Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Joshua Chapter 14
Metaphysically Interpreting Joshua 14:1-5
14:1And these are the inheritances which the children of Israel took in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed unto them, 14:2by the lot of their inheritance, as Jehovah commanded by Moses, for the nine tribes, and for the half-tribe. 14:3For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan: but unto the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 14:4For the children of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim: and they gave no portion unto the Levites in the land, save cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for their cattle and for their substance. 14:5As Jehovah commanded Moses, so the children of Israel did; and they divided the lan
Metaphysically Interpreting Joshua 14:6-15
14:6Then the children of Judah drew nigh unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that Jehovah spake unto Moses the man of God concerning me and concerning thee in Kadesh-barnea. 14:7Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of Jehovah sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 14:8Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed Jehovah my God. 14:9And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to thy children for ever, because thou hast wholly followed Jehovah my God. 14:10And now, behold, Jehovah hath kept me alive, as he spake, these forty and five years, from the time that Jehovah spake this word unto Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. 14:11As yet I am as strong this day as I as in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, and to go out and to come in. 14:12Now therefore give me this hill-country, whereof Jehovah spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakim were there, and cities great and fortified: it may be that Jehovah will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as Jehovah spake.
14:13And Joshua blessed him; and he gave Hebron unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14:14Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite unto this day; because that he wholly followed Jehovah, the God of Israel. 14:15Now the name of Hebron beforetime was Kiriath-arba; which Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.
October 26, 1902: Joshua 14:5-15
We “divide the land” when we begin to recognize that the fundamental ideas of Being have their established centres in the organism. Life is a fundamental idea of Being, and it acts through the generative centre; Love acts through the heart or solar plexus; Intelligence radiates from the head, etc. The twelve fundamental ideas of the Divine Mind are made manifest from twelve established brain centres in the body. These are the twelve tribes of Israel located in the land. In the unregenerate, materialized state of consciousness these are confined to the personality and its material sense of body, but when the Spirit begins to act and man broadens his view of himself and his environment, a loosening up process sets in, and these centres radiate their powers far beyond the confines of the organism. This may be called spiritual development. It is not the creation of anything new, but the opening up to consciousness of that which already is.
We all have these body organisms, and our physiologists have in a measure explained their intricate and wonderful machinery, yet we do not possess them. We live outside the land instead of inside; the possession is in the hands of Anakim, the giants of Nature, to whom most people delegate great power, as did the children of Israel. But man is given dominion over Nature; the command of the Lord is, “Go over and possess the land.” The ability to control and spiritualize these states of consciousness below the line of everyday thought is developed gradually. We do not carry all the centres of consciousness forward at once, but in different stages of the process the various faculties evince their activity through some prevailing state of mind. When Understanding is quickened, we want all things reduced to an intellectual basis, and we must know the reason for everything, but Faith in the ascendancy pauses us to go blindly forward, trusting where we cannot see. In the end all these faculties are to be rounded out and balanced one with another.
Each faculty in its development goes through many phases, which is symbolized in Scripture by change of name. Joshua had his name changed from Oshea (a prayer, the Lord save), to Joshua (the Lord saves). This represents that change in our attitude which comes of a fuller understanding of the law of Being. First we are a prayer to a God outside of ourselves, expecting him to save; then we affirm the prayer within ourselves, and we know then that the I AM is saved now, and that we are it.
Caleb is a development of the repeated animations of our I AM ability. He is the son of Jephunneh, which means “prepared for the way.” Kenezite means “hunter.” This all refers to the various steps we take when coming to the recognition of these faculties. The way has been prepared for us, and we are all sons of Jephunneh; we also have to hunt or search that way each for himself; we are the Kenezite who “wholly followed the Lord.”
Caleb means “persistence, courage, faith.” Hebron is a mountain meimng “society, association.” When our persistence in affirming our ability in Spirit, our power in Spirit, our fearlessness in Spirit, our substance in Spirit, and all other high affirmations that present themselves, has reached a certain point of conviction, it sets free a set of brain cells right in the centre of the head called physiologically the pineal gland, which is of the appearance of a half-opened eye. This is in the Scripture Ai or Hai, the royal city of the Anakim. This means also “a heap of stones.” It is in the carnal consciousness, the centre of personal identity, and through it the whole organism is materialized. In the regeneration it is illuminated and becomes Peter, the rock of faith that spiritualizes the whole assembly, or associated faculties.
The first step in this process of regeneration is to establish Caleb, a courageous, persistent affirmation of spiritual ability and power. As Caleb repeatedly affirmed his strength and ability to overcome, so must we. He did not let the idea of weakness or old age have any place in his consciousness, but affirmed that, although he was 85 years of age, he had the strength and ability of youth and vigor. When we establish ourselves wholly in the Lord, there are no contending vibrations in body: “The land had rest from war.”
– UNITY magazine.
November 14, 1926: Joshua 14:6-15
What faculty of the mind endures, even though the others fail? The pivotal, enduring faculty of the mind is faith. Around the faith faculty, which is centered in God, revolve courage, boldness, enthusiasm, continuity.
In this lesson what character represents the bold, impetuous, faithful one? The word “Caleb” means “bold, impetuous, capable.” Caleb was not one who would be discouraged because of the “giants” in the land of Canaan; he insisted that the Israelites were able to go up and possess the land; “he wholly followed Jehovah, the God of Israel.”
What is involved in wholly following Jehovah, the God of Israel? Jehovah represents God's idea of man, which is given to every man to demonstrate. Before we can follow Jehovah we must understand the great truth that Jehovah is the Christ, the superman, the image and likeness of God in us. When this understanding is established in us, we have an ideal around which to work and to attain our highest good; this ideal is the one to which Paul referred when he said, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
What faculties of the mind should coordinate with faith to the attainment of the kingdom of the heavens or the Promised Land? Faith should be associated with zeal, also with will, which takes the initiative and if necessary becomes a pioneer in new fields of endeavor (Joshua).
When we burn with this inner fire of enthusiasm, can anything stand in the way of our overcoming? When we have spiritual conviction of the righteousness of our cause, backed up with an understanding of the all-powerful inner man (Jehovah), nothing is impossible to us. The established states of consciousness in matter (walls of Jericho) are dissolved when we persistently speak words of Truth.
What is the significance of the “hill-county” which was in possession of the giants and for which Caleb asked? The “hill-country” represents the highest thoughts in mortal consciousness, which function in the front brain. Anak was the progenitor of a race of giants. The name “Anak” means “long-necked, giant, strength of Baal,” and signifies the belief that the intellect, functioning in material thought, is the secret of power and is the source of truth. The abodes of these intellectual giants in the brain cells are “great and fortified.” Yet understanding faith affirms, “Jehovah will be with me, and I shall drive them out, as Jehovah spake.”
What is the meaning of the word “Hebron”? The word “Hebron” means “alliance, conjunction, friendship, company, league, community;” it signifies association of ideas or metaphysical concentration and cooperation. The Lord told David to go up to Hebron (II Sam. 2:1). The metaphysical interpretation of this statement is that he was pointing the way to harmonious cooperation between the indwelling love in the heart and the understanding in the head. The gathering of the tribes of Israel at Hebron to acknowledge David as king (II Sam. 5:1-5) represents the concentrating of all the thoughts of reality in the acknowledgment of love (David) as the ruling power.
July 9, 1933: Joshua 14:6-14
What main thought is brought out in the lesson today? The main thought in today's lesson is that sooner or later we get the fruit of all our spiritual aspirations.
What is represented by the children of Judah drawing nigh to Joshua in Gilgal? Judah means “praise Jehovah”, Joshua means “Jehovah saves,” and Gilgal, “total denial of sense bondage.” This passage, then, means that, when we praise the spiritual I AM and deny the power of sense, we are approaching the fulfillment of our spiritual work.
What does Caleb stand for? Caleb represents faith and enthusiasm. His father was Jephunneh the Kenezite, meaning the “source of indwelling strength.”
What is the land referred to by Caleb, to which he and Joshua were sent as pioneers? The land referred to is the Land of Promise in the subconscious realm of man's nature.
What was the first report of the twelve who were sent by Moses into this Promised Land? All but Joshua and Caleb were fainthearted, because of seemingly insurmountable difficulties that they perceived must be overcame before they could gain possession of this goodly land.
Why were the spies so fainthearted? They did not wholly follow Jehovah, as brought out in the 8th and 9th verses: “Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt; but I wholly followed Jehovah my God. And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and thy children forever, because thou hast wholly followed Jehovah my God.”
When in our spiritual enthusiasm and faith we uncover the possibilities of the subconsciousness, do we ever lose our hold on it? The promise is as stated in the 9th verse, that whatever our “foot hath trodden” on, or whatever we by positive affirmation make substantial, shall be our inheritance, and we shall come into its full possession, if we are faithful to Jehovah.
Is it necessary that we keep the source of our inner strength and spiritual life in consciousness in order to attain the full realization? According to Caleb, we should affirm that we have been kept alive and that we are as strong this day as we were the day that Moses (the law) sent us.
What is the meaning of the hill country, Hebron? Hebron represents the conscious Unity of the inner and the outer, or of the conscious mind and the subconscious mind.
July 10, 1938: Joshua 14:6-15
Joshua represents the power of the I AM or indwelling Christ. Why is he mentioned as being in Gilgal and as having been in Kadesh-barnea? Gilgal represents complete denial of sense bondage. Before we can lay hold of and attain the redemption of our life forces we must deny this bondage. Kadesh-barnea represents the pure, sinless, perfect, ideal state that exists in the depths of the consciousness of each individual. This we claim through the I AM.
What is the meaning of the name Caleb? Caleb means “dog,” and signifies an unyielding, uncompromising power in man that keeps him loyal to his highest ideals.
How is Caleb's faithfulness revealed? Caleb returned to Moses a candid report based on his inner conviction. “I brought him word again as it was in my heart.” He wholly followed Jehovah.
What is included in wholly following Jehovah? The constructive habit of thought is necessary. Fear and cowardice have no part in God consciousness, neither has any sort of part performance.
When we are unyielding in our loyalty to Truth, what is the result? Principle always remains valid. When we are true to principle therefore, we prove our position to be well taken. “The land whereon thy foot hath trodden shall be an inheritance to thee and to thy children for ever.”
Is the passage of time enough to dampen one's ardor for Truth or diminish one's loyalty to it? Time is something that is outside the domain of Truth. It cannot affect faith, loyalty, or any other quality that is in touch with the source of spiritual strength.
What do the Anakim represent? They represent the intellectual thoughts and states of consciousness in man that cause him to believe in the outer formed world as the real source of his strength, power, and good.
Why did Caleb ask for the hill country as his inheritance? The hill country represents difficulties and hardships. The steadfastness of faith and loyalty to the divine law are required to cope with such difficulties.
What does Hebron represent? Hebron stands for an association or concentration of ideas. It represents also the seat of conscious thought.
July 9, 1944: Joshua 14:6-14
What does Caleb's reward for loyal obedience symbolize? It is the same reward that each of us reaps in strength of mind and character as we develop faithfulness and express it in the overcoming of the sense nature in ourselves and the transforming of sense into Spirit.
How is faithfulness represented in this lesson? By Caleb, whose name means “dog.” In its complete devotion to man the dog is a symbol of the perfect faith that we may and should have in God.
What reward was given Caleb for obeying the divine will wholly? He was given further and more difficult conquests. As we develop strength through overcoming, we find still greater things to overcome and an opportunity to develop still greater strength and resourcefulness.
How is strength retained? Physical strength is retained through use. “As my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, and to go out and to come in.” Mental and spiritual strength obey the same law. To remain at the peak, strength must be put forth.
What do the “giants” of the “hill-country” represent to us? They represent the intellectual thoughts and states of consciousness in us that tend to make us believe that we take our strength from the outer, formed world. The outer manifestation is an expression of our inner thought and word. It has no sustained power in or of itself.
What is meant by the words “The children of Judah drew nigh unto Joshua in Gilgal”? They indicate the preparation that we make to enter into a higher consciousness, when through prayer and praise (Judah) we arouse the I AM to deny sense bondage altogether (Gilgal). By scattering the darkness of sense thoughts we open the way for a permanent rise to a higher consciousness.
When do we obey the divine law? When we identify ourselves with what is Godlike in our nature, looking to God as our sole resource. When we do this we refuse to entertain fear or doubt and to [sentence is unfinished].April 29, 1951: Joshua 14:6-13
When is it true that “One on God's side is a majority”? When a person has unfaltering faith that God in him is upholding him and expressing His purpose through him, and therefore he cannot fail. In this conviction a person becomes invincible and unconquerable, fearless and indomitable.
Did Caleb hesitate to make his report even though the other members of the commission sent by Moses to spy out the land of Canaan made a negative report that was directly opposed to his? No, he brought the word “as it was in my heart” or as he truly believed the conditions in Canaan to be. Caleb here represents the person who has strong faith and enthusiasm, and who is not in the least discouraged by adverse appearances.
Is courage a duty or a natural endowment? It may be both, but it is first of all a duty. If we believe in the presence and power of God we are under a duty to go forward to express it in our actions. Courage grows as we go forward to meet difficulty.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 12-28-2013
