Sunday
Sunday
The Call of Jeremiah
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah 1:5
It is instructive to compare the respective calls of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Both involved a “sending.” To Isaiah Yahweh had asked, “Whom shall I send?” (Isa. 6:8). To Jeremiah he said, “You must go to everyone I send you to” (Jer. 1:87). But then there was a difference. In the case of Isaiah, at least after his lips had been cleansed, he readily volunteered his services: “Here am I: send me!” (Isa. 6:8). In the case of Jeremiah, however, he was reluctant (as Moses had been) on account of his youth and inexperience. “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” he protested, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child” (Jer. 1:6).
There is no contradiction here with the teaching of Jesus. For Jesus commended the humility of a child, whereas Yahweh rebuked Jeremiah for pleading the irresponsibility of a child.
Another similarity between the calls of Isaiah and Jeremiah is that in both cases a prominent feature concerned their sense of inadequacy in the lips (Isaiah) and the mouth (Jeremiah). Isaiah was conscious that his lips were unclean, and Jeremiah that he did not know what to say. So before they could assume the prophetic office, Isaiah’s lips were cleansed by a burning coal, and Jeremiah’s mouth was touched by the divine hand, symbolizing the fact that Yahweh had put his words in Jeremiah’s mouth.
Finally, Jeremiah was told that his message would be both negative (destroying and overthrowing) and positive (building and planting). And this was elaborated in two visions. Firstly, Jeremiah saw “the branch of an almond tree” (v. 11). The Hebrew word for almond tree resembled watching and so signified Yahweh’s promise, “I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled” (v. 12). Secondly, Jeremiah saw “a boiling pot, tilting away from the north” (v. 13), in other words, an invading army, probably the Scythians.
For further reading: Jeremiah 1:1–19