Neville Goddard on Ezra 9:3-4 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Ezra 9 in context

Scripture Focus

3And when I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle, and plucked off the hair of my head and of my beard, and sat down astonied.

4Then were assembled unto me every one that trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that had been carried away; and I sat astonied until the evening sacrifice.

Ezra 9:3-4

Biblical Context

Ezra hears of transgression, tears his garments and hair, and sits in astonishment as those who tremble at God's words gather, waiting until the evening sacrifice.

Neville's Inner Vision

Ezra's outward sign—the tearing of garments, the unbraiding of hair, the long astonishment—speaks of a deeper inner turning. In the Neville mode, the man is a state of consciousness; the transgression Ezra mourns is a belief in separation from the God within. The gathering of those who tremble at the words of Israel's God is the inner chorus that answers when you entertain a higher truth. The astonied seat until the evening sacrifice is the moment you suspend the old self and allow a fresh awareness to come forward. The 'God of Israel' is your I AM, and what Ezra felt outwardly is simply the first wave of an inner shift toward a new covenant with life. When you refuse to identify with the old pattern and instead assume the feeling of the higher ideal, that restrictive state collapses and becomes a memory. Stay with that feeling, knowing the inner decree is already established; your life will flow in accordance with the revised covenant as surely as day follows night.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: In the next moment, assume you are already in the inner covenant and feel the I AM as your present reality. Let that revised state color your thoughts, sensations, and surroundings until your outer world reflects it.