Neville Goddard on Acts 13:5-12 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Acts 13 in context

Scripture Focus

5And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.

6And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:

7Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.

8But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.

9Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,

10And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

11And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

12Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

Acts 13:5-12

Biblical Context

Paul and Barnabas preach the word of God in Salamis and Paphos, seeking Sergius Paulus. Elymas the sorcerer opposes; Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, declares that the sorcerer will be blind, and Sergius Paulus believes.

Neville's Inner Vision

In this tale the players are not distant people, but states of your own consciousness. The ‘word of God’ spoken by Barnabas and Paul is the living awareness you already are, seeking expression through your thoughts and feelings. Barjesus, the sorcerer, represents a habitual doubt and clever resistance that would lead your deputy—the inner will toward truth—away from faith. When Saul, filled with the Holy Ghost, fixes his eyes on the difficulty, he is your I AM suddenly awake to the subtleties of inner mischief. The shout, you shall be blind, is not punishment but a conversion of attention: a temporary blindness to old appearances so the truth can be seen anew. The mist and darkness are the old beliefs dissolving, as the inner ruler asserts the right order of being. Then the deputy believes, astonished at the doctrine of the Lord — meaning your inner disposition chooses truth over illusion. So the whole event is one drama of inner psychology: a former stance yields to the immediacy of the I AM, and faith in the unseen becomes your lived fact through imagination and inner assurance.

Practice This Now

Imaginative_act: Close your eyes and assume the truth you seek is already real within you, feeling it now as I AM. If doubt surfaces, revise the scene by seeing Barjesus blown away by light and the deputy embracing faith.