Neville Goddard on Genesis 22:1-19 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Genesis 22 in context

Scripture Focus

1And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.

2And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.

3And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.

4Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.

6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.

7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?

8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.

10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.

13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.

15And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,

16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:

17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;

18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

19So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.

Genesis 22:1-19

Biblical Context

Abraham is tested by God to offer his son Isaac; at the last moment, God provides a ram and reveals provision. The story marks the inner journey from fear to faith.

Neville's Inner Vision

Genesis 22 is not a record of a historical sacrifice but a drama of consciousness. The land of Moriah becomes the inner terrain where the I AM, fully awake, chooses to lay down attachment to outcomes. Abraham’s obedience is obedience to the present idea—the conviction that God is in him and as him. The 'son' is not a separate boy but the image of limitation—the personal hope, fear, and future that the mind imagines—and it is offered to the one power. When he says, 'God will provide himself a lamb,' he is affirming that the principle you seek is already present as your own imagination—an inner ram caught in the thicket that substitutes lack with sufficiency. The ram's arrival is not elsewhere but within: a revision that shows provision is always here when you stop withholding your faith. The line 'for now I know that thou fearest God' marks the shift from reaction to reverent acknowledgement; you stop clinging to the old outcome and align with the I AM, blessing comes through the act of surrender. Thus the trial becomes a revelation: your inner seed is blessed and your world follows the law of supply through your faith in the inner government of God within.

Practice This Now

Sit in quiet and assume the state you desire as already true, softly saying, 'I am.' Revise any sense of lack until it feels real, then imagine your inner ram appearing as substitute on Mount Moriah.