“He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river.”
— Psalm 105:41
Creation in Reverse
In the Book of Genesis, we are told that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and dry land appeared. This emergence of form from the formless was not destruction—it was revelation. It was imagination made visible. Then, from Eden—meaning pleasure—a single river flowed out to water the garden, and from there it parted into four heads, each associated with abundance. This water and the branching rivers symbolise the attempt at thinking abundantly and pleasurably—the conscious effort to flow with pleasure and the natural abundance it brings.
And a river went out of Eden giving water to the garden; and from there it was parted and became four streams. - Genesis 2:10
By the time we reach Exodus 17, the same pattern is echoed in the wilderness of Rephidim. Water has dried up. There is nothing to drink, symbolising a lack of conscious connection.
The Scene at Rephidim
The children of Israel (offspring awareness born from Jacob's new identity) have left Egypt—the bondage of the old mind - to begin practicing Genesis 2:24, but have not yet arrived at the Promised Land—the full awareness of assumption. They are in a state of transition, uncertainty, and inner barrenness. There is no water, and they are afraid. They murmur against Moses and doubt the presence of God.
“Is the Lord among us, or not?” (Exodus 17:7)
Moses, the dominant mental posture in the timeline of the law of Assumption, is commanded to go before the rock at Horeb, where God (I AM that I AM) stands before him, and strike it. When he does, water pours out. Just as the rivers flowed from Eden—pleasure giving rise to abundance—this is an attempt to bring feeling, pleasure, and the awareness of abundance into a dry, barren landscape.
The miraculous becomes metaphysical.
Water as Imagination
In Neville Goddard’s framework, water is not simply a substance—it is symbolic of imagination itself. Water represents:
- Fluidity
- Depth
- Formless potential
It is the unbounded energy of the subconscious and the creative movement of consciousness.
Throughout Scripture, water nourishes, cleanses, purges, and gives birth. It is the underlying power of transformation—the inner stream of consciousness.
To say there was “no water” is to say there was no conscious connection to imagination, only the hardened outer world of perception.
The Rock as the Head, the House of Consciousness
The rock represents the head, the container of consciousness—the “house” where imagination resides. It is solid and seemingly fixed, representing:
- The seat of conscious awareness
- The protected domain of thought
- The container of inner life and creative power
Just as water emerges from the rock, imagination flows from consciousness. The outer “rock” is not a limit; it is the form that holds and gives structure to what lies within.
“He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.” (Psalm 78:15)
Moses—symbolising the current dominant ruler in the timeline—strikes the rock not to destroy it, but to reveal its inner life. The head, once engaged, releases the imagination stored within. Conscious attention (the rod) opens the house of consciousness to reveal its source. This mirrors Eden: just as the rivers of pleasure and abundance flowed from the garden, water flowing from the rock represents the attempt to bring feeling, pleasure, and abundance into a previously dry and barren state of consciousness.
The Journey of Inner Israel
Israel’s journey mirrors the process of awakening:
- Leaving Egypt: Departing old conditioned thought
- Entering the wilderness: Facing perceived lack
- Meeting the rock: Encountering the head, the seat of consciousness
- Striking the rock: Engaging attention to release inner imagination
- Receiving water: Experiencing the flow of abundance and joy through consciousness
Moses shows that even the solid container of consciousness will yield when inner attention is applied with faith, bringing feeling, pleasure, and abundance into previously dry and barren inner states.
Revelation in Rephidim
Rephidim is not a place of punishment—it is a place of revelation.
The head or “rock,” is not a fixed enemy. It is a vessel. When struck with conscious attention, imagination flows as it did at the beginning of creation.
“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord... which turned the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a fountain of waters.”
— Psalm 114:7–8
The rock, the 'cup' of consciousness, when mastered, brings forth life.
Jesus and the Mountain
Jesus echoes this principle of inner dominion over apparent outer resistance, that if you take the highest, seemingly unachievable new assumption, and add feeling and imagination, it shall be done:
“...but also if you shall say unto this mountain, Be removed, and cast into the sea; it shall be done.”
— Matthew 21:21 (KJV)
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