Neville Goddard on Zephaniah 2:4-15 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Zephaniah 2 in context

Scripture Focus

4For Gaza shall be forsaken, and Ashkelon a desolation: they shall drive out Ashdod at the noon day, and Ekron shall be rooted up.

5Woe unto the inhabitants of the sea coast, the nation of the Cherethites! the word of the LORD is against you; O Canaan, the land of the Philistines, I will even destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant.

6And the sea coast shall be dwellings and cottages for shepherds, and folds for flocks.

7And the coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; they shall feed thereupon: in the houses of Ashkelon shall they lie down in the evening: for the LORD their God shall visit them, and turn away their captivity.

8I have heard the reproach of Moab, and the revilings of the children of Ammon, whereby they have reproached my people, and magnified themselves against their border.

9Therefore as I live, saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and the children of Ammon as Gomorrah, even the breeding of nettles, and saltpits, and a perpetual desolation: the residue of my people shall spoil them, and the remnant of my people shall possess them.

10This shall they have for their pride, because they have reproached and magnified themselves against the people of the LORD of hosts.

11The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.

12Ye Ethiopians also, ye shall be slain by my sword.

13And he will stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy Assyria; and will make Nineveh a desolation, and dry like a wilderness.

14And flocks shall lie down in the midst of her, all the beasts of the nations: both the cormorant and the bittern shall lodge in the upper lintels of it; their voice shall sing in the windows; desolation shall be in the thresholds: for he shall uncover the cedar work.

15This is the rejoicing city that dwelt carelessly, that said in her heart, I am, and there is none beside me: how is she become a desolation, a place for beasts to lie down in! every one that passeth by her shall hiss, and wag his hand.

Zephaniah 2:4-15

Biblical Context

Zephaniah 2:4-15 foresees surrounding nations judged and a remnant of Judah restored. Its outer events symbolize inner shifts from pride and exile to a settled mind in God-awareness.

Neville's Inner Vision

Remember, the cities and nations in Zephaniah stand for states of consciousness within you. Gaza, Ashkelon, and Nineveh are not places out there but the stubborn moorings of attachment, fear, and myopic pride that claim, 'I am the only reality.' The Lord’s voice against them is your awareness revealing that such hypertrophied identity cannot endure in the light of I AM. When the coast becomes pastures for shepherds and the remnant of Judah feeds thereupon, that is the inner restoration: a mental space cleared of noise where you may lie down in the evening within the safety of sacred awareness. Moab and Ammon’s reproach is the sneer of ego at your boundary lines; the prophecy answers, they shall be as Sodom and Gomorrah—desolate states that no longer nourish you. Yet the Lord will turn away captivity; the mind, not history, is the theater of this drama. The final note—‘This is the rejoicing city’—is your own realization that the I AM does not dwell in pride, but in a quiet, assured presence. You awaken to see desolation become habitation for the truth you already are.

Practice This Now

Imaginative Act: Close your eyes and assume the state 'I AM awareness.' Then dwell in a mental coast as a sanctuary, letting the inner remnant of Judah feed on truth until you feel freedom from bondage.