Neville Goddard on Ecclesiastes 3:9-22 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Ecclesiastes 3 in context

Scripture Focus

9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

11He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

12I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

14I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.

15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

17I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

18I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?

22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

Ecclesiastes 3:9-22

Biblical Context

Ecclesiastes 3:9–22 asks what profit is in labor under the sun and points to God's timing. It invites joy and the savoring of life as the gift of God, concluding that rejoicing in one's own work is the best portion.

Neville's Inner Vision

From the Neville vantage, the verse reveals not a calendar of events but the condition of your consciousness. The question "what profit hath he that worketh..." becomes: what profit accrues from the state you maintain about yourself in relation to your work? God has set 'the world in their heart'—that is, the inner world in which your senses and purposes unfold. The toil and the seasons are the movement of consciousness, not external fate. When you accept that nothing pure is gained by clinging to form, you awaken to the gift: you can choose to rejoice, to eat and drink in the sense of fully savoring right now, and to see all your labor as a divine act of creation. What God doeth is forever—the results of your inner alignment endure as your state of being, not as transient external outcomes. The reference to 'dust' and 'beasts' speaks to the relative insignificance of outward forms; your true life is the inner life that persists. So the inner world judges nothing but reveals itself as you turn toward joy. Your day becomes a field where you practice the art of imagining the end, and feeling it real in the now.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Sit quietly, close your eyes, and assume you are already living in the truth that your labor is meaningful because God has set the world in your heart. Feel the joy of that inner alignment as if it were your present reality; dwell with the sense, 'I rejoice in my own works' for 60–90 seconds, and notice how the outer tasks soften as you hold the feeling.