Neville Goddard on Judges 10:1-18 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Judges 10 in context

Scripture Focus

1And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.

2And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.

3And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.

4And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.

5And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.

6And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.

7And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

8And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

9Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

10And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.

11And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines?

12The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand.

13Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.

14Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.

15And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.

16And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.

17Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and encamped in Mizpeh.

18And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.

Judges 10:1-18

Biblical Context

Judges 10:1-18 shows Israel turning to many gods, resulting in oppression and a cry for relief. When they repent and cast away the idols, the LORD delivers them and they return to serving Him.

Neville's Inner Vision

Judges 10:1-18 speaks in outward names—Tola, Jair, the idols, the oppression—but in my tongue it becomes the weather of consciousness. The people’s turning to many gods is the mind’s habit of seeking security in countless images, a dispersion of the I AM into fragments. When they cry, it is not the gods they summon to save them, but the moment the I AM remembers itself and chooses to align with its own unity. The LORD’s reply is the friction of consciousness: the moment you insist on being fed by your separate gods, you seal your own deliverance; when you concede that none but the one I AM provides relief, you unbind the soul. Put away the strange gods, and the mind’s greyness lifts; the oppression you felt becomes a misreading of your own pointing-away from the Self. The deliverance, then, is the instant shift from dependence on gods outside to the I AM within, a decision to remember who you are rather than what you fear. The sense of being governed by external powers dissolves as you return to the one Driver of all states.

Practice This Now

Identify a belief or habit you call a god; close your eyes and imagine the I AM stepping forward as the sole governor of your mind. Revise softly, 'I put away every idol and am delivered now,' and feel the relief as if it has already occurred.