Neville Goddard on Jonah 3:2-10 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Jonah 3 in context

Scripture Focus

2Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

3So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.

4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.

5So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.

6For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.

7And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:

8But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.

9Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?

10And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Jonah 3:2-10

Biblical Context

God commands Jonah to go to Nineveh and preach. The Ninevites' repentance and God's mercy illustrate how inner turning alters outward fate.

Neville's Inner Vision

Jonah is told to arise and enter the inner city of your mind, Nineveh. Nineveh stands for the beliefs and habits that govern your life until they are transformed. When Jonah proclaims the warning, the words are not about a distant city but about your own state of consciousness: forty days represent a span of decision, a window in which you choose a new pattern. The people believing God, fasting, and wearing sackcloth symbolize your decision to turn from fear and aggression toward truth and compassion. The king's act—laying aside royal robes and covering himself—echoes your own willingness to humble the ego before the truth you now acknowledge. This is not punishment; it is the birth of a new state. When your inner city repents, God sees the change and "repents" of the old doom—i.e., the older outcome dissolves, and mercy becomes your experience. Your mind's Nineveh can be transformed by a single, steadfast decree: I AM awake; I turn; forgiveness flows. The tale is an invitation that the imagination rules your life whenever you assume the truth of transformation.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly, place a hand on your chest, and assume the state, I AM awake and I turn from fear. See yourself walking through your inner Nineveh and feel mercy taking the lead in every thought.