Neville Goddard on 1 Kings 16:23-33 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 1 Kings 16 in context

Scripture Focus

23In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.

24And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.

25But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him.

26For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

27Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he shewed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

28So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.

29And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.

30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.

31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.

32And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.

33And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

1 Kings 16:23-33

Biblical Context

Omri begins to reign, builds Samaria, and does evil by following Jeroboam's sins. Ahab continues that pattern, worshiping Baal and erecting an altar and grove in Samaria.

Neville's Inner Vision

Omri and Ahab are not distant figures but allegories of your own mind. Omri's building of Samaria on a hill represents the mind's drive to secure power, status, and security; his 'evil' is the moment consciousness yields to vanity and forgets the God within. Walking in Jeroboam's sins is repeating familiar patterns—fear, self-will, external worship—that provoke anger at vanities. Ahab's alliance with Jezebel and worship of Baal marks the rise of a ruling passion seeking to govern life by sensation rather than by the living I AM. The altar and grove are substitutes for true communion; they show how a mind turns to externals to feel loved or secure. Yet such reigns do not endure; the inner governor—the I AM—remains supreme. Your work is to reverse this: claim the I AM as sovereign now, and feel its reality. When you assume that state, you begin to reign in truth.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and silently affirm 'I AM' is the only governor of your life. Feel this presence ruling now, and let old patterns fade as you rest in that reality for a few minutes.