Metaphysical Bible Interpretation of II Chronicles Chapter 33
Metaphysically Interpreting II Chronicles 33:1-9
33:1Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem.33:2And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, after the abominations of the nations whom Jehovah cast out before the children of Israel. 33:3For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down; and he reared up altars for the Baalim, and made Asheroth, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served them. 33:4And he built altars in the house of Jehovah, whereof Jehovah said, In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 33:5And he built altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of Jehovah. 33:6He also made his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom; and he practised augury, and used enchantments, and practised sorcery, and dealt with them that had familiar spirits, and with wizards: he wrought much evil in the sight of Jehovah, to provoke him to anger. 33:7And he set the graven image of the idol, which he had made, in the house of God, of which God said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: 33:8neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from off the land which I have appointed for your fathers, if only they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, even all the law and the statutes and the ordinances given by Moses. 33:9And Manasseh seduced Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that they did evil more than did the nations whom Jehovah destroyed before the children of Israel.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Chronicles 33:10-17
33:10And Jehovah spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they gave no heed. 33:11Wherefore Jehovah brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, who took Manasseh in chains, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. 33:12And when he was in distress, he besought Jehovah his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. 33:13And he prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God.
33:14Now after this he built an outer wall to the city of David, on the west side of Gihon, in the valley, even to the entrance at the fish gate; and he compassed Ophel about with it, and raised it up to a very great height: and he put valiant captains in all the fortified cities of Judah. 33:15And he took away the foreign gods, and the idol out of the house of Jehovah, and all the altars that he had built in the mount of the house of Jehovah, and in Jerusalem, and cast them out of the city. 33:16And he built up the altar of Jehovah, and offered thereon sacrifices of peace-offerings and of thanksgiving, and commanded Judah to serve Jehovah, the God of Israel. 33:17Nevertheless the people sacrificed still in the high places, but only unto Jehovah their God.
November 20, 1898: II Chronicles 33:9-16
Under the guise of history this lesson of the career of Manasseh (forgetting) pictures the severe experience of the individual, who, forgetting his Divine and Royal lineage, and his full and bountiful inheritance of peace and happiness and of kingly dominion over all conditions of body or estate, becomes a worshipper of the idols of sense, even “worse than the heathen,” and thus forfeits the Divine protection against evil conditions, and finds himself encompassed by the “host of the king of Assyria,” the dominion of carnal mind, until he is “taken in irons and carried in fetters to Babylon” to suffer painful consequences of his forgetfulness and sin.
Manasseh was of the lineage of David, and the son of the righteous and prosperous king, Hezekiah (Jehovah's might), who, because he did not forget Jehovah and his own Divine Estate, realized and manifested Jehovah's might in overthrowing all the idolatries of the carnal nature and in repelling the invasion of the “host of Assyria.” For all the idolatry of the carnal heart, all the bondages of sin and suffering, come from “forgetting the Lord, thy God.” All the commandments and prohibitions of the Law were given to warn men against the danger from forgetting the Lord, thy God. “Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the Lord, your God, and mace you images.” “Beware, that thou forget not the Lord, thy God, ... lest when thou hast eaten and art full, .. then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord, thy God, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage.” – Deut. 6:12; Deut 8:11-14.
9. “Judah” is the spiritual realm of thought and “Jerusalem” is the center of spiritual consciousness. But, since you are king in your kingdom, by the exercise of your kingly will you have power to “make Judah and Jerusalem to err,” if you are forgetful of God, and “turn unto dumb idols.”
10. All this because you refuse to “hearken” to the Inner Voice and to your better thoughts, the “people” of your mind.
11. If you have “done evil like unto the abominations of the heathen,” and in the high places of the mind have “reared up altars to Baalim and Ashteroth” and worshipped the host of heaven (intellect's ideas), and have “in the temple (of your heart) built altars” to the gods of sense, thus worshipping sense instead of Spirit, then be not surprised, if the Law of the Lord in its faithful working brings you the legitimate fruit of your evil sowing, until the cruel Assyrian host takes you “in irons” of pain and “binds you in fetters” of physical suffering and lands you in the Babylon of hopeless invalidism.
12. “And when he was in affliction, he sought unto the Lord, his God, and humbled himself.” If you will in meekness learn the lesson which “affliction” and pain have to teach you, and see it as a legitimate result of “forgetting the Lord” and serving Baal, then you will not call such experiences evil, but good.
13. For by repentance and prayer you will find deliverance from the cruel Assyrian, and be restored to your City of Peace (Jerusalem).
14. Now being healed of your “affliction” and restored to your City of Peace, you “build a wall about your City of Love (David),” and you “build Ophel (tower) to a very great height.” “He is my high tower and rock of defence.”
15. And you purify your heart of its sin and idolatry, and make God the one supreme object of [devotion].
16. [Whose?] altar you repair and reconsecrate that you may no longer forget the Lord your God [unreadable phrase] [sec]urely in your City of Peace.
– UNITY magazine.
January 2, 1916: II Chronicles 33:1-13
Who were Ephraim and Manasseh? Twin sons of Joseph.
What do Ephraim and Manasseh typify? Ephraim represents the will and Manasseh the understanding.
What mental processes are represented by Ephraim and Manasseh? Denial and affirmation. Manasseh is denial and Ephraim is affirmation.
What are Baalim and Asheroth? Heathen deities symbolizing the worship of nature.
In what forms do we find this heathen worship at the present time? In astrology, palmistry, spiritualism and hypnotism.
What is the effect of this heathen worship? It binds the mind in chains and fetters, and leads one away from the Absolute out into the realm of limitation and personality where confusion reigns.
What is the one way to deliverance? By recognition of the one God and prayer to him.
January 2, 1916: II Chronicles 33:1-13
The meaning of Manasseh is “making to forget.” Metaphysically, we should designate it as “denial.” Ephraim (double fruitfulness) and Manasseh (making to forget) were brothers, the sons of Joseph. We find that they answer to the Will and the Understanding, or the “Yes” and the “No” attitudes of mind in their active relation to the body. Thus, when we take the affirmative and positive, without seeking to know the relation of things, we are Ephraim, the Will. When we relax into the realm of related conditions, and lose ourselves in observing the phenomenal, we are Manasseh, the Understanding. The well-balanced man establishes both of these states of mind in equilibrium, and is poised between affirmation and denial, which is reflected into body as positive and negative.
A too active will causes one to become tense and brittle, while much compassion expands and opens us to the multitudinous thought emanations of the whole race. But affirming and denying, with spiritual ideals constantly before us, gradually raises the whole man on a spiral of ascending mind-force, until he attains the Christ consciousness and is free from all thoughts of duality.
The twelve years of age of Manasseh, when he began to reign, means that the negative mentality had involved all the twelve faculties in its errors. Hence, all the thoughts were “evil in the sight of the Lord.” One of the evidences of a truly spiritual mind is the ability to master and overcome conditions. Evil means a falling short, or failure, in this respect.
Baalim and Asheroth represent Nature in its various sensuous aspects. “All the hosts of heaven” are the sun, moon and stars and the twelve signs of the zodiac. When we fall into the evils of Manasseh, we think the planets and stars rule over us, and that it is necessary to pay them a certain degree of homage, or worship, because of their influence. Some people in this day have great faith in their “ruling planets,” and think they are bound to certain traits of character, because they were born when those sidereal bodies were in the ascendancy. This is “forgetfulness” of the God power within us, and brings us into condemnation.
The Manasseh mentality usually goes from one step of Baalim worship to another, until it exhausts them all. Luck, chance, the changeable laws of animal life, enchantments, sorcery, familiar spirits and wizards, are some of the avenues through which the Manasseh mind attempts to regulate its life. Astrology, palmistry, the guidance of spirits, mesmerism, hypnotism, are some of the many modern forms of “denial” of God. Indulged in for a time they lead the negative mentality into deeper and deeper bondage, until the transgressed law reacts upon the transgressor, and he is put “in chains” and “bound with fetters” and carried to Babylon, or utter confusion. The escape is through prayer to God, and the return to his “city of peace” within the soul, Jerusalem.
– UNITY magazine.
October 27, 1918: II Chronicles 33:1-13
What is the meaning of “Manasseh” and of “Ephraim”? The meaning of “Manasseh” is “making to forget.” The meaning of “Ephraim” is “double fruitfulness.”
What faculties of mind are represented by “Manasseh” and “Ephraim”? “Manasseh” represents the Understanding, and “Ephraim” the Will.
What are the activities of mind designated by these two faculties? The Understanding stands for the “denial” or the “no” activity of mind. The Will is the positive or affirmative quality, the “yes” attitude of mind.
How are Ephraim (Will) and Manasseh (Understanding) related? Ephraim and Manasseh are brothers. When these two faculties express in harmony, Divine Order is established.
Where, in body-consciousness, are these faculties located? Will and Understanding have their centers of activity in the head, and function through the front brain.
What is the result when the Understanding rules without the balancing force of the Will? When the understanding rules without the Balancing force of will, Israel (thoughts, or body-consciousness) is led to worship false gods.
What are some of the false gods? Baalim and Asheroth, which represent Nature in its various sensuous aspects.
How does man worship these false gods? Man worships these false gods when he becomes so negative that he thinks there are powers outside of himself that regulate his life. He places his faith in the signs of the zodiac; believes in a “ruling planet;” trusts to “luck;” seeks guidance of “familiar spirits;” gives himself up to the influence of other mentalities through “hypnotism” and “suggestion;” follows unquestioningly the advice given in the numerous sects and societies that have been set up for worship of man.
How does this worship of false gods affect the man? By this worship of false gods man's mind is open to the phenomenal, and he places his faith in apparent powers outside of his own spiritual consciousness. Thus he loses his I Am dominion. This is “forgetfulness” of the power of God within him, and it brings him into condemnation. It is then that the Understanding, or ruling factor, is put “in chains,” “bound with fetters,” and carried to Babylon, or utter confusion.
What is the one way out of this confusion? The way of escape lies in the denial of the seeming (Manasseh “humbled himself”) and the seeking of the real Source of Wisdom and Power through prayer. When we open our minds to Spirit, and declare the Truth, the Understanding is established in harmony with Divine standards; “Manasseh knew that Jehovah he was God.”
Metaphysically Interpreting II Chronicles 33:18-20
33:18Now the rest of the acts of Manasseh, and his prayer unto his God, and the words of the seers that spake to him in the name of Jehovah, the God of Israel, behold, they are written among the acts of the kings of Israel. 33:19His prayer also, and how God was entreated of him, and all his sin and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up the Asherim and the graven images, before he humbled himself: behold, they are written in the history of Hozai. 33:20So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Metaphysically Interpreting II Chronicles 33:21-25
33:21Amon was twenty and two years old when he began to reign; and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 33:22And he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, as did Manasseh his father; and Amon sacrificed unto all the graven images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them. 33:23And he humbled not himself before Jehovah, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but this same Amon trespassed more and more. 33:24And his servants conspired against him, and put him to death in his own house. 33:25But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon; and the people of the land made Josiah his son king in his stead.
Transcribed by Lloyd Kinder on 01-11-2014
