Neville Goddard on Jeremiah 35:2-10 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Jeremiah 35 in context

Scripture Focus

2Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

4And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

5And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

6But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

7Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

8Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

9Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

10But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

Jeremiah 35:2-10

Biblical Context

Jeremiah brings the Rechabites into the house of the LORD and offers wine, but they refuse, upholding their father Jonadab's injunction to drink no wine and to dwell in tents as a lifelong covenant.

Neville's Inner Vision

Take Jeremiah’s scene as a map of the inner man. The Rechabites enter the temple not to perform a ritual but to bring their covenant into consciousness. The wine offered represents the appetites and external stimuli that would distract the mind from its appointed inner command. Jonadab, the father, is the interior law written in the psyche, a command you speak as I AM that you will not surrender every moment to every impulse. They answer, 'We will drink no wine,' because obedience to the inner command is not a momentary stance but a steadfast lifestyle—a dwelling in tents rather than the grand city of outward abundance. By choosing the tent, they refuse identification with the world’s surface but align with a timeless, stable presence within a land of strangers—the dream-world of life. This is faithfulness: not outward form but fidelity to a conscious directive. When you honor your inner instruction, you affirm your divine state and the imagination’s power to reflect that state in the world you inhabit. Internal obedience becomes external harmony, a quiet, unwavering sense of home within your I AM identity.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Close your eyes, breathe, and declare, 'I am the Rechabite now, dwelling in tents of faith and obedience to the inner command.' Revise one current urge by affirming, 'I drink no wine of fear or craving; I am loyal to my inner Father I AM.' Feel this state as real for several minutes.