Neville Goddard on Judges 8:16-17 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Judges 8 in context

Scripture Focus

16And he took the elders of the city, and thorns of the wilderness and briers, and with them he taught the men of Succoth.

17And he beat down the tower of Penuel, and slew the men of the city.

Judges 8:16-17

Biblical Context

Gideon gathers the city's elders with thorny branches to teach the men of Succoth, then destroys Penuel's tower and slays its men.

Neville's Inner Vision

Within Judges 8:16-17 the city is your inner state of consciousness. The elders stand for the fixed authorities you have trusted to rule your mind. The thorns of the wilderness and briars symbolize the prickings of hardship that awaken attention. When Gideon takes them and turns them into tools of teaching, he is you converting pain into instruction, using discomfort to raise awareness rather than to punish. Teaching the men of Succoth becomes the awakening of latent powers in your awareness—qualities you once overlooked. The tower of Penuel is the rigid belief structure you have erected to shield yourself; beating it down represents the moment you dissolve that old armor and surrender to a higher order of thought. Slaying the men of the city marks releasing reactive energies that kept the mind in fear. This is deliverance secured through righteousness and obedience to the I AM within. The world you behold arises not by conquest of others but by the quiet remodeling of your own interior weather.

Practice This Now

Imaginative_act: Close your eyes and enter the inner city. Assume the role of the inner elder and declare, 'I am the ruler of my mind; I dissolve fixed towers of belief.' Feel the old structure dissolve and your awareness settle into a freer state.