The Complete Emmet Fox Biblical Symbolism Reference
...The Bible revealed (Part 1)
The Bible is an amazing book but chances are you are only aware of a fraction of its transcendent message. According to Emmet Fox, an early 20th century New Thought Church leader, the words of the Bible have an immense depth of meaning that most people, including long-time believers, may be completely unaware of.
After reading my first Emmet Fox book I soon realized he was offering a very special way of looking at things. As a believer I have struggled with many of the difficult sayings of the Bible which, to be honest often do not make complete sense or sometimes don't even align with other teachings of the Bible. The teachings of Emmet Fox are a breath of fresh air for those who turn to the Bible for guidance. Jesus taught a very revolutionary message two thousand years ago and some of what he said was lost to the majority of mankind over the ensuing years. Emmet Fox helps us reconnect with the fresh aliveness and spiritually empowering teachings that the Bible contained all these years, even if we may not have been aware of it.
I spent over a year carefully reading each Emmet Fox book that had been published and individually collecting each Biblical symbolic reference and cataloging it to reference or personally share. These posts are the result of that time and effort and I sincerely hope that others discover and benefit from Emmet Fox's insights and way of thinking. Below you will find part 1 of a table with the specific symbolic references, I hope you find it as useful as I have.
| Symbolic Phrase | Meaning according to Emmet Fox | Emmet Fox Book | Page | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *** about the Bible... *** | The Bible deals with states of mind - and the results which those states of mind produce. Each character in the Bible represents a particular state of mind, and the leading events in the Bible describe the consequences following upon certain states of mind. Any text in the Bible can be taken in the present, the Past, or the future tense - because God is outside of time. | Make Your Life Worthwhile | 133 | ||
| *** Names in Bible *** | *** look up each name meaning individually. *** In the Bible the name of anything signifies the nature of that thing. | ||||
| 10 horns (Revelation: beast with 10 horns...) | The ten horns represent our executive power. We have 10 fingers which represent the same thing. The 10 horns are the old Oriental symbol of power and are used to emphasize the fact that we have the power to use our spiritual assets constructively and creatively or destructively and detrimentally. | Diagrams For Living | 66 | ||
| 12 tribes of Israel | The 12 tribes of Israel stand for the foundation faculties of the human soul. | Diagrams For Living | 96 | ||
| 12, number twelve | Twelve stands for corporate completeness. | Power Through Constructive Thinking | 15 | ||
| 12, twelve | Twelve in the Bible and in all occult literature stands for corporate completeness, the thing the human race is striving toward, whether it knows it or not. | Diagrams For Living | 42 | ||
| 3 daughters (of Job) | The three daughters symbolize the three aspects of man: spirit, mind, and body. | Diagrams For Living | 129 | Story of Job | |
| 4 beasts of revelation | Correspond to meaning of the 4 horses. (Lion, calf or ox or bull, beast with face of man,and flying eagle.) *see each corresponding entry. | Alter your life | 19 | ||
| 4 horseman of the apocalypse | Stands for the 4 parts or elements of our human nature as we find it today. 1.) physical body. 2.) feeling nature or emotions. 3.) your intellect. 4.) Your spiritual nature, or your eternal self; the true you, the I AM, the indwelling Christ, Divine Spark. | A parallel with the 4 Horsemen is Noah and his three sons. Noah is the "rider" on the white horse as he represents the spiritual self. Shem, Ham, and Japheth are the other three "horsemen," representing the body, the intellect, and the feeling nature. | Alter your life & Diagrams For Living | 8 , 50 (Diagrams For Living) | |
| 4 rivers out of Eden | Pison, Gihon, Hiddekel, and Euphrates. These rivers also correspond to the four divisions of the 4 horsemen. Pison: stands for man's spiritual nature - the white horse with the land of Havilah "where there is gold" is spiritual consciousness. Gold standing for the truth that the power of God is present everywhere. Pison in a special sense stands for God as Life and the bdellium and onyx stone mentioned represent Truth and Love. The river Gihon represents the feeling nature or the red horse and is a refrence to the Nile and to Egypt which later became a land of bondage. The river Hiddekel stands for intellect or the black horse. It is a reference to the Tigris and goes straight toward Assyria, which means will power; and we know that pure intellect has nothing but will power with which to express itself, and that will power always fails in the end. Euphrates stands for the body or matter, the pale horse. The 4 rivers are one in the garden of Eden and only after leaving paradise do they divide into 4 branches. When man regains his realization of his oneness with God, only his spiritual consciousness will remain, the lesser things having disappeared. | Alter your life | 74 | ||
| 40, forty | 40 means an indefinite length of time, long enough to accomplish a certain thing. | Diagrams For Living | 51 | ||
| 6, six | 6 represents labor - the 6 days of creation or the 6 steps to Solomon's throne - the six steps of demonstration for example. | Diagrams For Living | 40 | ||
| 6, the number six | Six stands for labor or work. This means that we have to work out our salvation by constant vigilance in seeking God and overcoming self. We find six days of creation leading to the 7th day of rest in attainment; six steps to the throne of Solomon, six pots of water at the marriage of Cana; and of course 6 working days leading to the Sabbath. | Alter your life | 21 | ||
| 7 - Seven | The numbers have a mystical meaning, and seven stands for personal perfection. | Ten Commandments | 121 | ||
| 7 (7 sons of Job) | Here, seven means the seven main aspects of God which Job had temporarily forgotten, so in effect they were taken away from him. | Diagrams For Living | 128 | Story of Job | |
| 7 heads | The seven heads (of the red dragon) means that it seems as though he were everywhere, hydra-headed. The 7 heads of the dragon represent the opposite or ignorance of the Seven Main Aspects of God. The 7 heads epitomize the 7 principle temptations we are likely to meet: lust, greed, jealousy, vanity, false pride, and misuse of power. | Diagrams For Living | 85 | Revelation | |
| 7 heads (Revelation: beast with 7 heads...) | The 7 heads represent the 7 main aspects of God, or rather the neglect of them. [7 aspects of God: Life, Truth, Love, Intelligence, Soul, Spirit, and Principle.] when we neglect to develop them, this beast with the seven heads causes difficulties. | Diagrams For Living | 65 | ||
| 7, number seven | Seven symbolizes individual completeness, the perfection of the Individual soul. | Power Through Constructive Thinking | 15 | ||
| 7, seven | Seven always represents spiritual fulfillment, mission accomplished, demonstration made. | Diagrams For Living | 40 | ||
| 7, the number seven | Seven stands for, in the Bible, individual perfection in the life of a man, and for a particular demonstration where that demonstration is complete. | Alter your life | 21 | ||
| A promise | The Bible has an idiom that is all its own, and in this idiom the word "promise" is the name given to a statement of some metaphysical law. A Bible "promise" is a statement of a natural law in metaphysics. So a Bible "promise" is a statement of the consequences that naturally follow from certain thoughts and states of consciousness. | Power Through Constructive Thinking | 60 | Secret Place | |
| Abide under the shadow of the Almighty | To abide under the shadow of the almighty means to live under the protection of God Himself. | Power Through Constructive Thinking | 53 | Secret Place | |
| Abomination of desolation | Any negative thought | Find and use... | 37 | Matthew 24:15-18 | |
| Adam | Adam means the body | Alter your life | 63 | ||
| Adulterous woman | You will find that the adulterous woman who is unfaithful to her husband constantly means the human soul, which is turning away to some other god. | Ten Commandments | 107 | ||
| Ancestors | In the deeper symbology of the Bible, our ancestors mean our selves of yesterday, our selves when they were younger than they are now | Ten Commandments | 63 | ||
| Angels | Angels always represent direct inspiration, guidance, help. | Diagrams For Living | 160 | ||
| Animals in Noah's Ark | All these animals represent the various instincts, faculties, propensities, and powers of man. The unclean animals are faculties and powers we have not yet redeemed. They are sensuality,avarice, jealousy, covetousness, fear, etc. the unclean animals are in twos, meaning the positive and negative aspects, and you have to redeem the negative side by realizing the positive and constructive until the negative fades out and is thus redeemed. The clean animals are our spiritual faculties which we already redeemed by using them for good. The clean animals are the good in us, the love, wisdom, understanding, and unselfishness. | Diagrams For Living | 51 | ||
| Ark | The Ark was a big ship and it represents the state of mind which you build when there is trouble around. In stead of accepting the trouble, or giving way to It, or thinking it inevitable, or trying to run away from it, you build yourself an Ark, a mental sanctuary of true thought. The Ark symbolizes the state of mind we build when we see the problem or trouble coming. We build an Ark, a mental sanctuary, a quiet state of mind, by prayer. In that consciousness fear will have little power so long as we remain in the ark. | Diagrams For Living | 47 , 54 | ||
| Assyria | Assyria means will power. | Alter your life | 74 | ||
| Babylon | Babylon stands for negative attitudes, belief in certain states of mind. For example, accepting low spirits, depression, and fear, instead of making peace with God and getting free of Babylon. Accepting a sense of guilt instead of clearing it up and liberating yourself with God's help; allowing criticism, resentment, jealousy, and condemnation of others to stay in your heart - this is Babylon. Babylon means mental limitation - fear, self-reproach, will power, etc. | Diagrams For Living | 64, 72 | ||
| Bdellium | Representing "Truth" | Alter your life | 74 | ||
| Be fruitful and multiply | To be fruitful and multiply, is to grow in understanding and spiritual power, constantly to become aware of new ideas and to exploit them for God, and to do it through all eternity. | Alter your life | 51 | Genesis | |
| Beast with face of man | Represents intellect or the black horse. Face and forehead traditionally stand for intellect. | Alter your life | 19 | Revelation |
This is part 1 of a series on Emmet Fox's Biblical symbolism due to file size restraints when posting.
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Part 2 begins here: https://steemit.com/christianity/@avataraustin/the-complete-emmet-fox-biblical-symbolism-reference-the-bible-revealed-part-2
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