Inner Vine, Outer Altar, Inner King

Neville's Inner Vision

What Hosea calls an empty vine is not a failing vineyard in the field but a state of consciousness that feeds its own vanity. The fruit is used to build altars and images, symbols of self-glorification rather than true alignment with the I AM. When the heart is divided, you have 'no king' inside; you fear not the LORD and thus imagine you have ceased to govern your inner realm. The 'calves of Beth-aven' and the forsaking of true worship point to a mind worshiping compartments, not the wholeness of God in you. The judgment that sprouts like hemlock is the natural result of resisting the law of your inner king: you reap appearances that mirror your inner storm. Yet the passage invites a reversal: you can replace the outward, broken covenants with a single inner covenant of unity with the I AM. See how Ephraim’s shame comes from drumming up counterfeit counsel—so too when you try to govern by fear rather than love. The moment you revise the inner state, the outer weariness collapses and the ‘glory’ returns.