Joshua The Truth Combating - Sermons by Rev. Paul Booth

Joshua: The Truth Combating

Lessons: Joshua 2: 1-5 | Matthew 4: 1-4 Arcana Coelestia 8595: 1,2

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the land, even Jericho. And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and lodged there. Joshua 2: 1

Moses had lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. The Ten Commandments were given by God to the children of Israel through Moses. He had been their leader for 40 years. The children of Israel had reached a place called Shittim with Moses' guidance. It was just across the Jordan River from the land of Canaan - the land promised to the children of Israel. Moses was old and died and now, Joshua was chosen by God to lead the children over into Canaan, the land that was promised to their nation's father, Abraham, and his progeny.

Joshua, the servant of the Lord was to observe to do according to all the law, which Moses (the Lord's servant) commanded (him) (Joshua 1: 7). So, Joshua commanded the officers of the people too prepare, for they were going to cross over the Jordan and possess the land of Canaan. Then, our text tells us that Joshua sent two men to spy into the country of Canaan and even into the city of Jericho. All this is historical fact - the story about the events and the journeys of the Israelites, driven by their desire to reach the land which Jehovah had promised. And now, before entering that land we see that Joshua had sent two men to spy secretly the land, and even Jericho. From a natural point of view tactically it is wise to check out the land that one is going to capture. After all, they knew there were other tribes and people living there that were their enemies, who did not want their land taken from them.

The question that I want to bring you face to face with is: that other than the historical sense of the Word concerning the tribes that lived in the land of Canaan and in the city of Jericho and other stories in the Word, what spiritual things are taught by them? Didn't other people, other tribes, follow their leaders and worship their gods as well? From a religious view point, especially from those who are of the Jewish and Christian faiths, these accounts of the children of Israel point out the one God of Heaven and earth and tell of their life of following, and of obedience to that One God. It shows us that we must not only have the Ten Commandments and the Word, but that we must also live according to them. Take our lesson and our text for example, about which the two spies sent into the land of Canaan and into Jericho. Other than the fact that the Word says that God chose Joshua to lead the children of Israel and that they were to believe and follow the Ten Commandments, what do we learn about the Lord, the Church or Heaven? What spiritual truths are there in this story of how Rahab, a harlot, hid the two men of the children of Israel on the roof of the house from the king of Jericho's men who were sent to find and to capture them?

Is the nature of God revealed in this bit of history and if so, how? Are there spiritual truths taught about how we are to live our life so that we truly become the children of God? What we learn from the literal sense of the Word is indeed very interesting from the historical sense and we can see, 'as it were' natural truths, but so often those truths are only seen obscurely; we often don't understand what is really meant or what is the genuine truth that is taught by the literal sense of the Word. Because of this we invent or imagine false things as to why certain acts were done by different people written about in the Word. This of course, is thinking from our natural rational mind, which is not under the Lord's reign unless we are in regeneration. Mankind had rejected the Lord; and now his natural -the natural man- that he now lives, is separated and even communication with the Lord has been closed off from him.

Someone might say, but the communications have not been completely cut off, because we have the written Word. True, and that shows us how much the Lord loves us, but we do not understand the Word clearly, the genuine truth is not seen in the natural sense, because there are so many false and evil things attached to us that what we think is true and good is only because we feel we will benefit by following and doing the truth. We need to see the corresponding spiritual truths to the natural sense of the Word. If we believe that the Lord gave us the Word so that we can turn from evil, from the love of ourselves, to the Lord so that He will save us, then believe also that the Lord will not only reveal His commandments and precepts of life, but that He will also reveal to us truths in an internal sense, so that we can see His Essence, and His qualities will become manifested to us. For, we cannot be saved naturally, except the spiritual man within us is first saved. Therefore, spiritually we must be reborn; and we cannot understand spiritually until we know and believe, at least, that there is an internal sense in the Word.

Now, Moses, in the internal sense, signifies the Word, the Divine Law and Truth among men on earth and in Heaven. In a real natural sense, it is the scientific truth that we learn and acquire for living our life well. If we say that the Word is the Lord, then it is to reveal the Lord to us, - His attributes, His qualities - then the person Moses is not what is meant in the spiritual sense of the Word, but it is the Lord who is the Word. The Lord is foremost and is the primary revelation of the Word and not any historical person, nor places, for they signify quality or states, just as the quality of the Church is signified by the people living in Canaan. So, it is not the person, Joshua, that is meant, but it is the Truth combating - it is the truth of the Word illustrated that is understood, that fights against falsities. We see here that there is a spiritual sense hidden within the natural - the literal sense of the Word. For us to understand this story in its spiritual or internal sense, we need to understand why the land of Canaan signifies the Church. This is because Canaan is where all worship of the Lord was. All the prior Churches were there - the Most Ancient, the Ancient, the Hebrew, and the Jewish. However, as we know, the land of Canaan was overrun with those who think about their own preeminence, those who have evil and falsities ruling over them - the Hittites, the Canaanites, the Amorites, and the Perizites. It is at this point that we need to realize not only is the Church signified by the land of Canaan, but that we are told by the Lord Jesus Christ that Heaven is within in our understanding and will. Here, we must know that the Church is to come on earth as it is in Heaven. And, of course, the Lord prayed that His Kingdom - Heaven - would come on earth as it is in Heaven, even within man. Since Heaven is within man, then also, the Church which is to come on earth is within.

In this way, we can begin to understand that the Church within us has been overrun with evil and must be won over by the Lord, that is, by truth and good. In the natural sense this is revealed and seen by Joshua as the Truth combating, and the first step is to see how this was done. Didn't the Lord combat against the evils and falsities that would bring every man down into hell if not subjugated? Doesn't the Lord fight within us the evils and the lies, even as we are tempted? Let us see, now, the internal sense. We read,

And Joshua the son of Nun sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly

Our natural understanding, where the Church on earth exists, must become conjoined with good, for good is of and from the Lord. And this is only done when the understanding that has come to us with mercy, that is, from the Lord, not from ourselves. Now, this truth cannot be learned from our natural understanding. We need to see or to inquire inwardly in order to acknowledge what state we live in which is overrun with evil and falsities. So, when there is seen or understood the truth that comes from good that is from the Lord, and then there takes place a combat between evil and good. It is a combat to see who rules over us, the natural or the spiritual. It is the natural of man fighting the spiritual of man. Continuing, we read

Saying, go view the land, even Jericho

Here, we begin to think and to perceive what qualities of the Church are within and what it should become. The first state where there is the truth of the good of life, when our interiors are formed and the doctrine - the truths of the Church - are formed, we begin to live the good of life and that life is the Lord's in us. From this, we make a judgment on ourselves and are instructed. The result of this is the conjoining of our natural good with the internal truth. The natural truths that we have were infiltrated with evils and they need to be separated from us. This is why we are, with the Lord's truth, to go view the land, even Jericho inwardly, that is secretly. Again we read the Word,

And they went, and came into an harlot's house, named Rahab, and
lodged there.

Of all the places where natural good can become conjoined with spiritual truth, this seems not to be one of them - a harlot's house. Nonetheless, this is where natural good needs to live within us so that our natural life can be reformed and we receive true understanding. From an internal sense, the harlot's house is speaking of a corrupt Church within us, where there is affection for falsities. Here, we are speaking about our mind, our natural rational mind, for as we have said, this is the present state of the Church within us when separated from the spiritual truth. It is through natural religious scientific knowledge that we learn about the Lord, about Heaven and hell and that we learn what is spiritual or internal sense, thus the genuine truths and doctrine are learned. In the internal sense, the name Rahab signifies the natural man in whom there is affection for truths that can be seen through natural scientific knowledge and cognitions. Rahab is another word for Egypt. Egypt, when understood in a good sense, is the conjunction of faith with charity. Didn't the Lord Himself journey to the land of Egypt where He was safe from the evils which ruled throughout the land of Israel - which then signified the Church? In a bad sense, Egypt means a faith that is separate from charity. Isn't this the natural man who endeavors to enter into Heavenly Arcana, though not wanting to serve the Lord, but that he himself rules and has dominion? Recall that the Egyptians had cultivated the science of correspondences and so could equal the miraculous feats that Moses did from the Lord.

From a good sense then, lodging is the natural state where one can be instructed in the good of life, that the natural and rational of man can receive truth and a new doctrine when one is good from his disposition, which is for the sake of gain. This natural good of man, though is done for man's sake, is accepted by the Lord, for it is, at least, good toward others. Example: in such a state of wanting to know truth, a man begins to see from the Lord that he needs to obey the Word and the Lord, and so, from his affection of truth, he does good, even though it is from his natural disposition and not from a spiritual rational, and so, he does it that he might benefit and, so, others benefit.

Remember, there is an inquiry into the spiritual sense by conjoining the natural good to the spiritual understanding. In this respect we see that the internal sense of Shittim, which was a valley where the children of Israel had come to and from where Joshua - the Truth combating - sent out the two men - the natural good conjoined with truth - to spy, that is, to inquire into the land, that is, into the natural Church that had been taken over by evil and falsities, which, of course, signifies the Church within us. In an even more internal sense, this is a prophecy of the Lord's New Church descending from Heaven from the Lord to earth into the understanding with illustration. In the inmost sense, in the Divine sense, it is the Lord as the Word, the Truth come to earth, conquering the evil that had taken over mankind leading him into hell. We must thank the Lord, for he has provided a way for our regeneration and for the True Church to once again be on earth as it is in Heaven even as the internal or spiritual sense is taught and understood through this New Word - the Word of the Divine Human.

Amen.

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