Joshua
BIBLICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
BIBLICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA
Joshua PART one
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Joshua (1) josh'-u-a ((a) yehoshua`, (b) yehoshua`, "Yahweh is deliverance" or "opulence"; compare JESHUA; Iesous):
1. Also called JESHUAH
A priest, head of the ninth shift The ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, (1 Chronicles 24:11)
973 Of his descendants returned from Babylon The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three. (Ezra 2:36) The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three. (Nehemiah 7:39)
2. A Levite who had charge of the tithes
And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small: (2 Chronicles 31:15) His descendants returned with Ezra from Babylon The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy and four. (Ezra 2:40) The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four. (Nehemiah 7:43)
3. Also called JOSHUA
A priest who accompanied Zerubbabel from Babylon Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: (Ezra 2:2) Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this; (Nehemiah 7:7) Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, (Nehemiah 12:1) Descendants of And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada, (Nehemiah 12:10)
He rebuilt the altar Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. (Ezra 3:2)
Rebuilt the temple Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. (Ezra 3:8-13)
Contends with those who sought to defeat the rebuilding of the temple Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. (Ezra 4:1-3)
Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2)
4. Father of Jozabad
Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites; (Ezra 8:33)
5. Son of Pahath-moab
The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve. (Ezra 2:6) The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred and eighteen. (Nehemiah 7:11)
6. Father of Ezer
And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armory at the turning of the wall. (Nehemiah 3:19)
7. A Levite who
explained the law to the people when Ezra read it aloud Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. (Nehemiah 8:7) Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren. (Nehemiah 12:8)
8. A Levite
who sealed Nehemiah's covenant And the Levites: both Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; (Nehemiah 10:9)
9. A city of the tribe of Judah
And at Jeshua, and at Moladah, and at Beth-phelet, (Nehemiah 11:26)
10. Joshua called
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. (Nehemiah 8:17) SYMBOLICAL Prophecies concerning
Zechariah 3. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. (Zechariah 6:9-15)
JOSHUA PART two
(BIBLICAL CHARACTERS IN FREEMASONRY "Joshua" BY: VAN GORDEN 1980")
Perseverance is the quality of resolutely maintaining a position or pursuing an object, despite opposition, obstacles or discouragement. It is a refusal to admit defeat, a refusal to abandon a position, or to stop applying effort toward the attainment of an object. By implication, it means continuing in a struggle, actively or passively, over a period of time. In any form of contested endeavor, it is an important element of success.
Jeshua, the High Priest at Jerusalem after the first return from Babylon, displayed great perseverance in trying to maintain the religious integrity of his people and to get the Temple rebuilt. Jeshua or Joshua, whose name means "Jehovah is salvation," was the son of Jozadak and the grandson of Seraiah, the High Priest executed by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeshua was probably born in Babylon during the Jewish exile there. As a priest,—apparently the highest ranking priest in the company,—-Jeshua accompanied Zerubbabel in the first return to Jerusalem from Babylon during the reign of Cyrus the Great.
At Jerusalem the returned exiles faced serious problems and most of these affected Jeshua’s main concern, the religious life of the people. These included a Temple in ruins, poverty and the hostility of the local Persian officials and the people already living in the country. All adversely affected Jeshua’s efforts directed at rebuilding the Temple, restoring traditional Jewish religious practices, and maintaining the Jews' religious and ethnic identity.
Poverty was a problem from the start. The rebuilding of the Temple would be a massive and costly project, but most of the returned exiles were poor. Many of the more prosperous Jews had been content in Babylon and had remained there. Cyrus had been generous, however, and the aid that he had provided combined with the contributions of those among the returned exiles who had assets, enabled a start to be made.
Soon after the return, the Jews erected an altar, under the direction of Jeshua. and began to offer sacrifices to Jehovah,—a rite that they had discontinued in Babylon, because they lived in an "unclean" land and could not get suitable sacrifices,—and to regularly observe their religious practices as prescribed by the Law. Work began on the Temple itself, with Jeshua, Zerubbabel and the other leaders supervising. Jeshua, along with Zerubbabel and others, presided over the celebration when the foundations had been laid.
Some authorities believe that this came years later in the time of Haggai, but it is probable that this much of a start had been made within a year or two after the first return. In either case, the opposition of the "people of the land” and the local Persian officials soon brought a temporary, but prolonged, suspension of the work. The opposition of the Persian officials appears to have been largely bureaucratic obstructionism and fear of diminished authority; but that of local people, called Samaritans, arose from religious causes, and therefore became a particular concern of Jeshua.
The Samaritans had adopted a distorted form of Judaism that included idolatrous practices. These people wanted to join the returned exiles in rebuilding the Temple and in religious practices generally. But the returned Jews, their religion having gone through a refining process during the exile, feared any influence that might contaminate their new purity. In particular, they feared any return to idolatry and other practices of their forefathers that they believed had brought God’s punishment through the conquest and exile. They wished to build upon the purified form of Judaism that they had brought back from Babylon, free of external influences. Jeshua and the other Jewish leaders, therefore, saw the Samaritans’ distorted Judaism as a threat to their religion, and scorned the Samaritans' advances.
Angered by this rejection, the Samaritans conspired with the Persian officials to hamper the Jews and to obstruct the construction of the Temple. They probably used violence, sabotage and vandalism, although this is only implied in Scripture. They found a more effective method in arousing the Persian king’s suspicions about the Jews’ activities through false or distorted reports. The death of Cyrus and the dynastic struggles in Persia that followed aided the conspirators. Suspension of the work resulted.
This suspension nearly ended the project, although both Jeshua and Zerubbabel appear to have remained committed to it and to have persevered in their efforts. Most of the Jews became discouraged and began concentrating on personal affairs, such as building houses for themselves. A number of disasters, such as droughts and crop failures added to their problems. In reality, God had brought these natural disasters as punishment for failure to push work on the Temple.
In the end, the perseverance of Jeshua and Zerubbabel brought results, aided substantially by God speaking through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. In the second year of Darius’ reign,—15 or 16 years after the first return,—God spoke through Haggai, directing Zerubbabel and Jeshua to resume work in the Temple. They responded immediately and work resumed within three weeks, and four weeks after the resumption of work the Temple began to take definite shape. The renewed efforts of the local people to halt the work through appeals to the Persian king failed this time. Darius sympathized with the Jews and ordered the records searched to find the original edict of Cyrus. When this had been found, Darius ordered the Persian officials in Jerusalem to cooperate with the Jews. It took only four years to complete and dedicate the new Temple.
The successful completion of the Temple resulted from the persistent efforts of many people, but Jeshua, as religious leader of the community, deserves great credit for his efforts and perseverance in the face of great obstacles. In the Masonic ritual, Jeshua appears frequently and in important roles, all connected with the rebuilding of the Temple. Throughout, he exemplifies perseverance and demonstrates determination to overcome all obstacles. With Zerubbabel and Haggai, he is given credit for the rebuilding of the Temple.
Biblical REFERENCES
Ezra: 2; 3; 4; 5.
Nehemiah: 7.
Haggai: 1; 2.
Zechariah: 3; 6.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Joshua (1) josh'-u-a ((a) yehoshua`, (b) yehoshua`, "Yahweh is deliverance" or "opulence"; compare JESHUA; Iesous):
1. Also called JESHUAH
A priest, head of the ninth shift The ninth to Jeshua, the tenth to Shecaniah, (1 Chronicles 24:11)
973 Of his descendants returned from Babylon The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three. (Ezra 2:36) The priests: the children of Jedaiah, of the house of Jeshua, nine hundred seventy and three. (Nehemiah 7:39)
2. A Levite who had charge of the tithes
And next him were Eden, and Miniamin, and Jeshua, and Shemaiah, Amariah, and Shecaniah, in the cities of the priests, in their set office, to give to their brethren by courses, as well to the great as to the small: (2 Chronicles 31:15) His descendants returned with Ezra from Babylon The Levites: the children of Jeshua and Kadmiel, of the children of Hodaviah, seventy and four. (Ezra 2:40) The Levites: the children of Jeshua, of Kadmiel, and of the children of Hodevah, seventy and four. (Nehemiah 7:43)
3. Also called JOSHUA
A priest who accompanied Zerubbabel from Babylon Which came with Zerubbabel: Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispar, Bigvai, Rehum, Baanah. The number of the men of the people of Israel: (Ezra 2:2) Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahamani, Mordecai, Bilshan, Mispereth, Bigvai, Nehum, Baanah. The number, I say, of the men of the people of Israel was this; (Nehemiah 7:7) Now these are the priests and the Levites that went up with Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua: Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, (Nehemiah 12:1) Descendants of And Jeshua begat Joiakim, Joiakim also begat Eliashib, and Eliashib begat Joiada, (Nehemiah 12:10)
He rebuilt the altar Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. (Ezra 3:2)
Rebuilt the temple Now in the second year of their coming unto the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second month, began Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and the remnant of their brethren the priests and the Levites, and all they that were come out of the captivity unto Jerusalem; and appointed the Levites, from twenty years old and upward, to set forward the work of the house of the Lord. Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to set forward the workmen in the house of God: the sons of Henadad, with their sons and their brethren the Levites.
And when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, they set the priests in their apparel with trumpets, and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise the Lord, after the ordinance of David king of Israel. And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy: So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off. (Ezra 3:8-13)
Contends with those who sought to defeat the rebuilding of the temple Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel; Then they came to Zerubbabel, and to the chief of the fathers, and said unto them, Let us build with you: for we seek your God, as ye do; and we do sacrifice unto him since the days of Esar-haddon king of Assur, which brought us up hither. But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel, said unto them, Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us. (Ezra 4:1-3)
Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2)
4. Father of Jozabad
Now on the fourth day was the silver and the gold and the vessels weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest; and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them was Jozabad the son of Jeshua, and Noadiah the son of Binnui, Levites; (Ezra 8:33)
5. Son of Pahath-moab
The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand eight hundred and twelve. (Ezra 2:6) The children of Pahath-moab, of the children of Jeshua and Joab, two thousand and eight hundred and eighteen. (Nehemiah 7:11)
6. Father of Ezer
And next to him repaired Ezer the son of Jeshua, the ruler of Mizpah, another piece over against the going up to the armory at the turning of the wall. (Nehemiah 3:19)
7. A Levite who
explained the law to the people when Ezra read it aloud Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place. (Nehemiah 8:7) Moreover the Levites: Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, which was over the thanksgiving, he and his brethren. (Nehemiah 12:8)
8. A Levite
who sealed Nehemiah's covenant And the Levites: both Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; (Nehemiah 10:9)
9. A city of the tribe of Judah
And at Jeshua, and at Moladah, and at Beth-phelet, (Nehemiah 11:26)
10. Joshua called
And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness. (Nehemiah 8:17) SYMBOLICAL Prophecies concerning
Zechariah 3. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Take of them of the captivity, even of Heldai, of Tobijah, and of Jedaiah, which are come from Babylon, and come thou the same day, and go into the house of Josiah the son of Zephaniah; Then take silver and gold, and make crowns, and set them upon the head of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest; And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord: Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
And the crowns shall be to Helem, and to Tobijah, and to Jedaiah, and to Hen the son of Zephaniah, for a memorial in the temple of the Lord. And they that are far off shall come and build in the temple of the Lord, and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you. And this shall come to pass, if ye will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God. (Zechariah 6:9-15)
JOSHUA PART two
(BIBLICAL CHARACTERS IN FREEMASONRY "Joshua" BY: VAN GORDEN 1980")
Perseverance is the quality of resolutely maintaining a position or pursuing an object, despite opposition, obstacles or discouragement. It is a refusal to admit defeat, a refusal to abandon a position, or to stop applying effort toward the attainment of an object. By implication, it means continuing in a struggle, actively or passively, over a period of time. In any form of contested endeavor, it is an important element of success.
Jeshua, the High Priest at Jerusalem after the first return from Babylon, displayed great perseverance in trying to maintain the religious integrity of his people and to get the Temple rebuilt. Jeshua or Joshua, whose name means "Jehovah is salvation," was the son of Jozadak and the grandson of Seraiah, the High Priest executed by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeshua was probably born in Babylon during the Jewish exile there. As a priest,—apparently the highest ranking priest in the company,—-Jeshua accompanied Zerubbabel in the first return to Jerusalem from Babylon during the reign of Cyrus the Great.
At Jerusalem the returned exiles faced serious problems and most of these affected Jeshua’s main concern, the religious life of the people. These included a Temple in ruins, poverty and the hostility of the local Persian officials and the people already living in the country. All adversely affected Jeshua’s efforts directed at rebuilding the Temple, restoring traditional Jewish religious practices, and maintaining the Jews' religious and ethnic identity.
Poverty was a problem from the start. The rebuilding of the Temple would be a massive and costly project, but most of the returned exiles were poor. Many of the more prosperous Jews had been content in Babylon and had remained there. Cyrus had been generous, however, and the aid that he had provided combined with the contributions of those among the returned exiles who had assets, enabled a start to be made.
Soon after the return, the Jews erected an altar, under the direction of Jeshua. and began to offer sacrifices to Jehovah,—a rite that they had discontinued in Babylon, because they lived in an "unclean" land and could not get suitable sacrifices,—and to regularly observe their religious practices as prescribed by the Law. Work began on the Temple itself, with Jeshua, Zerubbabel and the other leaders supervising. Jeshua, along with Zerubbabel and others, presided over the celebration when the foundations had been laid.
Some authorities believe that this came years later in the time of Haggai, but it is probable that this much of a start had been made within a year or two after the first return. In either case, the opposition of the "people of the land” and the local Persian officials soon brought a temporary, but prolonged, suspension of the work. The opposition of the Persian officials appears to have been largely bureaucratic obstructionism and fear of diminished authority; but that of local people, called Samaritans, arose from religious causes, and therefore became a particular concern of Jeshua.
The Samaritans had adopted a distorted form of Judaism that included idolatrous practices. These people wanted to join the returned exiles in rebuilding the Temple and in religious practices generally. But the returned Jews, their religion having gone through a refining process during the exile, feared any influence that might contaminate their new purity. In particular, they feared any return to idolatry and other practices of their forefathers that they believed had brought God’s punishment through the conquest and exile. They wished to build upon the purified form of Judaism that they had brought back from Babylon, free of external influences. Jeshua and the other Jewish leaders, therefore, saw the Samaritans’ distorted Judaism as a threat to their religion, and scorned the Samaritans' advances.
Angered by this rejection, the Samaritans conspired with the Persian officials to hamper the Jews and to obstruct the construction of the Temple. They probably used violence, sabotage and vandalism, although this is only implied in Scripture. They found a more effective method in arousing the Persian king’s suspicions about the Jews’ activities through false or distorted reports. The death of Cyrus and the dynastic struggles in Persia that followed aided the conspirators. Suspension of the work resulted.
This suspension nearly ended the project, although both Jeshua and Zerubbabel appear to have remained committed to it and to have persevered in their efforts. Most of the Jews became discouraged and began concentrating on personal affairs, such as building houses for themselves. A number of disasters, such as droughts and crop failures added to their problems. In reality, God had brought these natural disasters as punishment for failure to push work on the Temple.
In the end, the perseverance of Jeshua and Zerubbabel brought results, aided substantially by God speaking through the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. In the second year of Darius’ reign,—15 or 16 years after the first return,—God spoke through Haggai, directing Zerubbabel and Jeshua to resume work in the Temple. They responded immediately and work resumed within three weeks, and four weeks after the resumption of work the Temple began to take definite shape. The renewed efforts of the local people to halt the work through appeals to the Persian king failed this time. Darius sympathized with the Jews and ordered the records searched to find the original edict of Cyrus. When this had been found, Darius ordered the Persian officials in Jerusalem to cooperate with the Jews. It took only four years to complete and dedicate the new Temple.
The successful completion of the Temple resulted from the persistent efforts of many people, but Jeshua, as religious leader of the community, deserves great credit for his efforts and perseverance in the face of great obstacles. In the Masonic ritual, Jeshua appears frequently and in important roles, all connected with the rebuilding of the Temple. Throughout, he exemplifies perseverance and demonstrates determination to overcome all obstacles. With Zerubbabel and Haggai, he is given credit for the rebuilding of the Temple.
Biblical REFERENCES
Ezra: 2; 3; 4; 5.
Nehemiah: 7.
Haggai: 1; 2.
Zechariah: 3; 6.