Inner Jerusalem, Inner Exile

Neville's Inner Vision

To the Neville reader, the text is not a record of distant nations but a map of the inner state. The LORD you read as a personal God is the I AM, your steady awareness. Manasseh's provocations are the recurring negative thoughts that seem to provoke punishment. When such thoughts prevail, the inner Judah—the city of your attention—begins to sour, and the holy Jerusalem—the temple of your focus where your awareness names itself as God—appears in danger of removal. The fierceness of wrath is the stubborn momentum of belief that your consciousness is limited and punishable. Yet the verse does not deny the law; it shows you the consequence of refusing to realign. The promise to cast off the city and the house is the call to reexamine your inner allegiance. The unwavering truth is that I AM never leaves; your true dwelling remains when you repent of fear by returning to the I AM. By seeing that Manasseh and the provocations are but thoughts, you can turn the exilic moment into a reentry by a simple assumption: I am always in the inner temple, and the name of God is always present within me.