Jeremiah 1:7

1:1-10 Jeremiah's early call to the work and office of a prophet is stated. He was to be a prophet, not to the Jews only, but to the neighbouring nations. He is still a prophet to the whole world, and it would be well if they would attend to these warnings. The Lord who formed us, knows for what particular services and purposes he intended us. But unless he sanctify us by his new-creating Spirit, we shall neither be fit for his holy service on earth, nor his holy happiness in heaven. It becomes us to have low thoughts of ourselves. Those who are young, should consider that they are so, and not venture beyond their powers. But though a sense of our own weakness and insufficiency should make us go humbly about our work, it should not make us draw back when God calls us. Those who have messages to deliver from God, must not fear the face of man. The Lord, by a sign, gave Jeremiah such a gift as was necessary. God's message should be delivered in his own words. Whatever wordly wise men or politicians may think, the safety of kingdoms is decided according to the purpose and word of God.

But the Lord said unto me, say not, I am a child,.... This excuse will not be admitted: for thou shall go to all that I shall send thee; either to "every place", as the Targum paraphrases; or "to all persons to whom" he should be sent, as the Septuagint and Arabic versions render the words; or "to all things for which" he should send him, as the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions. The sense is, that he should go everywhere, and to every person, and on every errand and message he should be sent unto and with: and whatsoever I command thee, thou shall speak; out and openly, and keep back nothing through the fear of men; as follows:

Jeremiah 1:7-8 . But the Lord said unto me, &c. — God refuses to accept of his excuse, and renews his commission to him to execute the prophetic office. Thus God refused to accept the excuse of Moses, made on a like occasion. See Exodus 6:30 ; and Exodus 7:1-2 . Thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee — This is not so much a command as a promise: as much as to say, I will enable thee, notwithstanding thy youth, to go with proper boldness to those to whom I send thee, and to declare my commands with that dignity and precision wherewith they ought to be uttered. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee, &c. — The style of God’s commission to his prophets and messengers commonly runs in these words, I am with thee, (see the margin,) importing that God, who sent them, would enable them to discharge the office he had committed to them, and would give them strength proportionable to the work in which they engaged. To reprove the faults of all persons, of the high as well as the low, the rich as well as the poor, with that plainness and impartiality which the prophets used, required a more than ordinary degree of courage, as well as of prudence, for which cause the promise of God’s presence with them was particularly necessary, to encourage them in the discharge of their duty.

7 . Here again there is brought out the contrast between Moses and Jeremiah. The former had offered one objection after another ( Exodus 3:11 ; Exodus 3:13 ; Exodus 4:1 ; Exodus 4:10 ; Exodus 4:13 ), and consequently ( Jeremiah 4:14 ) “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses.” But in Jeremiah’s case encouragement alone was needed, and it is given at once in word and then in act.

Say not, I am a child; do not plead excuses. Thou shalt go: this is God’s answer to Jeremiah, in respect of his sense of his own inability. This may be by way of command, and then it is a check to his timorousness; Thou shalt go, therefore draw not back. Or by way of promise, and then it is a satisfactory answer to his excuse, as both proceeded from a sense of his own insufficiency: q.d. Fear not, I will make thee eloquent and courageous. To all: this relates either to persons or things. To all, i.e. to all persons to whom I shall send thee; thou shalt balk none: see Revelation 10:11 . Or, upon all, so is the Hebrew; and then it is, Thou shalt go upon all errands and messages that I shall send thee. See Isaiah 55:11 Acts 26:16 .

7. to all that—to all "to whom" [Rosenmuller]. Rather, "to all against whom"; in a hostile sense (compare Jer 1:8, 17, 18, 19) [Maurer]. Such was the perversity of the rulers and people of Judea at that time, that whoever would desire to be a faithful prophet needed to arm himself with an intrepid mind; Jeremiah was naturally timid and sensitive; yet the Spirit moulded him to the necessary degree of courage without taking away his peculiar individuality.

This excuse God holds of no account. As prophet to the nations, Jeremiah was not to make known his own thoughts or human wisdom, but the will and counsel of God which were to be revealed to him. This is signified by the clauses: for to all to whom I send thee, etc. The על belonging to תלך stands for אל, and does not indicate a hostile advance against any one. כל after על is not neuter, but refers to persons, or rather peoples; since to the relative אשׁר in this connection, עליהם is quite a natural completion; cf. Isaiah 8:12 , and Ew. 331, c. Only to those men or peoples is he to go to whom God sends him; and to them he is to declare only what God commands him. And so he needs be in no anxiety on this head, that, as a youth, he has no experience in the matter of speaking.

[Bible] 1:2. The word of the Lord which came to him in the days of Josias the son of Amon king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 1:3. And which came to him in the days of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, unto the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda, even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month. 1:4. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 1:5. Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations. 1:6. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. 1:7. And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. 1:8. Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 1:9. And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth: 1:10. Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant. 1:11. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: I see a rod watching. 1:12. And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well: for I will watch over my word to perform it. 1:13. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a boiling caldron, and the face thereof from the face of the north. 1:14. And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 1:15. For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord: and they shall come, and shall set every one his throne in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Juda.