Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of II Kings Chapter 13
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 13:1-9
13:1In the three and twentieth year of Joash the son of Ahaziah, king of Judah, Jehoahaz the son of Jehu began to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned seventeen years. 13:2And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; he departed not therefrom. 13:3And the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael king of Syria, and into the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael, continually. 13:4And Jehoahaz besought Jehovah, and Jehovah hearkened unto him; for he saw the oppression of Israel, how that the king of Syria oppressed them. 13:5(And Jehovah gave Israel a saviour, so that they went out from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as beforetime. 13:6Nevertheless they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, wherewith he made Israel to sin, but walked therein: and there remained the Asherah also in Samaria.) 13:7For he left not to Jehoahaz of the people save fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria destroyed them, and made them like the dust in threshing. 13:8Now the rest of the acts of Jehoahaz, and all that he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13:9And Jehoahaz slept with his fathers; and they buried him in Samaria: and Joash his son reigned in his stead.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 13:10-13
13:10In the thirty and seventh year of Joash king of Judah began Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz to reign over Israel in Samaria, and reigned sixteen years. 13:11And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah; he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, wherewith he made Israel to sin; but he walked therein. 13:12Now the rest of the acts of Joash, and all that he did, and his might wherewith he fought against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 13:13And Joash slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne: and Joash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 13:14-21
13:14Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over him, and said, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! 13:15And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows; and he took unto him bow and arrows.13:16And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow; and he put his hand upon it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands. 13:17And he said, Open the window eastward; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. And he said, Jehovah's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. 13:18And he said, Take the arrows; and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground; and he smote thrice, and stayed. 13:19And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice.
13:20And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 13:21And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Kings 13:22-25
13:22And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. 13:23But Jehovah was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet.13:24And Hazael king of Syria died; and Benhadad his son reigned in his stead. 13:25And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz took again out of the hand of Benhadad the son of Hazael the cities which he had taken out of the hand of Jehoahaz his father by war. Three times did Joash smite him, and recovered the cities of Israel.
September 4, 1898: II Kings 13:14-25
While Elijah represents the I AM consciousness, Elisha represents the consciousness of salvation through the realization of I AM.
13:14Now Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died: and Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over him, and said, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof! -- That one in this high consciousness should “die” seems paradoxical; yet through intellectual controversies or mortal-mind reasonings (wars with Syria) that consciousness may be corrupted, “fall sick and die.” Of course the True consciousness which cannot change or die, is the Divine Consciousness; but we pass through various imperfect states of mind, or variable consciousnesses in our journey toward that ultimate attainment. The expression, “the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof,” denotes pure Spiritual reasonings of both the Elijah and Elisha consciousness. Elisha uttered the same words respecting Elijah at his translation (2 Kings 2:12). “The king of Israel” applying these words to Elisha represents the will in this consciousness recognizing the value of these Spiritual reasonings.
13:15And Elisha said unto him, Take bow and arrows; and he took unto him bow and arrows. -- To the ancients there was a symbolic significance to shooting arrows. Alexander the Great, arriving on the Persian border, threw a dart toward the Persians as a signal of war. Virgil says of Turnus: “Who first, he cried with me the foe will dare? Then hurled a dart, the signal of the war”; and Marcus Aurelius hurled his blood-moistened spear toward the Marcomanni in token of victory.
13:16And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow; and he put his hand upon it. And Elisha laid his hands upon the king's hands. -- The application of Elisha's hands to the king's hands signifies the assurance of success, when in conscious accord with the Christ.
13:17And he said, Open the window eastward; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, Shoot; and he shot. And he said, Jehovah's arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over Syria; for thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou have consumed them. -- When your will is at-one with the Divine Will, in every assault of mortal mind you send forth your potent thought from your Spiritually reasoning mind as an “arrow of deliverance” from the bondage of the intellect's erroneous Ideas (“Syrians”).
13:18And he said, Take the arrows; and he took them. And he said unto the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground; and he smote thrice, and stayed. 13:19And the man of God was wroth with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times: then hadst thou smitten Syria till thou hadst consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. -- The power of your word to bring results will be according to your own idea of it. If you put a certain limit to it, it will be just so far limited. If you “smite five or six times” five, being half of ten, denotes fullness, and six, half of twelve, denotes completeness, then the power of your thought or word, will be sufficient to do the work “whereunto you send it.”
13:20And Elisha died, and they buried him. Now the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. 13:21And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet. -- If you have allowed yourself to be captivated by mortal mind's reasoning (wars with Syria), so that you lose your Spiritual consciousness, you will be harassed by “bands of Moabites” (distressing conditions) invading your domain. But if, under the stress of these Moabite invaders, you let drop a word expressive of the Spiritual thought, Spirituality has become lifeless through your apostasy, until it touches a memory (“bones”) of that dead consciousness, then that lifeless thought will be awakened to life. For thoughts cannot wholly perish; they may sleep in apparent death only to be awakened by some memory of the old consciousness.
13:22And Hazael king of Syria oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. -- It is through your idolatry and disobedience that Syria opposes Israel, that mortal mind's reasonings hold the spiritual in subjection to its domination.
13:23But Jehovah was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect unto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he them from his presence as yet. -- “But the Lord is gracious” and merciful to his own son, whom He still recognizes in you. It is because “his mercy endureth forever,” that you are not yet carried entirely away captive into Babylon. When you “smote three times and stayed,” you limited your demonstrations over mortal mind to the recovery of certain “cities” overcoming certain infirmities or habits, but you are not yet entirely out of bondage through self-imposed limitations. The only way to escape captivity is through work in overcoming all the false claims of Syria, all claims of mortal mind.
– UNITY magazine.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 02-07-2014
