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son "received the love of the truth" and acted upon it. Then the Word of the Lord came
to Jeremiah. It seems there was no burning bush, no vision of the Lord high and lifted
up, no vision comparable to that of Ezekiel; there was no massive demonstration of
Jehovah's holiness. Nevertheless Jeremiah was clearly acutely aware of God's holiness
as chapter 2: shows.
Was he a rare character who had no need of a special
manifestation of God's holiness? Is that what underlies verse 5?
"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of
the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee prophet unto the nations" (Jer. 1: 5).
I set thee apart, I hallowed thee. Jeremiah experienced considerable distress because
of false prophets, and it was, he says, "because of the Lord, and because of the words of
His holiness". Jeremiah, like others God called, had a very clear concept of the holiness
of God, in his case, because of the holiness of His words. It would therefore seem that
the manifestation of God's holiness came to Jeremiah through the newly found "word of
the law of the Lord". If our view of God is `too small', perhaps it is because we do not
sufficiently heed the holiness of His Word.
Jeremiah was sanctified to be a prophet before he came forth out of the womb. There
are three others named in Scripture in similar terms: John the Baptist, Luke 1: 13-15,
Paul, Galatians 1: 15-16, and Samson, Judges 13: 3-7. John was to be filled with the
Holy Spirit "from his mother's womb", similarly Samson was to be a Nazarite "from the
womb". Paul was "separated from his mother's womb", which perhaps means rather
more than the obvious. The word, aphorizo, is used in Luke 6: 22:
"Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their
company, and shall reproach you . . . . . for the Son of man's sake."
In the majority of its occurrences it has this significance of separation to God. Paul,
the apostle to the Gentiles, was separated from his mother's womb, Jeremiah was
sanctified, and his calling was to be a "prophet unto the nations". Like Paul, this part of
Jeremiah's calling seems to have particular reference to the latter part of his ministry, see
chapters 46: to 51: Much of his work concerned, to use Paul's phrase, "the hope of
Israel", but he was commissioned `a prophet unto the nations'.
Like others God called, Jeremiah was aware of his own inadequacy, and in response to
his call he says "Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child", perhaps better,
"a youth". We do not know how old Jeremiah was, and it is more likely the significance
of the expression on his lips was "I am inexperienced". Moses, as we have seen, found it
difficult to express himself, and Paul was accused of speech which was "contemptible",
or of no account. Yet such men God deigned to use to His glory, perhaps even using
their disability to add to His glory. It is not always, if ever, that God calls the most able
and most confident to His service, although we may be tempted to appoint such.
Jeremiah was assured of God's enablement (Jer. 1: 7) "Say not, I am a child: for thou
shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be
not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee". Then he was given a
confirmatory sign: "Then the Lord put forth His hand, and touched my mouth. And the