Neville Goddard on Genesis 18:20-33 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Genesis 18 in context

Scripture Focus

20And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

22And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

23And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

24Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?

25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

26And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

27And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes:

28Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

29And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.

30And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

31And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.

32And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

Genesis 18:20-33

Biblical Context

God notes the grievous cry of Sodom and declares He will investigate; Abraham intercedes, negotiating down from fifty righteous to ten; the Lord agrees to spare the city for the sake of the righteous, then the dialogue ends and Abraham returns to his place.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within your mind’s sanctuary, this tale reveals a map of consciousness. The LORD represents the I AM you, the steadfast witness who will not condemn the entire life unless a righteous state is absent. The cry of Sodom is the clamor of fear, habit, and discord within; Abraham stands before the LORD as your aspirant self, asking whether you will destroy the good along with the bad. The descending negotiation—fifty, forty, thirty, twenty, ten—embodies how you calibrate your inner standards. When you insist that the Judge of all the earth must act rightly, you align with a higher law that does not annihilate, but transforms. The answers come in proportion to your faith: cultivate even one seed of righteousness, and the entire field loosens its grip. Your world adjusts to the degree you entertain the righteous within you. Practice revision of fear into faith, and witness conditions shift as if by a miracle of imagination.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit in quiet and assume you are the ten righteous within; revise the scene by declaring I will spare this life because of the righteousness within me, and feel it as already done.