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[4] The word of Yahweh came to me saying,
[5] "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations."
[6] Then I said, "Ah, adonay Yahweh! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy."
[7] But Yahweh said to me,
"Do not say, 'I am only a boy';
for you shall go to all to whom I send you,
and you shall speak whatever I command you,
[8] Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
says Yahweh."
[9] Then Yahweh put out his hand and touched my mouth; and Yahweh said to me,
"Now I have put my words in your mouth.
[10] See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant."
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This is the Old Testament reading selection set aside for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year C, according to the lectionary for the Episcopal Church. It will precede a singing from Psalm 71, which says, “In you, Yahweh, have I taken refuge; let me never be ashamed.” To follow that will be a reading from Paul’s first letter to the true Christians of Corinth, where he wrote: “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways.” All will accompany the Gospel reading from Luke, where the apostle wrote: “And [Jesus] said, "Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet's hometown. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. There were also many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
In the above presentation, one can see how I have added the verse numbers, placing them within brackets, in bold type. I have also changed six mistranslations of “Lord” to the truth written, which is “Yahweh” (this also placed in bold type). In verse six has been translated “the Lord God,” when the reality written is “adonay Yahweh.” If clean translations were to be made, based on the standard practice of changing “Yahweh” to “Lord, the translation would be “Lord Lord” [more accurately, “lords Lord”]. Because that is the NRSV now changing “Yahweh” from “Lord” to now “God,” that too is wrong; so, I have restored the truth that was written by Jeremiah.
This needs to be recognized as the first chapter of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah is introduced as a prophet. In this reading selection today, we find it beginning in verse four, where the translation above says, “The word of Yahweh came to me saying”. This should be known to follow verse two, which says, “[Jeremiah is the name of one] to whom the word of Yahweh came.” In that, the Hebrew word “dabar” means “speech, word,” and is used in both verses, two and four. It means Jeremiah was a soul married to Yahweh, so under the control of His Spirit Yahweh then spoke through His prophet Jeremiah. There, the name “Jeremiah” means “Yah[weh] Loosens” or “Yah[weh] Throws.” That which was “Loosened” or “Thrown” is then the “Word” of Yahweh.
Yahweh is then said to speak through Jeremiah, saying “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This is believed to be Yahweh speaking of His Son Jesus prophetically, while that name was unknown to Jeremiah. While that can be deemed true, the greater meaning says that Jeremiah was like John the Baptist, where both souls had been sinners, but then married to Yahweh’s Spirit. That meant both births [in Jeremiah and John] were the resurrections of the soul of Yahweh’s Son: Adam, also known as Jesus [“Yah[weh] Will Save” or “Yah[weh] Saves”].
Because Adam-Jesus was formed from clay or dust and given a divine “elohim” as his soul, the ‘womb’ of Adam-Jesus would be Eden. There, the only ‘mother’ he had was the Earth [the clay or dust]. No human mother gave birth to Adam-Jesus, as would Jeremiah's mother [unnamed] and Elizabeth [who gave birth to John [the baptizer] provide "wombs" for reborn Saints. Thus, Yahweh spoke to Jeremiah as a purposeful reincarnation of a saved soul – one saved quite some time before [past lives long] – known by Yahweh to be the soul of Jeremiah [new name of his flesh], along with the soul of His Son Adam [a.k.a. Jesus].
When Yahweh said, “before you were born I consecrated you,” this says Jeremiah was a Saint when born. That means his soul had previously been cleansed of sins, in a past life. When the remainder of verse five says, “I appointed you a prophet to the nations,” a better translation has Yahweh say: “an ability to speak to the people is why I gave you.” In this, the Hebrew transliteration “nə·ṯat·tî·ḵā” has been translated by the NRSV as “I consecrated you,” with BibleHub saying, “I ordained you.” Whichever is used, the root word is “nathan,” which says Jeremiah is a “gift” to the souls in the flesh that are lost sheep. It means the “appointment” is “given by Yahweh,” thereby making that be a divine “ordination” into the most holy of ministries.
When Yahweh then led Jeremiah to write, “wā·’ō·mar ’ă·hāh ’ă·ḏō·nāy Yah-weh,” literally translating as, “and I said alas lords Yahweh”. This becomes the definition of “adonay” [the plural form of the Hebrew word “adon”]. Because a “lord” is the ruler of one or more, with each soul breathed into a body of flesh being that body of flesh’s “lord,” “lords” are now relative to being an ordained prophet [a “gifted speaker”], with the “people” [from “lag·gō·w·yim,” from “goy”] being to whom one “speaks with authority.” When this definition of “adonay” is connected to “Yahweh,” then the “adonay” of “Yahweh” are the Saints sent by Yahweh to lead other lost soul to Him. They are His “lords,” where “adonay” now brings up the imagery of a “shepherd.”
When we then read Jeremiah exclaiming to Yahweh, “Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy,” it is unlikely that Jeremiah would speak in such a way to such an amazing presence as Yahweh. That written does not say “truly,” but “behold!” [from “hin·nêh”]. That is a statement of sight, not speech. That is then followed by words that literally say, “not to know speech,” where this is Yahweh saying (in essence), “Do not worry about not knowing what to say, because I will speak for you.” When the following words say, “that a youth I am,” this is Yahweh saying His presence in a boy makes the boy the voice of Yahweh, as a “adonay Yahweh.”
Verse seven then confirms this, where the essence written says the “exception” [“but”] is that Yahweh speaks through Jeremiah. When the boy Jeremiah speaks, it is Yahweh speaking, not the boy. Everything Jeremiah does is based on Yahweh’s lead; so, Jeremiah will go where Yahweh sends him and Jeremiah will speak what Yahweh has him speak.
Where the NRSV shows verse eight saying, “Do not be afraid of them,” the reality written says, “not to fear their faces.” In that, the transliterated “mip·pə·nê·hem” pulls from the plural “panim,” meaning “faces.” Every time the word “panim” comes up in Scripture, it must be read as a reference to the First Commandment, where the truth of that written says, “You shall wear no other face than My face before Me.” [Being yourself before Yahweh is acting like a "god," and no other "gods" can show their "face" before His face.] That is the first law of marriage, which say, “My face only, so if you agree to these terms, then you will only wear My face.”
The element of “fear” is another rule, where a soul will only “fear” losing Yahweh, and nothing else. To "fear" other "faces" means to be "afraid" of wearing any "face" other than Yahweh's as yours. Doing so would keep one from knowing the divine union that marries one's soul to Yahweh's Spirit. Thus, where Jeremiah will be sent is where Jews fear everything but Yahweh, because all of their “faces” are their own … not Yahweh’s.
While it is visually touching to see the hand of God softly … like a cloud? … touching the lips of Jeremiah, that is not the reality of that written. The literal translation says, “and sent forth Yahweh his hand”. That means Jeremiah is the “hand of Yahweh.” Yahweh is not to be limited to human traits, even though it is easier for human to conceptualize Yahweh in human forms. Apostles, Prophets and Saints are all the “hands” of Yahweh. Thus, when it next says, “and touched on my mouth,” this says Jeremiah was indeed “touched” spiritually, with the “gift” of Yahweh being to use his “mouth” as a voice for the One God. Thus, with that known, Jeremiah said he heard the voice of Yahweh tell him, “I have put my words in your mouth.”
In verse ten, the NRSV translation shows Jeremiah writing, “See, today I appoint you over nations and over kingdoms.” The same suggestion was made in verse five projecting “prophet to the nations.” Try to go speak to a building, a countryside, or a statue and see how well that works, as far as getting some soulless entity to respond. The words “hag·gō·w·yim” and “ham·mam·lā·ḵō·wṯ” must be understood to be the “people” and the “sovereignties” or “rulers,” where without their life [souls in bodies of flesh] “nations” and “kingdoms” are empty and void. Thus, Yahweh sent Jeremiah to “speak” divinely to souls in human flesh that were lost.
This aspect of Jeremiah going to speak to souls is then that which must be “plucked up and pulled down, destroyed and to overthrown.” Those are the faces of fear that do not know Yahweh in divine marriage. They have their own self-absorbed beliefs, which must be taken away from them first, before they can come to Yahweh and become His wives. When that happens, then they will be prepared “to build and to plant” the soul of Jesus into their souls. When Jesus springs forth, he will have all souls in bodies of flesh wear only the face of Yahweh: him.
As a reading assigned for the fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, the symbolism has to be the childlike state that Jeremiah knew. During the after Epiphany time, the gift of Yahweh’s Son is still new, as a Christmas gift that is still in good working order and fun to play with. We take delight like children … like the boy Jeremiah. The adult focus of ministry has not fully set in yet. One is still elated over having been given a gift. It is the gift of eternal life and the presence of Jesus, so we can go tell the world how to become Yahweh's wife and repeat the gifts of Christmas. While there are many hurdles still ahead to bound over, none of that is bothersome in the glow of newness. We have no fear of the faces the world wears. The after the Epiphany period is when one is sent forth full of faith, full speed ahead … “go with throttle up.”