Inner Princes of Israel

Neville's Inner Vision

These verses present not distant rulers but an inner cabinet. The tribes of Israel correspond to the many states of your own consciousness: memory, impulse, loyalty, courage, creation, order. The names of rulers—Eliezer, Hashabiah, Zadok, Elihu, Omri, Ishmaiah, Jerimoth, Hoshea, Joel, Iddo, Jaasiel, Azareel—become symbols of the persistent attitudes you entertain and permit to govern your thoughts. The repetition of 'princes of the tribes' is the reminder that you do not passively drift; you appoint, through attention and assumption, who shall rule each part of you. When you read this list, see it as a map of an inner government under one sovereign: the I AM, your essential awareness. The external world is the effect of this inner order; harmony in your life comes when every tribe is under the same ruler. The kingdom of God is not a distant realm but an inner structure you maintain by imagination, feeling, and unwavering consent. Therefore, if you desire unity, you revise your inner governors until their decisions reflect one will—your God-given Self.