Neville Goddard on Hosea 5:1-15 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Hosea 5 in context

Scripture Focus

1Hear ye this, O priests; and hearken, ye house of Israel; and give ye ear, O house of the king; for judgment is toward you, because ye have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

2And the revolters are profound to make slaughter, though I have been a rebuker of them all.

3I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hid from me: for now, O Ephraim, thou committest whoredom, and Israel is defiled.

4They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not known the LORD.

5And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face: therefore shall Israel and Ephraim fall in their iniquity; Judah also shall fall with them.

6They shall go with their flocks and with their herds to seek the LORD; but they shall not find him; he hath withdrawn himself from them.

7They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.

8Blow ye the cornet in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah: cry aloud at Bethaven, after thee, O Benjamin.

9Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke: among the tribes of Israel have I made known that which shall surely be.

10The princes of Judah were like them that remove the bound: therefore I will pour out my wrath upon them like water.

11Ephraim is oppressed and broken in judgment, because he willingly walked after the commandment.

12Therefore will I be unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian, and sent to king Jareb: yet could he not heal you, nor cure you of your wound.

14For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.

15I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.

Hosea 5:1-15

Biblical Context

God indicts the leaders and people for idolatry and faithlessness, calling them a snare and a net. He warns that even when they search for the LORD, they will not find Him until affliction awakens a return to consciousness.

Neville's Inner Vision

To Neville’s ear, this is the drama inside: the 'priests' and the 'house of Israel' are states of consciousness—the disciplined and the restless. The 'spirit of whoredoms' is attachment to images that pretend to satisfy, while the LORD is the I AM within. When these parts refuse to turn to their inner God, pride and self-will become 'the pride of Israel' and the self may experience exile from harmony. God withdraws not as punishment but as a wakefulness of consciousness—'I will go and return to my place'—until you acknowledge the offense of believing you are separate from your own awareness. Yet the moment you awaken to your unity, the 'lion' of truth tears away the old self and you find that you cannot be truly healed by outward alliances. This is the inner drama of awakening: the appearance of desolation and judgment is only the mind returning to its center—the I AM present here, now.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Close your eyes and declare, 'I AM that I AM; I now seek only the presence of God within me.' Feel a warm light in the chest as you revise every sense of separation into unity, and dwell in the felt reality of God as now.