The Way

In Acts 27:38, during Paul’s perilous sea voyage , the crew "lightened the ship, and cast the wheat into the sea." On the surface, this might seem like a desperate attempt to save the vessel by reducing weight. Yet, from a symbolic and imaginative perspective, this act reveals a biblical principle that Neville Goddard often emphasised in his lectures. Neville frequently referenced the biblical phrase from Ecclesiastes 11:1: “Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.” Here, bread symbolises the inner assumption — the thought or feeling you nurture and feed within your imagination. The waters represent the subconscious mind, the receptive and mysterious depths where your assumptions take root and begin to manifest. In Neville’s understanding, “casting bread upon the waters” means to faithfully and generously give your assumption to the subconscious without clinging to it or doubting its eventual fulfilment. You trust that what you have imagi...

The story of Paul’s missionary travels in the book of Acts can be read as far more than a record of historical movements. In symbolic interpretation, Paul represents the awakened mind — transformed from Saul, the zealous enforcer of the old order , into Paul, the messenger of inner revelation. His sea voyages, overland treks, and confrontations mirror the process by which a new state of consciousness spreads through every part of the inner life. Paul’s sea voyages also echo Jesus’ ministry over the waters , for in biblical symbolism the sea represents the receptive mind . Just as Jesus demonstrated mastery by calming storms and walking upon the waves, Paul’s sailing portrays the awakened self moving deliberately through the depths of the subconscious to reach and transform distant mental shores. In this reading, the “foreign countries” Paul visits are not distant geographical locations, but unawakened mental territories . Each name and event marks a stage in the mind’s continuing expa...

Throughout the Bible, patterns emerge: time and again, Israel “ did evil in the sight of the LORD .” This phrase signals a state of spiritual misalignment — a failure to maintain conscious connection with the creative power symbolised by God . From the perspective of Neville Goddard’s teachings, this pattern reveals a deep truth about the nature of assumption and manifestation: The Power of Assumption When we make an assumption — a mental acceptance or belief about reality — we set into motion the creative forces of imagination. The Bible symbolises this as Israel aligning with God’s will. The “good” periods, when Israel is faithful, correspond to the mind firmly holding an assumption in belief. The Wandering Mind and the Fall into ‘Evil’ Yet, the recurring biblical phrase “Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD” shows how often the mind wanders. The reader or practitioner experiences a similar phenomenon: after assuming a new reality, doubts creep in, attention shifts, and ...

“Indeed now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and bear a son. — Judges 13:3 The birth of Samson is a patterned episode in Judges. Before the strongman appears, we meet his parents—Manoah ( 'man knower' ) and his unnamed wife—whose story becomes a parable of the inner conditions that give birth to strength and deliveranc e. Manoah: Rest The name Manoah (מָנֺחַ, Manoach ) means rest or quiet . Manoah represents the calm, settled state of mind needed before any true act of creation. In Neville Goddard’s terms, rest is not inactivity, but a stillness born from conviction—the kind of quiet that comes when you have accepted the end in imagination and no longer wrestle with appearances. His Wife: The Unnamed Receptive State Manoah’s wife , who is never named, symbolises the feeling nature —the subconscious mind as the womb of creation. Her barrenness represents the state before an idea or desire has been impressed upon the subconscious. The ang...

This story from Judges offers an insight Samson’s journey. The awakening self engaging with the outer world, confronting obstacles, and learning to guard the emotional ground where manifestation takes root. At the same time, it reveals a failure of the Genesis 2:24 principal—the difficulty of fully achieving the sacred union of “one flesh” between assumption and imagination , as outer interference disrupts and betrays that unity. Samson goes down to Timnah Samson (the awakened creative self) “goes down” — meaning he descends from a purely inner state into engagement with the outer world of facts and appearances. He sees a Philistine woman (Philistine = the state of mind still ruled by the senses) . The “woman” symbolises the emotional, receptive side of consciousness . Choosing a Philistine woman shows that the awakened mind is about to engage emotionally with something still tied to sense reasoning — perhaps a desire that, on the surface, looks “impossible” according to facts. Now S...

In Strong’s Concordance , Gilead is H1568 – גִּלְעָד ( Gilʿāḏ ). It’s generally understood to mean “heap (or mound) of testimony/witness” or sometimes “rocky region” depending on the context. The name likely comes from two Hebrew elements: גִּלְ (gil) — “heap” or “pile” (as in a cairn or mound of stones) עֵד (ʿēḏ) — “witness” or “testimony” So Gilead can be interpreted as “Heap of Witness” , recalling the Genesis 31:47–48 account where Jacob and Laban made a covenant and marked it with a stone heap named Galeed (the Hebrew form of Gilead). Symbolic Meaning in Biblical Interpretation Symbolically, Gilead — “heap of witness” — carries quite a bit of weight in biblical interpretation. In Genesis 31 , the “heap” is set up as a testifying marker between Jacob and Laban . On the literal level, it was just a pile of stones marking a covenant boundary, but in symbolic reading (like in Neville Goddard–style interpretation), it can represent: A fixed point of inner agreement –...

Judges 9 opens with a pattern of declaration from Abimelech to his mother’s family: "Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh." (Judges 9:2) This is a deliberate echo of Adam’s words in Genesis 2:23 when he beholds the woman : "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." In Genesis, this is the poetry of union — the conscious and the subconscious coming together, the self recognising itself in its other half . It leads to the next verse, Genesis 2:24, where man “ cleaves ” to his wife and they become one flesh. But in Judges 9, the same phrase is twisted. Here, the appeal to kinship becomes a political move — a manipulation to gain power. What was once a statement of unity in love is now a tool of self-interest. From Garden to Thorns After seizing kingship through bloodshed, Abimelech’s reign is framed by Jotham’s parable of the trees (Judges 9:7–15). In it, the trees seek a ...

“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour.” — Judges 6:12  In the days when Midian oppressed Israel, Gideon was found threshing wheat in secret, “to hide it from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11). His name, Gideon, means “hewer” — one who cuts down. Yet at this stage, it was only a hidden potential. Outwardly, he was timid, cautious, and overshadowed by fear. The turning point came with a divine instruction: “Throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it” (Judges 6:25). This command was not about physical idols; in Neville Goddard’s reading, Baal symbolises the false gods of the mind — external conditions, limiting beliefs, and states that appear to rule you . By night, Gideon obeyed. The altar was torn down. The grove was cut. A new altar was built, and “the second bullock” was offered to the Lord (Judges 6:26). When the townsmen awoke and saw Baal’s altar destroyed, th...

Understanding Amos’s Prophetic Pattern The phrase “for three transgressions … and for four” in the book of Amos is a Hebrew poetic device, not a literal count. In Amos 1–2, God speaks against several nations — beginning with Israel’s neighbours and circling inward until His focus rests on Judah and then Israel itself. Each pronouncement begins with the same formula: “For three transgressions of [nation], and for four, I will not turn away its punishment.” This “three… and four” pattern is an idiom in ancient Hebrew parallelism. It does not mean “three sins, then one more.” Instead, it heightens the emphasis: the measure of wrongdoing is full, even overflowing. It’s as if God is saying, “You have already reached the limit — and then gone beyond it.” The style appears elsewhere in Scripture, such as Proverbs 30: “For three things… yes, for four…” , which lists examples to build tension and gravity. In Amos, it underscores the completeness of guilt and the inevitability of the ...

In Neville Goddard’s teaching, the Bible is not a record of external history, but a psychological drama in which every character, place, and event symbolises states of consciousness. One of the most revealing examples is Moab — a nation that, throughout Scripture, stands in tension with Israel. In the language of states, Moab is not “out there” but a condition in us, born when the old self is not truly left behind. The Name and Meaning of Moab The name Moab (Hebrew: מואב) means from father ( mo-ab ). In Hebrew symbolism , the first syllable mo (from the letter Mem ) evokes water, the womb, or the creative mother; Ab means father. Moab therefore carries the idea of the union of mother and father. Yet in the biblical narrative, Moab’s origin is not from a new, free union, but from one bound to the past. Genesis 2:24 declares: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Spiritually understood, this is the law...