Hebrews were forbidden by God to do this.
Yet, unthinkable as it sounds, the Israelites persistently fell into this precise sort of idolatry! They were so beguiled by the exquisite-sounding promises of the priests of Baal and Molech that they willingly passed their sweet children through the fires; in spite of the repeated warnings of the prophets! Even the wise Solomon, one of the “patron saints” of Masonry built an altar to this god. (1 Kings 11:1-8)
Horrifying as this may seem, in Masonry the same thing is happening to the young person on a spiritual level! The fires of Molech only consumed the bodies of these innocent children; but the spiritual fires of the Masonic order corrode the very souls of our youth! The “initiation rites” which they put the young people through are unhallowed conflagrations which sear their consciences with a red hot iron!
In our society, there are enough “fires” through which our children must walk: drugs, sex, occult movies and heavy metal music. Most of these the child chooses for himself, however unknowingly. But in the Masonic youth orders, the young person is often urged to join with the “blessing” of the parent. The very virtuous appearance of these Orders is what makes them all the more dangerous! These teens are drinking spiritual poison in unlabeled bottles!
Let us remember the “curse of the millstone” which Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 18:6 and try not to pass our adolescents through any more “fires” than our culture already subjects them to! It is the unseen trap which is the most deadly, and their very souls are at stake! If you are allowing your young person to partake in these societies, you need to get them out immediately! If you, yourself, had an involvement with them earlier; you need to renounce them and repent before God! Only then can you have the full victory which Jesus Christ can bring!
It is important to realize that as you draw your child from these “fires,” they also will need to repent in prayer for their involvement and simply ask our loving Lord, Jesus Christ, to wash them clean in His blood and take all of that spiritual debris out of their lives! He is indeed “faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9)
For more information, contact: Saints Alive in Jesus, Box 1076, Issaquah, WA. 98027; (206)392-2077.