Inner Leadership with the Rod

Neville's Inner Vision

To the awakened, this verse is not a history but a map of consciousness. 'Go on before the people' is the inward directive to step out in imagination as the I AM, presenting yourself before every outward appearance with calm assurance. The elders of Israel are your inner authorities—the established thoughts and loyalties you have learned to trust. They are not finite rulers but doors through which God, or your true awareness, moves. The rod with which thou smotest the river is your faculty of belief and its instrument, your imagination that has already done what the river symbolizes: a flow of circumstance you once thought stubborn. When you pick up that rod and go, you align with the Presence of God within you, and the apparent external world follows the inner state. The scene at the banks dissolves into the practice of living as if the outcome has already occurred. Your task is obedience to inner guidance, faithfulness to your renewed state, and the confident use of your chosen instrument to witness a life that reflects your inner assurance.