The Bribe of Shechem

Neville's Inner Vision

Your inner crowd, the chorus of habitual thoughts, moves toward whatever it perceives as kin to itself. Judges 9:3-4 shows that people align with Abimelech not for objective merit, but because they believe him to be one of them and because they fund him with silver—tokens that purchase influence. In the Neville reading, the “brother” claim and the “house of Baalberith” become symbols for inner loyalties and outer appearances. The moment you accept a desired outcome as real, you begin to pay with mental currency—habits, images, fears—until the imagined army of followers appears. The true kingdom, the I AM, is not marshaling armies outside; it is the inward conviction that the idea you want is already true in you. When you stop seeking support from the outer crowd and return to the inner sense of being, you revise the scene. Imagination fashions reality, and the allegiance of others follows your established state of consciousness. See the “70” and the “silver” as symbolic money you invest in the belief you wish to inhabit.