Neville Goddard on 2 Samuel 17:14-23 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read 2 Samuel 17 in context

Scripture Focus

14And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom.

15Then said Hushai unto Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, Thus and thus did Ahithophel counsel Absalom and the elders of Israel; and thus and thus have I counselled.

16Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying, Lodge not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but speedily pass over; lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that are with him.

17Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz stayed by Enrogel; for they might not be seen to come into the city: and a wench went and told them; and they went and told king David.

18Nevertheless a lad saw them, and told Absalom: but they went both of them away quickly, and came to a man's house in Bahurim, which had a well in his court; whither they went down.

19And the woman took and spread a covering over the well's mouth, and spread ground corn thereon; and the thing was not known.

20And when Absalom's servants came to the woman to the house, they said, Where is Ahimaaz and Jonathan? And the woman said unto them, They be gone over the brook of water. And when they had sought and could not find them, they returned to Jerusalem.

21And it came to pass, after they were departed, that they came up out of the well, and went and told king David, and said unto David, Arise, and pass quickly over the water: for thus hath Ahithophel counselled against you.

22Then David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over Jordan: by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone over Jordan.

23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.

2 Samuel 17:14-23

Biblical Context

Absalom's plan and Ahithophel's counsel fail; the inner divine plan prevails, and David escapes across the Jordan.

Neville's Inner Vision

Consider the scene as a drama within your own soul. Absalom represents a rebellious self, marching with the crowd, trusting clever schemes over the quiet hush of alignment with I AM. Ahithophel's counsel is the ego’s recipe for control, brilliant in its logic yet not in harmony with the higher plan. The LORD’s appointed defeat of that counsel is not punishment, but a correction of your inner weather, ensuring you do not go astray. Hushai stands for your wiser inner voice, the image of God in you, pathfinding with knowledge that comes from stillness, not from force. When the inner council opposes the outer plan, the story turns toward safety: David’s crossing of the Jordan is your crossing into a steadier consciousness where fear is dissolved by trust. The end—Ahithophel’s quiet departure—signifies the old self dying as you yield to your true I AM. In this moment, the outer events mirror your inner alignment: when you choose to listen to your inner God, plans that rely on force collapse, and life rises into assured flow.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and assume the state 'I AM' as your only governor. Visualize the inner Hushai advising you gently, then declare, 'I accept the divine plan that dissolves egoic schemes; I cross the Jordan now in consciousness.'