Archetype 7: The Army
Once when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing before him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you one of us, or one of our adversaries?” He replied, “Neither; but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped, and he said to him, “What do you command your servant, my lord?” The commander of the army of the Lord said to Joshua, “Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place where you stand is holy.” And Joshua did so.
—Joshua 5:13–15
The Reading
The reading describes a vision of Joshua. Joshua was one of Moses’s commanders and trusted assistants. But now Moses is dead and Joshua is the leader of the Israelites. He has been charged with leading them out of the desert into the Promised Land. His first challenge now lies directly in front of him: the city of Jericho. He has been called by God to take this city. But how? The city is surrounded by walls that seem ten miles high and a mile thick. He stares at the mammoth fortress in front of him. How can he possibly conquer this well-fortified city? He then has this vision. He sees a man. The man tells Joshua that he is a commander of the army of God.
The Hexagram
This hexagram is made up of the trigrams Chaos, on the bottom, and Wisdom, on the top. The image of Wisdom is Earth, and of Chaos, Water. This is a picture of water beneath the earth, in deep underground springs of great strength that can be called upon in times of need.
The Archetype
There is a time...
- To bring together a great mass of people and organize them into a cohesive force.
- To discipline those people not through force, but through devotion.
- To be sure that the commander has the full trust of the ruler.
- To gather spiritual strength that will capture the love of the people and flame their enthusiasm for the difficult task at hand.
- To recognize the danger of the task and the possibility of destruction and devastation.
- To understand that war is to be used only as a last resort.
- To remember that a prosperous people are a strong people.
- To rule gently and govern humanely.
- To be merciful in victory.
Now is that time.
Moving Lines
Other interpretations of Archetype 7:
- Tom Christensen's interpretation [click here]
- Cafe Au Soul's interpretation [click here]
- LiSe's interpretation [click here]
- Richard Wilhelm's interpretation [click here]
Internal Links:
- Return to the Hexagram Index Table [click here].
- Return to Consulting the Christian I Ching [click here].
- Purchase a printed copy of Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching [click here].
- Learn about our Online Christian I Ching Workshop [click here].
- Find out about personal consultations [click here].
Reproduced with permission from Wisdom's Way; The Christian I Ching copyright (c) 2015 Roger Sessions.