Neville Goddard on Joel 1:4-12 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Joel 1 in context

Scripture Focus

4That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

5Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

6For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

7He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.

8Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

9The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of the LORD; the priests, the LORD's ministers, mourn.

10The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the corn is wasted: the new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

11Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.

12The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

Joel 1:4-12

Biblical Context

The land is stripped by successive insects, eating what remains, until the vine, fig tree, and harvest lie bare. The call is for awakening, mourning, and turning toward a restored relationship with the divine.

Neville's Inner Vision

In Joel 1:4-12, the devastation described—palmerworms, locusts, cankerworms, and caterpillars—represents the collapse of inner states of consciousness that once held vitality and joy. The land and its offerings symbolize your mind’s inner economy, where the vine, fig tree, and harvest reflect the felt sense of abundance. When these outer signs appear, they are not proof of an isolated world’s ruin but the mind’s belief in lack. The advancing nation and its lion-teeth are the dominant stories you have accepted as real, a sense of separation from the I AM that you truly are. Yet the I AM can reverse this script by revision and imagination: restore the inner vineyard, re-sustain the oil and wine, and reawaken the celebrated rites of gratitude. The priests’ mourning hints at neglected inner faculties; their absence signals an inward ritual you can reinstate by declaring and feeling the truth you desire as already present. Joy returns as you stop identifying with decay and align with the reality you intend to live.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes, place your hand on your chest, and revise aloud: I AM the abundance that I seek; the harvest is restored in my mind, and I feel it now.