Neville Goddard on Ecclesiastes 7:13-18 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Ecclesiastes 7 in context

Scripture Focus

13Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

14In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

15All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

16Be not righteous over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy thyself ?

17Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?

18It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

Ecclesiastes 7:13-18

Biblical Context

The verses urge you to regard life’s prosperity and adversity as the work of God. They warn against extremes of righteousness or wickedness, inviting a balanced, humble stance.

Neville's Inner Vision

Beloved, the work of God here is the ordering of your inner life. What you deem crooked in the outer world is a subtle invitation to become more aware of the I AM, your unchanging consciousness. You cannot force a straight path by struggle alone; you align with divine order by assuming a new inner posture. In prosperity and in adversity, remember that both are movements of your own awareness designed to refine you, not to crush you. There will be seasons when a righteous appearance seems to fail and seasons when the wicked seem to endure; these are not verdicts but invitations to withdraw from identifying with any one state. Do not press toward excessive righteousness nor fall into reckless wickedness; the teaching is balance. The true aim is to fear God—to honor the I AM within—and to hold fast to this inner principle until all extremes dissolve into harmony. When you acknowledge this order, you emerge from them all: the message you could not bend is the message you now become.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly and declare, 'I am the I AM, ruler of my inner weather.' Then imagine both prosperity and adversity as guided by the same divine order, and feel the steady calm of awareness under this truth.