“He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.”
— Psalm 105:41
Creation in Reverse
In the Book of Genesis, we are told that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and dry land appeared. This emergence of form from the formless was not destruction—it was revelation. It was imagination made visible. Then, from Eden—meaning pleasure—a single river flowed out to water the garden, and from there it parted into four heads, each associated with abundance.
And a river went out of Eden giving water to the garden; and from there it was parted and became four streams. - Genesis 2:10
By the time we reach Exodus 17, the same pattern is echoed in the wilderness of Rephidim. This is not a story of survival—it is a symbolic recreation of Genesis. Only now, the elements are reversed: water has dried up. There is nothing to drink.
The Scene at Rephidim
The children of Israel (offspring awareness born from Jacob's new identity) have left Egypt—the bondage of the old mind—but have not yet arrived at the Promised Land—the full awareness of who they are. They are in a state of transition, uncertainty, and inner barrenness. There is no water, and they are afraid. They murmur against Moses and doubt the presence of God.
“Is the Lord among us, or not?” (Exodus 17:7)
Moses, the symbol of faithful consciousness, is commanded to go before the rock at Horeb, where God stands before him, and strike it. When he does, water pours out.
The miraculous becomes metaphysical.
Water as Imagination
In Neville Goddard’s framework, water is not simply a substance—it is symbolic of imagination itself. Water represents:
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Fluidity
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Depth
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Formless potential
It is the unbounded energy of the subconscious and the creative movement of the inner man.
Throughout Scripture, water nourishes, cleanses, purges, and gives birth. It is the underlying power of transformation—the womb of form.
To say there was “no water” is to say there was no felt connection to the imagination, only hardened world of circumstance—no awareness that man’s own inner world is the source of supply.
The flow of life and imagination has been stopped.
The Rock as Imagination Hardened into Fact
The rock is its symbolic opposite: solid, seemingly fixed, unchanging. It represents:
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The manifested world
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Outer conditions
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Hardened beliefs
Just as in Genesis, where dry land emerged from water, the rock symbolises the congealed product of imagination—manifestation made visible. And yet, from this rock, water—imagination—flows.
“He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.” (Psalm 78:15)
This reversal is essential. The great message of manifestation is this:
The world is not separate from imagination.
Moses—acting as the awakened man—strikes the rock, not to destroy it, but to reveal it. What was believed to be dry and final is shown to be permeated with divine fluidity. The rock is also a metaphor for the skull, the hard outer casing that protects the inner fluidity of imagination.
Conscious attention (the rod) opens the form to reveal its source.
A Genesis Moment—In Reverse
This is a re-creation of Genesis:
In Genesis: Dry land appears out of water
In Exodus: Water flows out of dry land
Both declare one truth:
Form and formless are not divided.
The rock was the water in another shape.
Imagination does not follow manifestation—it precedes and sustains it.
The wilderness becomes the waters. The fixed becomes fluid. The forsaken becomes fertile.
The Journey of Inner Israel
Israel’s journey mirrors the process of awakening:
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Leaving Egypt: Departing the outer-defined life
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Entering the wilderness: Facing apparent lack
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Meeting the rock: Confronting the hardened belief that the world is separate from you
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Striking the rock: Reconnecting with imagination through deliberate faith
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Receiving water: Experiencing the world as flowing from you, not to you
Moses is not a magician—he is the pattern of spiritual awakening. He shows us that even the rock will yield when imagination is applied with conviction.
Revelation in Rephidim
Rephidim is not a place of punishment—it is a place of revelation.
It is the moment when the believer learns that the manifested world is not a fixed enemy, but a vessel. It holds the same water that moved at the beginning of creation.
“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord... which turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.”
— Psalm 114:7–8
The imagination is never absent. It flows even from the places we call impossible.
"And I saw a river of water of life, clear as glass, coming out of the high seat of God and of the Lamb". - Revelation 22:1
Even the hardened rock of circumstance, when struck with inner certainty, will bring forth life.
Jesus and the Mountain
Jesus echoes this very principle of inner dominion over seeming outer resistance when he says:
“...but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.”
— Matthew 21:21 (KJV).”
The “mountain” is no different from the “rock.” What appears immovable is only awaiting your faith-filled command.
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