Neville Goddard on Jonah 2:2-4 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Jonah 2 in context

Scripture Focus

2And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

3For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.

Jonah 2:2-4

Biblical Context

Jonah cries to the LORD from the belly, and God hears him; the storm and depths symbolize inner turmoil. He declares a turning toward the temple, signaling a shift of attention to the divine presence within.

Neville's Inner Vision

From Neville's perspective, the belly is the mind's night-sea, a state of alarm in which the I AM seems distant. The cry is the act of turning consciousness Godward; the Lord hearing is the recognition that awareness answers itself, for God is the I AM within. The depth, seas, and billows are the mental commotions that threaten to drown the sense of self. When Jonah says, 'I am cast out of thy sight,' he embodies the ego's belief in separation, a temporary forgetting of the inner temple. Yet the decisive turn, 'yet I will look again toward thy holy temple,' is the creative act of reinvesting attention. The temple is not a distant place but the present awareness that perceives through the I AM. Thus, the whole scene becomes a practice: awaken to the feeling of being already in the divine presence, revise the memory of abandonment, and feel the certainty that the Father’s face is always toward you. By this inner movement, the outward storm subsides as your state of consciousness aligns with the truth of presence.