The Book of Isaiah, long revered for its prophetic voice, opens itself anew when read as a psychological map of spiritual development. For Neville Goddard, Scripture does not chronicle secular history but outlines the inner processes of imagination, the only true creative power. Isaiah 7:10–18, traditionally seen as a messianic prophecy, becomes instead a dramatic inner dialogue between fear and faith, refusal and conception, inertia and the daring act of imagination.
The Invitation to Imagine
“Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.”
Isaiah 7:11
The Lord—understood here not as an external deity but as Elohim, the plural creative mind, imagination itself—offers Ahaz, King of Judah, a sign. The offer is inward: ask in the depths (the subconscious) or in the height (the loftiest ideals of spirit). To "ask" in this context is to dare to assume—to enter a new ruling state of mind.
In symbolic terms, a king is the operative state that governs thought. Ahaz represents a consciousness that clings to the familiar and fears change. Although holding a crown, he is not ruling in spiritual courage but cowering in passivity. The mind is invited to shift its allegiance—to raise a new state to kingship—but refuses.
“But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord.”
Isaiah 7:12
On the surface, this sounds like humility, but spiritually, it is cowardice. It is the refusal to imagine differently. As Neville would say, this is not reverence—it is fear disguised as religion. The refusal to assume a new self is the refusal to birth the divine.
“You are told to assume that you are the man you want to be. Remain faithful to that assumption, and it will harden into fact.” — Neville Goddard
The Virgin Birth: Conceiving Without Help
“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”
Isaiah 7:14
Even when the conscious mind refuses to imagine, the deeper self still gives a sign. A virgin conceives—not because of physical contact but because the inner man dares to imagine a new thing without external evidence. The virgin here symbolises a mental state untouched by the facts of life, unpolluted by human logic or history.
The son—Immanuel, meaning “God with us”—is not a literal baby, but a new identity, conceived without cause, born from a daring assumption.
“The virgin birth is the birth of every idea in the world that is born of a man who does not consult man… but dares to assume it as true.” — Neville Goddard
Man, made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26), is imagination. In this passage, the inner man is divided: one state refuses to assume, the other presents the sign of conception without cause. It’s a battle of rulership within."
This principle lies at the heart of every breakthrough. When imagination becomes operative—when it is allowed to rule—it gives birth to God within you.
Butter and Honey: The Nourishment of Inner Vision
“Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.”
Isaiah 7:15
Butter and honey are not dietary instructions. They symbolise the richness and sweetness of inner experience—what you feed on in thought. Butter is churned, refined; honey is drawn out of hidden places. These are the mental foods of one who lives by assumption, not appearances. You nourish yourself on vision, persistence, and inward joy.
A newly imagined identity—the son just conceived—must be fed this way. Before it can even fully judge good from evil:
“For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.”
Isaiah 7:16
The land symbolises the mind, and the two kings are its former rulers: dominant thoughts of fear, doubt, and resignation. When a new state is born and fed rightly, these old powers fall away. The imaginative mind reclaims dominion.
The Tyranny That Follows Refusal
“The Lord shall bring upon thee… even the king of Assyria.”
Isaiah 7:17
When the invitation to imagine is refused, the mind does not remain neutral. A new king takes the throne—the king of Assyria, symbolic of foreign domination. This is the rule of external logic, coercion, force, and overwhelm. It is what happens when imagination is denied and the outer world is allowed to dictate reality.
“And it shall come to pass… that the Lord shall hiss for the fly… and for the bee…”
Isaiah 7:18
Flies and bees—restless, swarming, unceasing—symbolise the mental noise that arises when you're ruled by outer distraction. These represent irritations, interruptions, and the buzz of worry and comparison, all the result of a mind no longer centered in assumption.
Neville would say: if you do not direct your imagination, you are still imagining—only now you are creating unconsciously.
“Man is all imagination. And God is man, and exists in us and we in Him. The eternal body of man is the imagination, and that is God Himself.” — Neville Goddard
Conclusion: Immanuel or Assyria
Isaiah 7:10–18 is a spiritual drama. You are not reading about ancient Judah—you are reading about yourself. You are Ahaz when you refuse to assume. You are the virgin when you dare to imagine. You are the child when a new identity is being formed within. And you are the land—always governed either by Immanuel (God with us) or by Assyria (external dominance).
In every moment, you are choosing which king will rule your mind.
“All things exist in the human imagination, and all things are brought to pass by imagining.” — Neville Goddard
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