Neville Goddard on Acts 13:6-12 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Acts 13 in context

Scripture Focus

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 13:6-12

Biblical Context

Paul and Barnabas arrive at Paphos, confront Elymas the sorcerer who tries to keep Sergius Paulus from hearing the word; Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, pronounces judgment, blinding Elymas for a season, and the deputy believes the Lord’s teaching.

Neville's Inner Vision

Viewed through Neville's lens, Elymas is not a man alone but a state of mind: subtlety and mischief born of fear, a belief in separation seeking to turn the outer life from truth. Paul represents the I AM, the awakened awareness that can act when it is filled with the Holy Spirit—the fixed attention that refuses to concede to illusion. When he looks on Elymas and speaks, the challenge is not punishment but a reforming of consciousness: the accusing words expose a false allegiance to fear, and the result is the inner blindness that follows such belief. The 'hand of the Lord' upon thee is the arrest of a misperception, a clearing of the mist by which the false self would hide from truth. The deputy's subsequent faith arises from witnessing the power of Truth demonstrated within the field of awareness. In Neville terms, the events are inner movements: a stubborn belief is dissolved, and belief itself is clarified. The drama is your own inner confrontation with the lie that you are separate from God; when you stand in the I AM and align with Truth, the outer world answers in astonished recognition of the doctrine of the Lord.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and assume the feeling-state of the I AM, seeing through all deception now. See Elymas dissolving into mist, and notice belief turning toward the truth in your outer life.