Metaphysical meaning of Joshua (mbd)
Joshua (in A. V., Numbers 13:16 and
Chronicles 7:27, Jehoshua and Jehoshuah), josh'-u-å (Heb.)--Jehovah is salvation; Jah is savior; Jehovah is deliverer; whom Jehovah makes triumphant; Jehovah is the victory; Jah makes rich.
Son of Nun, Moses' minister and the leader of Moses' army. Joshua was one of the two spies who gave a good report of the Promised Land. He took charge of the Israelites after Moses' death, and led them into the land of Canaan (Exod. 33:11; Num. 14:6-10, 38; Deut. 34:~; Josh. 1 to 23). He was of the tribe of Ephraim (Num. 13:8, 16).
Meta. Joshua means Jah is savior, Jehovah is deliverer. In the Hebrew the name is identical with the name Jesus. Both of these names are derived from the word Jehovah, meaning "I AM THAT I AM." The only difference between Joshua and Jesus is the extent of conscious realization of identity with the I AM. Under certain states of mind the I AM in man acquires greatly increased power. This power has its foundation in spiritual understanding. Joshua took the Children of Israel into the Promised Land. So it is through the power of our I AM or indwelling Christ that we lay hold of and attain the redemption of our life forces.
The leadership of the Israelites was given to Joshua because he had been under instruction and had acquired a proficiency that enabled him to perform his work with dispatch. (Joshua was of the tribe of Ephraim, typifying will, or executive faculty of mind.) When Joshua took command he notified the Children of Israel that they would pass over into the Promised Land in three days. This promptness of action is the result of confidence and power. When we know the law of spiritual demonstration and have the courage to act, we are Joshua. It is this state of mind that saves the whole mentality from its errors and brings it to a consciousness of its natural inheritance in Being.
In Joshua 3:5-17, Joshua (the I AM, which governs and controls the activity of thought in the inner realms) speaks to the Children of Israel and commands them, "Hear the words of Jehovah your God."
The priests symbolize our faith in the power of Spirit, through which understanding of mind action is established.
The "ark of the covenant" is the conscious realization that the spiritual nature in man is the real self.
One enters into the joys of the Promised Land (spiritual realization) by having faith in Spirit as the one reality active in man and by gaining an understanding of divine law. Established in understanding, man, through I AM (Joshua), commands his thought world to harmonize with divine standards, and thus sets up an entirely new state of consciousness of a spiritual character. This spiritual consciousness is the Promised Land.
Joshua's mission was to bring the Children of Israel into a realization of their inheritance in the Promised Land. After they had been brought up into this consciousness, they were sent forth actually to take possession of the land (Judges 2:6-16). At this time they were all servants of God and were unified in thought and purpose. Then Joshua died, and was buried "in the border of his inheritance in Timnath-heres" (portion of the sun, or portion of Heres, the meaning of Heres being given as sun) "in the hill-country of Ephraim" (doubly fruitful).
As the individual, under the leadership of some idea, succeeds in bringing all his faculties and forces into subservience to this idea, the idea itself seems to die, or to be merged into the general activity of his being as a whole. This is the portion of Heres or portion of the sun. When the central idea is absorbed by the being, the individual becomes doubly fruitful; his creative forces are greatly increased. In this state there is soon a great accumulation of new forces and powers, and unless they are definitely directed one encounters difficulties and is likely to be drawn back into materiality.
The individual should seek to avoid the condition that eventually overcame the Children of Israel. In order to do this he daily must put his increasing creative power in harmony with his developing spiritual consciousness. By this plan the goal of spiritual attainment is ever within his reach, and remains a great stabilizing influence in his life.
On the other hand, when man discovers his spiritual powers and uses them in an ignorant way (the worship of Baal), he is swept back into Egypt, or darkness. The only light that is left to him is Ashtaroth, meaning stars, the intellectual perception that once had guided him.
The full light of Truth is available only to the one who constantly directs all the forces of his being in perfect harmony with the trend of his highest aspirations.
The death of Joshua and the falling away of the Children of Israel into idolatry after he died can be explained metaphysically as follows: As night follows the day, so, in the early religious experiences of the soul, a season of darkness always follows a high illumination. At this time the untried powers of the soul, also past sins and shortcomings, are brought into evidence; apparently disorder and confusion prevail. But in the light of Truth this experience is not a going back. It is only a letting go in order to get a better hold. The unalterable laws of God are constantly working to bring into expression the poise and serenity and joy of Divine Mind, to the final bringing forth of the perfect creation.
As in the winnowing process the grain is carefully separated from the chaff and stored away for future use, so the Lord preserves the "finest of the wheat" that springs up in an illumined mind and preserves it until such time as it can be best used in the soul unfoldment.
The final step into light out of this season of darkness is the dawning of a new day. When all human means of deliverance have failed, the only source of escape is to turn within to the one Helper. When Spirit is appealed to, the freeing power is set into activity and the path that leads into the light is made clear.
Under the Jesus Christ dispensation, in which we are living today, these experiences are not necessary. Though one may go down into the depths temporarily, the beacon light of spiritual illumination is not extinguished; those who have learned to trust the Lord, to keep their face turned toward the light regardless of appearances, are learning to pass from one state of consciousness to another (from glory to glory), with little or no disturbance. They have learned to make practical use of the divine law; to walk unafraid on the waters of untried seas of thought.
________________________
Preceding Entry: Joshibiah
Following Entry: Josiah
