Neville Goddard on Acts 22:17-21 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Acts 22 in context

Scripture Focus

17And it came to pass, that, when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance;

18And saw him saying unto me, Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem: for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me.

19And I said, Lord, they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed on thee:

20And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him.

21And he said unto me, Depart: for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles.

Acts 22:17-21

Biblical Context

Paul returns to Jerusalem, prays in the temple, and falls into a trance. He is told to depart because they will not receive his testimony, recalling his role in Stephen's death, and that he will be sent to the Gentiles.

Neville's Inner Vision

Suppose you are the I AM perceiving the events. The temple scene is your own inner sanctuary; the trance is a shift in awareness when you suspend ordinary judgment. The command 'Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem' is not a geographical injunction but a call to leave the old city of fear and self-doubt within you. When Paul admits his past actions—the imprisonment and the approval of Stephen's death—he is not confessing to guilt as so much as acknowledging the power of a state of consciousness that once believed in separation from God. The word 'Depart' becomes a revision instruction: depart from the old self and be sent beyond the familiar into Gentile territory—the larger audience of your present experience. The divine message does not rescind his mission; it expands it into a larger sphere of awareness. Your awareness can likewise be redirected from a narrow, Jerusalem-centered self to a universal witness, declaring the truth you already know in your heart.

Practice This Now

Assume the feeling of the trance and hear the inner command to depart from the old Jerusalem of limitation. Today, revise a plan or conversation to embody a broader witness, as if you are already sent to the Gentiles.