Neville Goddard on Numbers 20:12-24 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Numbers 20 in context

Scripture Focus

12And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

13This is the water of Meribah; because the children of Israel strove with the LORD, and he was sanctified in them.

14And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom, Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us:

15How our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers:

16And when we cried unto the LORD, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and, behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border:

17Let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders.

18And Edom said unto him, Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword.

19And the children of Israel said unto him, We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing anything else, go through on my feet.

20And he said, Thou shalt not go through. And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand.

21Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

22And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor.

23And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying,

24Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.

Numbers 20:12-24

Biblical Context

Moses and Aaron are barred from entering the land because they did not sanctify the LORD at Meribah; the people's rebellion leads to consequence, and Aaron dies at Mount Hor.

Neville's Inner Vision

Numbers 20:12-24 thus speaks to the inner process, not the historical record alone. In Neville’s light, Moses and Aaron are states of consciousness—the old mind that doubts, the habit of obedience to the outer appearance rather than to the I AM. Because they did not sanctify the LORD in the eyes of Israel, they withholding the people from entering the land that their awareness already claimed. The water of Meribah is the inner test where you argue with your own life, wanting to negotiate outcomes while pretending to trust. When you permit fear to substitute faith, you contract your reality; when you revise the moment and declare, 'I am the I Am; this moment now sanctifies God in me,' you shift the border of your inner Edom. The Lord’s word at Mount Hor is your cue to abandon the old self and crown the I Am as the ruler of your inner country. Entry to the land becomes a present fact when you feel the wish as already fulfilled, regardless of outer appearances.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Sit quietly and assume you have already entered your promised land. Revise the moment by affirming, 'I am the I Am; I have sanctified God within me,' and feel that reality now.