Metaphysical meaning of Canaan (mbd)
Canaan, ca'-naan (Heb.)--realized nothingness; material existence; traffic in materiality; a merchant; a pirate; low; inferior; lowland.
a The land that was given to the Israelites by God for an everlasting possession (Gen. 17:8; Deut. 32:49; Josh. 14:1-5). b A son of Ham, one of Noah's three sons (Gen. 9:18).
Meta. Canaan means lowland, that is, the body consciousness. The redeemed body is the Promised Land, and when man rediscovers this lost domain all the promises of the Scriptures will be fulfilled. It is not a dream that man is to possess an immortal body; it is a solid fact. In order to redeem the body man must enter with his spiritual thoughts into his organism and teach it the saving Truth. This is the symbolic teaching of Joshua 1.
We also think of Canaan (lowland) as referring to the subconsciousness. Metaphysically it represents humbleness and receptivity. The land of Canaan, too, represents the unlimited elemental forces of Being in which man is placed and to which he gives character through faith in God as omnipresent Spirit. To mystics it is the name of the invisible substance that surrounds and interpenetrates all forms, of which it is the mother.
Canaan, the son of Ham, refers to the fleshly organism and tendencies of man; it refers to the physical and not to the spiritual.
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Preceding Entry: Cana
Following Entry: Canaanite
