Neville Goddard on Jonah 1:5-7 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Jonah 1 in context

Scripture Focus

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.

7And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah.

Jonah 1:5-7

Biblical Context

The crisis on the ship reflects a mind in turbulence. The sailors cry to their gods while Jonah sleeps, and the lot reveals the inner state behind the trouble.

Neville's Inner Vision

I see in Jonah 1:5-7 the storm as a condition of consciousness rather than weather. The ship is the body; the mariners are the voices of fear and hope waking in us, crying to their gods of separation. Jonah, who sleeps in the hold, represents the neglected I AM within—our awareness that remains unconscious to its own power. The shipmaster's command, Arise, call upon thy God, is the call to awaken the inner governor. When they cast lots to locate the blame, the lot falling on Jonah shows how the dominant belief you hold about your identity will reveal itself as the cause of your pressure. The true cause is not out there but within, in the state you are entertaining as real. The moment you decide, 'I am awake; I call upon the God within; I am guided by the light of my own consciousness,' you dissolve the storm. Practice this as a revision: identify a pressing problem, assume its resolution as already complete, and feel the relief as if it is now real. Your life will respond in kind, aligning the outer with the inner.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly, breathe, and revise the scene by affirming, I AM awake now; I call upon my God within and I am guided to safety. Feel the relief and trust flood your body as you dwell in that consciousness.