Neville Goddard on Job 14:5-17 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Job 14 in context

Scripture Focus

5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;

6Turn from him, that he may rest, till he shall accomplish, as an hireling, his day.

7For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.

8Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground;

9Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant.

10But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he?

11As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up:

12So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.

13O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!

14If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come.

15Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.

16For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin?

17My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.

Job 14:5-17

Biblical Context

Job presents life as divinely set, with bounds and a fixed time. He contrasts death's seeming finality with the tree’s hopeful revival, hinting at an inner awakening beyond mortality.

Neville's Inner Vision

Suppose that the days and months are not merely external facts but the conditions of your inner state. When you read that a man’s days are numbered, hear it as the limitation you have accepted in consciousness. The tree that is cut down but will sprout again is your own inner life, which, though it seems dormant, can be revived by the scent of water—the symbol of your feelings, imagination, and faith. The phrase 'as an hireling' and 'his day' speaks of a shift in how you measure time; you can revise it from struggle to rest in the conviction that your change is already accomplished in the I AM. Death is not extinction but a dream of the mind, a sleep until the inner call wakes you. When Job asks, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' you are invited to answer within: yes, for the change comes when you assume the state of renewal—calling and being answered by the Father within. Your sin-tally and guilt are nothing but thoughts to be sewed up and sealed in the imagination; your true nature awaits the act of belief that you are already risen.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and assume the state of renewal now; silently declare, 'I am in my appointed time of change.' Feel the inner water reviving the root of my life and live from that feeling in the day ahead.