"Read i Kings xx. 28—34. " And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the Lord, Because the Syrians have said, The Lord is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. And they pitched one over against the other seven days. And so jt was, that in the seventh day the battle was joined; and the Children of Israel slew of the Syrians an hundred thousand footmen in one day. But the rest fled to Aphek, into the city; and there a wall fell upon twenty and seven thousand of the men that were left. And Ben-hadad fled, and came into the city, into an inner chamber. And his servants said unto him, Behold now, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings; let us, I pray thee, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes upon our heads, and go out to the king of Israel, peradventure he will save thy life. So they girded sackcloth on their loins, and put ropes upon their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said, Thy servant Ben-hadad saith, I pray thee, let me live. And he said, Is he yet alive ? he is my brother. Now the men did diligently observe whether anything would come from him, and did hastily catch it; and they said, Thy brother Ben- hadad. Then he said, Go ye, bring him. Then Ben-hadad came forth to him; and he caused him to come up into the chariot. And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shall make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away."
Now, Brethren, what are we to say to this remarkable passage in Holy Writ. It is the point I want to establish, showing Freemasonry existed— or, at any rate, a brotherhood existed—prior to building the Temple; it is a question if this proves the fact, but it goes a long way towards it. It was evident that the king of Israel was the custodian of the records and sym- bologies, and knew that Ben-hadad had been initiated,—perhaps the one who entrusted him. The sojourners had some knowledge in whole or in part, for they diligently observed what might escape his lips, evidently expecting some demonstration from Israel's king that would reveal more than they knew.
The covenant was no doubt a solemn binding contract or secret of a more cementing tie or link between man and man, and so they parted ; and as I intend to deal with this question further on, like Ahab and Ben-hadad, we will part, and I can but thank you, Brethren, foryour kindness in extending such marked attention to and appreciation of my humble efforts.
(Tomas Holand, Freemasonry from the Great Pyramid of Ancient Times, London 1885, str.31-35)
