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[1] Thus says Yahweh,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
[2] When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
[3] For I am Yahweh eloheka,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
[4] Because you are precious in my sight,
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
[5] Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
[6] I will say to the north, "Give them up,"
and to the south, "Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth--
[7] everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made."
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This is the Old Testament selection to be read aloud on the first Sunday after the Epiphany. It will be followed by a singing of Psalm 29, which says in part, “Ascribe to Yahweh the glory due his Name; worship the Yahweh in the beauty of holiness.” That will precede a reading from the Book of Acts, where it is written: “Peter and John … went [to Samaria] and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus).” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Luke, where it is said, “As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John.”
The forty-third chapter of Isaiah is twenty-eight verses in all. These seven verses are only read on this one Sunday in the whole of the three-year lectionary cycle. You will note how the Episcopal Church does not number the verses. I have supplied the appropriate verse numbers in bold type, within brackets. Also, at two places you will take note that I have restored the proper name of “Yahweh” (also in bold type), which was written by Isaiah but incorrectly translated as “the Lord” by the NRSV [et al]. In all, Isaiah wrote “Yahweh” [“יְהוָ֔ה”] eight times in this chapter, all coming in the first sixteen verses; but only two of those references are in these first seven. Additionally, in verse three is written “Yahweh eloheka,” which the NRSV [et al] translate as “the Lord our God.” Because “our God” is incorrect and misleading, as if any human being could possess Yahweh and call Him ”our God” [like owning a monkey on a string and an organ to beg with], the reality is Yahweh uses souls He has married as His “angels in the flesh,” which are called “Yahweh elohim.” Thus, I have restored the Hebrew written, in italics.
On January 6th each year the Episcopal Church [basically all Catholic Churches] recognizes the fabricated event called “Epiphany.” In reality, “Epiphany” is one day only. The Sundays deemed or marked as “after the Epiphany” are not a ‘season,’ but the ‘leftovers.’ The number of Sundays after the Epiphany can range each year from four to eight, with everything dependent on when Easter is scheduled in that year. From Easter Sunday, forty days are marked off prior, which is the season called Lent. From the time Lent begins, backwards to the Epiphany (January 6th) is the non-season simply called “after the Epiphany.” It is this ‘no-man’s land’ that has been entered with this reading. Still, one needs to grasp the intent of the Epiphany, as that ‘hue’ colors all the Sundays "after the Epiphany."
When the word “epiphany” is seen to be derived in Scripture from the Greek word “epiphaneia,” which means “appearance,” implying in usage “appearing, manifestation, glorious display” (Strong’s) and/or “epiphanés,” meaning “notable, manifest, glorious, illustrious” (Strong’s), to take that word and then apply it to the event that tells of the Magi arriving in Bethlehem, where they found the infant “king of the Jews” they sought and “worshipped him,” this implies “the Epiphany” is relative to all who: 1.) purposefully seek Jesus; 2.) worship him when found; and most importantly 3.) retain Jesus in their souls after having sought and met him.
Of course, that is a weak understanding of the Magi story, which is an optional reading on the second Sunday after Christmas and a mandatory reading on the Epiphany recognition on January 6th. The Magi were sent by Yahweh (divinely inspired and most likely guided by Gabriel) to perform a ritual anointment that recognized the holiness of a baby whose name had not yet been officially pronounced (an act done on the eighth day after birth, meaning thirteen days after birth is an impossibility, thus a manufactured piece of timing). The attendance of the Magi must be seen as Yahweh’s official statement that His Son was the promised High Priest of the Tabernacle, sent by Yahweh for the purpose of saving lost souls [the name “Jesus” means “Yah[weh] Will Save” or “Yah[weh] Saves”]. Thus, “the Epiphany” means “the Appearance” of Yahweh’s Son on the earth, whose soul is destined to become released [upon his death] so it can merge with the souls of Yahweh’s devoted.
When Jesus first "Appeared" it was as a soul in flesh that was perfect. Other than eat an apple once [in Eden, lured to do so by his wife at the time], the soul of Jesus was without sin. It also was a soul that spread beyond that little baby's flesh, touching the souls of seekers. Thus, the "Epiphany" is an "Appearance" that never ceased. It is then the dawning of eternal light [Salvation] in the world, which is soul-borne and constant.
This understanding makes one then able to see the prophesied beauty of that “Appearance” in the words of Isaiah. Verse one sings loudly, “Thus says Yahweh, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” This sums up all the Sundays after the Epiphany nicely. The name “Jacob” means “Supplanter,” which was the soul given to his flesh at birth [Yahweh created a soul’s life in a body]. That soul was wayward, so the soul of Jacob was “formed” or “fashioned” by modification, so it became one “Who Retained Yahweh as one of His elohim” [“Israel”]. The name “Israel” is what “Yahweh has called Jacob’s soul by name.” The “name Israel” means the soul of Jacob was then possessed by Yahweh [“you are mine”]. This transformation is singing about the Epiphany of Jesus “Appearing” in Jacob.
In verse two, the metaphor of “water” and “fire” must be seen as Spiritual. The “rivers” are the outpouring of Yahweh’s Spirit, which is the “Anointment” that is the equivalent of having been made a Christ. One’s soul can then “walk through fire” and not be “burned by the flames or scorched.” This is the test of Satan in a physical body, where one will be capable of resisting all temptations to lose one’s soul, enabled by the divine possession of His Son within one’s soul.
When verse one begins by saying, “Thus says Yahweh,” one can see Him speaking through the prophet Isaiah. Still, the voice of Yahweh comes from Isaiah, because Isaiah’s soul has married Yahweh and His Spirit has become one with Isaiah. This is what took place when the Magi visited Jesus, as everyone in the room of that house then became possessed by Yahweh’s Spirit and spoke what Yahweh commanded them to say, in a most divine ceremony to Anoint His Son as the true Messiah. Thus, when Isaiah wrote in verse three, “For I am Yahweh eloheka,” this is Yahweh saying Isaiah was His angel in the flesh, who served Him as His wife-soul AND His Son resurrected within his soul. Isaiah, like all whose souls marry Yahweh, became a Yahweh elohim.
When verse three continues to say, “the Holy One of Israel, your Savior,” “Israel” must be known to mean “Who Retains Yahweh as His elohim,” with the “Holy One” [from “qə·ḏō·wōš,” meaning “sacred one”] who “Saves” being the “sacred soul” of “Jesus.” In the “ransoming” or “redeeming” that then has “Egypt Ethiopia and Seba” stated. Those three words can then transform to be meaning, “marriage to tragedy [Egypt] appearing as fire [Ethiopia] drunkard [Seba].” That is then Yahweh speaking through His prophet, saying the ability to “walk through fire” is relative to no longer being a sinner, who is “married to a body of flesh that will die” [the tragedy of mortality], while all the sins of the world are “appearing as fire” that comes in Judgment [the guilt a soul knows, leading to its purification from repentance], with the inability to marry one’s soul to Yahweh being solely due to a “drunken state” that lusts for carnal desires [temptations to sin]. This says the “Savior” is the promise of eternal life beyond the grave, when the soul is released.
Verse four then speaks of the divine marriage of a soul to Yahweh. For Yahweh to say, “Because you are precious in my sight,” this means one’s soul has done things to attract Yahweh. Those things are not sinful, but desires to do right, which come with earnest prayers for help and forgiveness. This says a soul expresses “love” for Yahweh, which brings His “love” in return. The power of "love" is it brings two together, with the promise of foreverness vowed.
When Isaiah then sang, “I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life,” this is Yahweh speaking of the gift of “Adam” (from “’ā·ḏām” written, but translated as “people”) to one’s soul, Yahweh’s firstborn – His Son. This gift is then the promise to return a soul to Yahweh [eternal life or salvation]. The word translated as “nations” ["ū·lə·’um·mîm," from "leom"] is where “people” is the truth stated. The word means the promise of eternal life is for a soul saved in the flesh [a Yahweh elohim] to minister the truth to others [the "people"]. The acts of ministry then spread this “life” to those who likewise were lost in the world of flesh, thus dead.
When verse five then appears to sing, “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you,” the reality says different. Still, one needs to remember the Magi came fro the “east,” to the “west,” for the purpose of anointing Yahweh’s Son. The literal Hebrew text translates to say, “no fear for with you I , from the east I will bring your sowing , and from the west gather you .” Here, it becomes clearer that Yahweh's presence within a soul brings about the "you I" state of being ["’it·tə·ḵā ’ā·nî," from "eth ani" - "with I"], where the only "fear" is in losing that state of being - a fear of losing Yahweh. Next, Yahweh then stated the Son [metaphor of the rising Sun] will become the seed planted within one’s soul. Therefore, once that seed has brought forth its intended fruit, then Yahweh will “collect” the souls redeemed.
Verse six is then shown to sing: “I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—“. In this, the “north" should be read as those who are “upright.” The command to those producing good fruit is thus: “give” ["tê·nî," from "nathan"]. Contrarily, the “south” should be read as those who lie down and impede the good fruit, as the weeds attempting to choke out the good wheat. Those are told, “do not restrain them.” The metaphor of “sons and daughters” must be seen as those who have been implanted with the seed that is the Son, as all will produce many “sons.” All who receive that seed are then those souls in the flesh that are metaphysically “the daughters,” who will each become the mothers of Jesus, as the brides of Yahweh.
This element of marriage, becoming the wives of Yahweh (soul to Spirit), is then confirmed when Isaiah wrote, “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” The “name of Yahweh” [“my name”] is the “name” taken in marriage by a bride-wife. This returns the focus back to verse one, where Jacob became a “daughter not held back” from divine marriage; so, when he took on the “name of Yahweh,” he took on the name “Israel.” This is the same name all “daughters” take in divine marriage of their souls to Yahweh’s Spirit. The birth of His Son within one’s soul means they then take on that “name” as well, which is the truth of being “in the name of Jesus Christ.”
As can be seen from the symbolism presented in this song of praise, Isaiah was letting Yahweh speak through him, because he was a daughter soul married to Him. He became the “glory” of Yahweh, in the same way that the Magi recognized that in baby Jesus; so, all within the house had the “Epiphany” that was their own “Appearance” of salvation in their souls. This is what all Christians should be experiencing, after having given birth to a new Spirit within, from having married Yahweh divinely.