Arrival at the Inner Promised Land

Neville's Inner Vision

To the Neville reader, Exodus 33:1-2 is not a geography lesson but a conversion of states. Egypt is a state of consciousness bound by fear; the land of Canaan is your realized wholeness, where your seed of faith can dwell in peace. The command to depart signals the decision to leave the old self-imposed identity; the ascent is an inner movement toward a higher awareness. The 'angel' that goes before you is not a person but your own imaginative faculty—your mental image that precedes and makes possible the outer result. As you imagine from the end, you are clearing the path by consent; the Canaanites and other foes are the habits you tolerate, and you drive them out by your steadfast assumption of the land's reality. God promises presence—the I AM within whom you trust—going before you; thus the journey is inward, and the land precedes the traveler in consciousness. Your present is the land promised, awaiting your recognition.