Neville Goddard on Numbers 20:14-21 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Numbers 20 in context

Scripture Focus

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.

Numbers 20:14-21

Biblical Context

Moses asks Edom for passage for Israel; Edom refuses, and Israel must turn away rather than cross Edom’s border.

Neville's Inner Vision

Numbers 20:14-21 unfolds as a study in the I AM within. Edom represents the stubborn border of the ego, the belief that one must remain where one has always stood. Israel is the united self, recalling deliverance and the mercy that opened a path. The plea, “let us pass,” is your conscious desire to move through limitation without compromising integrity. The refusal of Edom is the moment consciousness asserts a boundary that must be dissolved by inner recognition. Yet the invitation remains: we will go by the high way, not drinking of wells or drinking of water—symbolic of aligning with a higher route, a direct path of consciousness. The angel who delivered them is the inner guide, the perception that moves you forward. Perseverance and unity become your tools to honor the journey, not by forcing a crossing but by affirming the Pass through your inner borders. The love of neighbor becomes the understanding that Edom is within you, not a foe, and the true passage arises when you revise limitation with the certainty of the I AM.

Practice This Now

Imaginative act: Close your eyes, assume you are already on the high way through your inner border, feel the border dissolve, and declare, I pass this border now by the I AM. If resistance arises, revise the border as a mere suggestion.