Neville Goddard on Jonah 1:3-6 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Jonah 1 in context

Scripture Focus

3But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

4But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.

5Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep.

6So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not.

Jonah 1:3-6

Biblical Context

Jonah tries to flee from the LORD, and a great storm arises. The sailors cry out to their gods while Jonah sleeps, until the captain challenges him to wake and call on his God.

Neville's Inner Vision

Jonah’s rising to flee from the presence of the LORD is not a history lesson but a mirror of your own inner state. The presence of the LORD is the I AM that you are, and to flee is to resist awareness in the moment you say 'not now' to your divine identity. The great wind and tempest are the tumult of beliefs that suggest you cannot hold your peace while God is within. The mariners, calling on their gods, show how your mind seeks relief in many substitutes, while Jonah lies asleep, a self-hypnosis of separation. The shipmaster's summons is your inner teacher, awakening you to the truth that a dream is playing out within you. Arising and calling upon thy God means you turn your attention from the storm to the I AM, and you identify the self you truly are. When you accept the presence, the storm is stilled, not by force but by the recognition that you never left God; you simply forgot. Your task is to revise: declare, here and now, that the only power is I AM, and feel the assurance of this truth as real.

Practice This Now

Assume the state: I AM present within me now. Silently, declare to your subconscious, 'I am the presence of God here and now,' and feel the calm as if the storm dissolves.