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

Read Matthew 4 in context

Scripture Focus

5Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Matthew 4:5-7

Biblical Context

In Matthew 4:5-7, the devil tempts Jesus to cast himself down from the temple, suggesting divine protection; Jesus answers that one must not tempt the Lord God.

Neville's Inner Vision

Picture the scene not as a geographical contest but as a state of consciousness. The pinnacle represents a peak of self-rejection or proof-seeking thought, and the devil is the persistent idea that reality can only confirm itself through outward signs. When the master declares, 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God,' he is teaching you to stop testing the outer world as the measure of your inner trust. Your angels are not external emissaries but the ordered movements of your own awareness when you align with the I AM. The command guards you from leaking your divine vitality into fear-driven experiments; it invites you to rely on the law within — that the one who doubts and demands signs shadows his own light. By refusing the dare to leap for evidence, you affirm your unity with God, and the world bends to your inner decree. Imagination, when rightly claimed, becomes the rope that lifts you, not a dare you beat against the stones of circumstance.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes, stand on the inner pinnacle of your choice, and declare, I am the I AM now. Revise the impulse to test the outer world; feel-it-real that you are protected from within.