Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of Joshua Chapter 6
Metaphysically Interpreting Joshua 6:1-27
6:1Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in. 6:2And Jehovah said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thy hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valor. 6:3And ye shall compass the city, all the men of war, going about the city once. Thus shalt thou do six days. 6:4And seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark: and the seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets. 6:5And it shall be, that, when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall go up every man straight before him. 6:6And Joshua the son of Nun called the priests, and said unto them, Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Jehovah. 6:7And they said unto the people, Pass on, and compass the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of Jehovah.
6:8And it was so, that, when Joshua had spoken unto the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before Jehovah passed on, and blew the trumpets: and the ark of the covenant of Jehovah followed them. 6:9And the armed men went before the priests that blew the trumpets, and the rearward went after the ark, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went.6:10And Joshua commanded the people, saying, Ye shall not shout, nor let your voice be heard, neither shall any word proceed out of your mouth, until the day I bid you shout; then shall ye shout. 6:11So he caused the ark of Jehovah to compass the city, going about it once: and they came into the camp, and lodged in the camp.
6:12And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of Jehovah. 6:13And the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams' horns before the ark of Jehovah went on continually, and blew the trumpets: and the armed men went before them; and the rearward came after the ark of Jehovah, the priests blowing the trumpets as they went. 6:14And the second day they compassed the city once, and returned into the camp: so they did six days.
6:15And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they rose early at the dawning of the day, and compassed the city after the same manner seven times: only on the day they compassed the city seven times. 6:16And it came to pass at the seventh time, when the priests blew the trumpets, Joshua said unto the people, Shout; for Jehovah hath given you the city. 6:17And the city shall be devoted, even it and all that is therein, to Jehovah: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. 6:18But as for you, only keep yourselves from the devoted thing, lest when ye have devoted it, ye take of the devoted thing; so would ye make the camp of Israel accursed, and trouble it. 6:19But all the silver, and gold, and vessels of brass and iron, are holy unto Jehovah: they shall come into the treasury of Jehovah. 6:20So the people shouted, and the priests blew the trumpets; and it came to pass, when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, that the people shouted with a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city. 6:21And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, both young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword.
6:22And Joshua said unto the two men that had spied out the land, Go into the harlot's house, and bring out thence the woman, and all that she hath, as ye sware unto her. 6:23And the young men the spies went in, and brought out Rahab, and her father, and her mother, and her brethren, and all that she had; all her kindred also they brought out; and they set them without the camp of Israel. 6:24And they burnt the city with fire, and all that was therein; only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of Jehovah. 6:25But Rahab the harlot, and her father's household, and all that she had, did Joshua save alive; and she dwelt in the midst of Israel unto this day, because she hid the messengers, whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
6:26And Joshua charged them with an oath at that time, saying,
Cursed be the man before Jehovah,
that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho:
with the loss of his first-born shall he lay the foundation thereof, and with the loss of his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.6:27So Jehovah was with Joshua; and his fame was in all the land.
October 19, 1902: Joshua 6:12-20
When Joshua, the I AM, crosses the stream of turbulent thoughts that flows between the inner and the outer realms of man's being, the first proposition that confronts him is that the body is material. This is the walled city Jericho. These material walls have to be leveled before the soul can possess the body processes and direct them.
That the body is not solid and that matter is a supposition of sense consciousness, even physical science is demonstrating. The cells of the body are not even in contact, but are separated by air spaces, and as a modern physiologist says, “revolve around one another like cannon balls.” The X-ray also proves the flesh to be transparent. But so long as we believe it to be solid, and make no effort to do away with that belief, it will seem to us to be a material body.
Nothing is solid. All is in a state of flux. Heat, light, electricity, magnetism, the so-called material atom itself, are but modes of motion in a universal energy, according to the modern school of physical science. Aristotle was called a madman, because he declared that the universe was created and sustained by God through a musical law. Modern research reveals this law everywhere. All structures large or small, simple or complex, have a definite rate of vibration, depending on their material, size and shape, as fixed as the fundamental note of a musical chord. When the bridge at Colebrooke Dale (the first iron bridge in the world) was building, a fiddler came along and said he could fiddle it down. The workmen laughed in scorn and told him to fiddle away to his heart's content. He played until he struck the keynote of the bridge, when it swayed so violently that the workmen commanded him to stop. At one time considerable annoyance was experienced in one of the cotton mills in Lowell. Some days the building would be so violently shaken that a pail of water would be nearly emptied, while on other days all was quiet. Experience proved it was only when the machinery was running at a certain rate that the building was disturbed. The simple remedy was in running it faster or slower, so as to put it out of time with the building. Marching armies break step when crossing a bridge, and a dog trotting in steady measure will cause some bridges to tremble violently. In the Alps the bells on the mules are tied up after a storm that their combined tinkling may not start an avalanche.
The body has its keynote, and its material walls can be shattered, when the right vibration is brought to bear upon it.
The inner spiritual principle, or truth of man's being, represented by the ark, and the thoughts that emanate from it, or statements of that truth, the priests, are of first importance in this process. These precede every act when in Divine order. The blowing of the ram's horn represents the denial of adverse conditions (ram's horns) and the affirmation of the power of Spirit (“the Spirit bloweth where it listeth”). The armed men that precede the priests are the “I can” and “I will” attitudes of the mind.
Seven is the scale upon which all structures in the natural world are composed. There are seven principal functions in the organism on its natural side,such as digestion, assimilation, circulation, respiration, etc. Each of these is based in a spiritual idea, which has to be appealed to in dissolving the materiality of the body. This is not accomplished all at once, but has its steps or degrees, represented by the “days.”
In each degree we are to encompass the whole city, that is, go to every centre of consciousness in the organism and declare the truth of Spirit from every standpoint. When this has been accomplished in Divine order, step by step each day for six days, on the seventh day we give the final treatment, which is a realization of spiritual wholeness, and the whole consciousness will respond (all the people shout), and we know that we have conquered, taken the city.
None of the inhabitants of this city are to be saved except Rahab the harlot. This means that all sensations of a material character are to be erased except feeling, or the affectional nature. This has been untrue to the purity of Spirit, but is to be redeemed. Rahab afterwards married Solman (clothed).
All the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron are to come into the treasury of the Lord. That is, all the enduring qualities of the body are to be dedicated to Spirit and held in the spiritual consciousness.
– UNITY magazine.
November 7, 1926: Joshua 6:12-20
What does the word Jericho represent? The word “Jericho” means “moon, month, fragrance.” Jericho here represents the reflection of the real; it also represents an aggregation of thoughts in the subconscious, which have crystallized and have taken on materiality in body cell centers in the lower part of the abdomen. The meaning in the lesson today is that this reflected state of consciousness has become inactive. In a previous verse of this chapter it is stated, “Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel; none went out, and none came in.”
What is necessary to break up this crystallized state of consciousness in mind and in body? When a bodily function becomes inactive and ceases to perform its natural office, the remedy is a declaration for more life.
What does Joshua represent? Joshua represents the leader, or I AM, working under the light of Spirit. “Joshua rose early in the morning.” This means that the I AM was prompt in overcoming the limitations of the flood of negative mortal thoughts (Jordan) that flow through the consciousness of man from his head to his feet.
What do the priests represent? The priests represent the interpreters of Divine Mind. They read from the law. Moses, the lawgiver, was a Levite, a priest after God's own heart.
What does the ark of the covenant represent? The ark of the covenant represents the understanding that man's real nature is spiritual. This truth is the very foundation of man's spiritual life, and should be held in mind constantly.
What does the sound of the trumpets represent? The sound of the trumpets represents the going forth of spiritual harmony in thought and in word. When the mind is centered in spiritual consciousness, the intoning of words of Truth has a very pronounced effect upon crystallized error thoughts.
What is the meaning of the Israelites' compassing the city seven times and finally demolishing its Walls? The natural man functions through the seven senses. The seventh sense is thought vibration. All substance is permeated by vibratory energy. When one enters spiritual consciousness, which is the ideal realm back of and within vibration, he becomes a spiritual master, and can break down and transform so-called material structures.
What action of mind is necessary to the dissolution of the obstructing walls of thought that bind certain organs of the body and keep them in inactive stales (Jericho)? First one should attain a realization of the omnipresence of life (“they encompassed the city seven times”). Then truth and harmony should be expressed in thoughts and in words (“the priests blew the trumpets and ... the people shouted with a great shout”).
What is the central idea expressed in this lesson? The central idea of the lesson is the recognition of spiritual power expressed with faithfulness and persistence to the end that certain inactive functions are restored to divine perfection.
December 16, 1951: Joshua 6:1-5
What do the seven priests who compassed Jericho seven times represent? The priests here represent faith in the power of Spirit as expressed in all the departments of man's being.
What does the compassing of the city seven times by the Israelites show? It shows that spiritual thoughts have entered into all the senses of the natural man, and that they all unite in the effort to break down the walls of material thought, in order that the truth of Spirit may gain freer, fuller access to the whole consciousness.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 12-25-2013
