Neville Goddard on Job 33:17-22 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Job 33 in context

Scripture Focus

17That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man.

18He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.

19He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain:

20So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat.

21His flesh is consumed away, that it cannot be seen; and his bones that were not seen stick out.

22Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers.

Job 33:17-22

Biblical Context

These verses describe a divine correction that withdraws a person from their false purpose and hides pride. Suffering and chastening are the means by which the soul is redirected toward restoration.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within Job 33:17-22 the withdrawal from purpose and the hiding of pride are not penalties but the turning of consciousness. The I AM, God within, draws the man away from a fevered outward aim so that the true self may reappear in its rightful image. Pride, the false self, is hidden from the man so that the light of awareness can unfold. The soul is kept from the pit and the life from perishing by the sword as the inner weather shifts from fear to faith, from striving to rest in the I AM. The bed-chastening and the bones' sharpness symbolize the body's old allegiances loosening; appetite becomes secondary as the mind learns to trust the inner lead. Yea, the soul nears the grave of the old story, and the old self dissolves under the fire of inward recognition. If you accept this inward correction, you awaken to a restoration already present in consciousness, not as future event but as the present state you inhabit when you place your awareness in the I AM.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Assume in the present that your life is preserved by the I AM; revise any prideful self-image and feel-it-real that you are already restored.