In Exodus 17 and again in Numbers 20, we find a striking image: Moses strikes a rock, and water flows out to quench the thirst of the people in the wilderness. On the surface, it’s a miraculous provision. But beneath that, this scene carries a profound spiritual message—one that, when interpreted in the way Neville Goddard encourages, becomes a key to unlocking creative power in the most resistant parts of ourselves.
The Rock: Hardened Consciousness
The rock represents a fixed, rigid state of mind—a hardened belief, a deeply embedded condition of the subconscious. It is the part of us that says, “This is how things are and will always be.” It is the place where imagination is locked behind habit, trauma, or tradition.
In Neville’s language, the rock is a state that resists change. And yet, within even that stubborn place lies the potential for flow, for nourishment, for life.
Water: The Flow of Life and Imagination
Water symbolises life, spirit, movement, and revelation. It is what flows when awareness is awakened. It is the stream of consciousness that pours forth when imagination is stirred from stillness.
Neville often spoke of imagination as the source of all manifestation, and the water from the rock can be seen as creative power emerging from what once seemed immovable.
“Out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water.”
— John 7:38
This is the release of imagination from the inner prison of disbelief.
Moses: The Voice That Commands Change
Moses symbolises the awakening of spiritual authority. He is the developing voice of the I AM within us that dares to challenge appearances. When Moses strikes the rock, he is acting with faith, commanding life to emerge where there appears to be none.
This is not brute force. It is a deliberate act of assumption. Just as Neville would say: “Dare to assume what your senses deny.”
Moses represents that very act: striking the hard fact with belief until it yields something new.
The People: The Cry of the Subconscious
The people in the wilderness are not merely a historical group. They symbolise the needs, fears, and longings within our own subconscious—the cries for relief, meaning, and direction. Their thirst is our thirst—for transformation, for healing, for evidence that imagination truly governs reality.
And the answer to that cry doesn’t come from the outer world. It comes from within—from the place least expected.
Why a Rock?
Why would life flow from a rock?
Because it teaches us that even the most unlikely, unyielding conditions are not beyond the reach of imagination. That which seems impossible, final, or deadlocked is still subject to change—once touched by faith.
The rock is the “outer world” as fact.
The water is the “inner world” breaking through.
The image invites us to stop seeing facts as final and to begin interacting with them as forms that imagination can move.
Striking and Speaking
Interestingly, in Numbers 20, Moses is told to speak to the rock, not strike it. Yet he strikes it again—and while water still flows, it costs him entry into the Promised Land. This change points to a deep spiritual shift:
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In earlier stages, we must strike—force ourselves to believe, act boldly, wrestle with doubt.
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Later, we are asked to speak—to move in gentleness and command, not effort. It is a higher stage of trust.
To “strike” is to break the surface. To “speak” is to command with knowing. Both are acts of imagination, but speaking shows a matured relationship with the inner world.
Living Water from Within
In the New Testament, Jesus says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” He speaks not of physical thirst, but of that spiritual longing for meaning, creation, and life.
Water from the rock is not about geology. It is about the soul’s shift from outer dependency to inner creation. The rock is no longer just something in the wilderness—it is our own heart, once hardened, now opened.
The miracle is not just that water flowed.
The miracle is that we dared to believe it could.
Conclusion: The Rock Is Not the End
If you are facing something that feels immovable—an outer condition that seems permanent—consider this: it may just be your rock. The place where imagination is being called to strike. Or perhaps, to speak.
Because water flows where imagination acts, even in the desert.
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