Neville Goddard on Joshua 5:4-7 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Joshua 5 in context

Scripture Focus

4And this is the cause why Joshua did circumcise: All the people that came out of Egypt, that were males, even all the men of war, died in the wilderness by the way, after they came out of Egypt.

5Now all the people that came out were circumcised: but all the people that were born in the wilderness by the way as they came forth out of Egypt, them they had not circumcised.

6For the children of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because they obeyed not the voice of the LORD: unto whom the LORD sware that he would not shew them the land, which the LORD sware unto their fathers that he would give us, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

7And their children, whom he raised up in their stead, them Joshua circumcised: for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the way.

Joshua 5:4-7

Biblical Context

Israelites who left Egypt were not circumcised and died in the wilderness; their children, born during the wandering, had not been circumcised, so Joshua circumcised them to renew the covenant and prepare entry into the land.

Neville's Inner Vision

That passage is a map of inner states, not a history of land alone. The wandering in the wilderness represents a mind tuned to fear and disobedience, until the old generation dies in its own thinking. Joshua’s circumcision of the children born there marks an inner turning: a deliberate severing of the old self that refused the voice of the I AM. It is not a mere ritual but a renewal of covenant loyalty, so the people may advance into the land that signifies their awakened awareness. The land is not separate from us; it is consciousness fully realized through obedience to the inward God within. The presence of God dawns when you align with the Lord’s voice now, not in yesterday’s memory. Therefore true obedience is a continual revision of thought and feeling until your life itself reflects the promised state.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes, breathe, and imagine stepping into your promised land as your inner I AM seals away the old wandering self. Then revise a recent limitation into faith by whispering 'I AM' and allow the feeling of arrival to linger for a minute.