In Luke 20:27–40, the Sadducees approach Jesus with a curious question designed to mock the idea of resurrection. They describe a woman who was married to seven brothers in succession, each dying without leaving her a child. Finally, they ask:
“In the resurrection, whose wife will she be?”
Jesus replies with a profound spiritual insight:
“They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world… neither marry, nor are given in marriage… for they are equal unto the angels.”
Neville Goddard, known for interpreting Scripture as symbolic instruction for psychological transformation, invites us to see beyond the literal narrative. It's not a riddle when it's interpreted psychologically. To Neville, this is not about earthly marriage but about the inner union of awareness and the subconscious mind — the true creative marriage at the heart of spiritual awakening.
The Archetypal Union in Genesis
Genesis 1:26 describes the creation of man in the image and likeness of God. This “man” represents pure, unconditioned awareness — the I AM — the masculine principle, the conscious seed of all creation.
In Genesis 2:23 we read:
“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
The woman symbolises the subconscious mind, called forth as a response to awareness itself. She is receptive, fertile, and brings form to the impressions received from consciousness.
Genesis 2:24 completes this symbolic pattern:
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.”
Symbolically, this speaks to the mystical marriage within: the conscious I AM impressing itself upon the subconscious, uniting in one flesh — a single, living manifestation.
The Woman and the Seven Brothers: Barren Unions
In the Sadducees’ story, the woman represents the subconscious, while the seven brothers symbolise successive states of consciousness or external beliefs. These “brothers” are fruitless doctrines, practices, or self-concepts that fail to impregnate the subconscious with life. The bible's main teaching on psychological brothers comes from the story of Joseph and his brothers.
Seven, a number of spiritual completion -framed as such because of the first seven days of creation- signifies a full cycle of these barren, lifeless unions.
We “marry” countless external beliefs and identities, hoping for fulfilment, yet remain unfruitful when these unions are not anchored in the true I AM — the deep inner knowing of “I AM that I AM.”
Ruth and Boaz: The Fulfilled Marriage
In striking contrast, the story of Ruth and Boaz reveals an example of a complete, fruitful union, with the Song of Solomon itself being the ultimate portrayal.
Ruth leaves behind her Moabite identity (“father and mother”) and cleaves to Naomi’s people and God. This represents imagination detaching from old states and aligning with a more desirable assumption.
Boaz, whose name means “fleetness,” symbolises the I AM, the conscious masculine principle — the redeemer who lovingly claims beloved formed in imagination.
When Ruth and Boaz unite, they bring forth Obed, the grandfather of David, leading directly to the messianic lineage. This is the Genesis 2:24 union fulfilled: consciousness (I AM) and imagination becoming one, giving metaphorical birth to living reality.
Resurrection as Inner Awakening
The Sadducees’ question — “Whose wife will she be?” — reflects the intellect’s endless search for answers outside itself. Jesus responds that in the resurrection, there is no marriage as they imagine it.
For Neville, resurrection is not about the afterlife but an immediate, present awakening. It is the realisation that your imagination is God, and the source of all creation is within.
You rise from the cycle of unfruitful unions — lifeless doctrines, borrowed identities — and claim your true creative power as the I AM. You no longer wait for external validation; you consciously impress your chosen state upon the subconscious.
The Woman at the Well: The Feminine Mirror
This story is deeply mirrored in John 4, where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. She has had five husbands, and the one she is with now is not her true husband.
Here, the woman again represents the soul, moving through unfruitful unions, seeking fulfilment outside herself. Jesus, the I AM — the living water — invites her to stop seeking and recognise the source within.
Where the Sadducees’ story symbolises the male principle (the reasoning mind) clinging to dead doctrines, the woman at the well symbolises the feminine soul, endlessly seeking to be filled from without. Both are resolved in the same way: by realising the living union with the I AM within.
From Seeking to Claiming
How many external beliefs have you “married” that left you barren?
How often have you sought fulfilment from passing identities or outward achievements?
The message is clear:
Leave “father and mother” — the old inherited thought patterns.
Cleave to your chosen state — your true I AM awareness.
Become one flesh — the conscious union with your subconscious.
Then, like Ruth and Boaz, you will bring forth true, living creation. You move beyond being the soul endlessly waiting to be chosen, and claim yourself as the creative power.
“I AM the resurrection and the life.”
When this becomes your living truth, the soul is no longer barren. It becomes the womb of all creation, bringing forth life in abundance.
The Practical Mystery
This union is the secret hinted at in Genesis, illustrated through Ruth and Boaz, mirrored in the woman at the well, and unveiled by Jesus to the Sadducees. It is the marriage that transcends form and law — the eternal union of the I AM with the receptive soul within you.
Awaken to it. Claim it. Live from it.
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