Neville Goddard on Numbers 5:16-21 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Numbers 5 in context

Scripture Focus

16And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:

17And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

18And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

19And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

20But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:

21Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;

Numbers 5:16-21

Biblical Context

The passage shows a priest bringing a woman before the LORD, mixing holy water with dust, and charging her with an oath to determine if she is free or under a curse. The ritual is a symbolic drama about inner accountability and the consequences of perceived impurity.

Neville's Inner Vision

Numbers 5:16-21 becomes a map of inner states. The woman is your present consciousness brought before the LORD—your I AM awareness. The holy water and the dust are the materials you mix in imagination, the memories and beliefs you allow to stir within you. The uncovering of the head is your vulnerability to truth; the jealousy offering is the remembrance you hold about what you think you must guard. The bitter water that causeth the curse stands for fear-thoughts that declare you defiled and condemned. The oath of cursing—"The LORD make thee a curse"—exposes how you separate yourself from your unity whenever you cling to a story of wrongdoing. But the other branch, "If no man have lain with thee… be thou free," invites a change of state: assume purity, assume innocence, feel it real. In truth, the entire rite is a drama of your inner law, and by shifting your assumption you dissolve the imagined consequence. What once seemed a curse becomes a memory dissolved in the light of your I AM.

Practice This Now

Sit quietly, imagine standing before the LORD with the water-and-dust in hand. Revise the oath to declare you are innocent and free; then feel the truth coursing through your body as you breathe into the belly and chest.