Commentary on Jeremiah 1:4-10

Helen Chukka

Jeremiah’s call to prophetic ministry recorded in chapter 1 gives us the language to articulate God’s sovereignty amidst danger, fear, and inadequacy. The presentation of God’s sovereignty, the prophet’s inadequacy, and God’s assurance of deliverance present in Jeremiah 1:4–10 continue to resonate with Christian communities across time and space.

The words of Jeremiah particularly are very meaningful for some mothers in India, for they remind them that God’s presence is not only evident in steady paths, clear voices, and mysterious signs, but is also present in liminal spaces: the space of in-betweenness, in the womb. God speaks through the insignificant and prepares, commissions, and journeys with them in seemingly impossible and at times precarious situations.

This lectionary passage records the prophet’s call to ministry: one to whom “the word of the Lord came.” Unlike other prominent call narratives where God either introduces Godself or the situation (Exodus 3:6 and following) or speaks to the prophet after his sins are purged (Isaiah 6:7 and following), in Jeremiah’s call, God first establishes the nature of Jeremiah’s birth and God’s intimate relationship with him.

It begins with God claiming Jeremiah as God’s own in four verbs: formed, knew, sanctified, appointed (Jeremiah 1:5). Each of these verbs indicates a sense of intimacy between the One who forms and the one who is formed. By establishing an intimate relationship with Jeremiah at the outset of his call in the womb, God communicates to the prophet that his birth and call are unique and special because he was appointed when he was in the womb to be a prophet to the nations.

This verse is often used as a statement of authentication for a call to ministry in the Indian context. These words have offered assurance of God’s sovereignty and hope for some women and parents who were particularly going through times of distress and lack of hope. Recalling a moment of fear of losing a child, a health complication that restricted a child’s movement, infertility and failed treatments, complications in pregnancy and potential abnormality, health complications that force one to go for an abortion—mothers in India make vows to protect their dear children. In these in-between moments—moments of fear and uncertainty—often mothers vow to God that if they pass this phase without any difficulty, they will dedicate their children to God’s service.

While an internal call to ministry is common in the Indian context, the call to ministry is a collective decision too. As Hannah vowed to set apart her future child Samuel as a Nazirite (1 Samuel 1:11), parents in India would set apart their children for God’s ministry if God were to look upon them with favor. When these moments of distress or uncertainty come again for these children who grow up and are in ministry as adults, parents would use the words “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you.” For these mothers in India, including mine, these words in Jeremiah 1:5 give them language: “You were set apart, and God will get you through this hardship too.”

But what is so special about the womb? What is the significance of Jeremiah being consecrated in the womb? “Womb,” used twice in Jeremiah 1:5, functions as a liminal space. A space where transformation and growth happen. A space where, without any effort, the fetus receives the nutrition it needs, the hydration to sustain it, and the warmth required.

However, it is also a space that is dark and isolated, evoking feelings of fear and uncertainty. It is in this space of darkness and isolation, and yet of transformation and growth, that God first forms and knows Jeremiah. Jeremiah is known by God—in a most intimate way—as the creator who formed him in the womb and has consecrated/dedicated him to be a prophet to the nations. Saying that God has known him even before his mother has met him is to ascertain that God has known and been with him from his beginnings.

But Jeremiah refuses to accept God’s call, perhaps because of its nature and the potential dangers it entails. The word of the Lord has come to Jeremiah at a time of political turmoil, the downfall of the Northern Kingdom and impending doom for the Southern Kingdom that will occur through the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians. Jeremiah is aware of the political crisis in the land. He is aware of people’s disloyalty in keeping the covenant and of God’s disappointment at covenant faithlessness. Like his priestly family, Jeremiah is at odds with the Davidic dynasty that led their people astray and has not been faithful themselves.

In light of the challenges of this call, even after being assured of God’s intimate relationship with him, Jeremiah doesn’t feel equipped. Jeremiah, like Moses, resists the appointment. While Moses said he was slow of tongue, Jeremiah says, “Ah, Lord God! Truly I do not know how to speak, for I am only a boy” (1:6). Scholars have been divided as to the exact meaning of the Hebrew term for “boy” (naar). While some believe it refers to Jeremiah’s chronological age and indicates he was a young person, others think it does not refer to Jeremiah’s age. Brent Strawn’s conclusions are pertinent here, that the use of “boy” language is a rhetorical move in prayer wherein the weak appeal to their insignificant status to seek God’s support.¹

Jeremiah’s response, then, is an acknowledgment of his insignificance and a plea to empower him. God responds to Jeremiah’s reluctance, saying, “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” (1:7). To assure Jeremiah further that his inadequacies or his perceptions of himself will not define his prophetic ministry, God once again assures him with words that do not appear in other call narratives: “Do not be afraid of them,” and “I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord” (1:8).

Following these series of assurances, and with words of salvation and deliverance, the Lord directly touches and puts words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Unlike the seraphs that touch Isaiah’s mouth with coal in Isaiah 6, God touching the mouth of Jeremiah directly reinforces the intimate relationship God has established with Jeremiah.

After establishing this intimate relationship with Jeremiah—forming, knowing, sanctifying, appointing, touching his mouth, and giving God’s own words to him to speak—God invites Jeremiah to the arduous task explained in six verbs in verse 10: pluck up, break down, destroy, overthrow, build, and plant. Reconstruction and rebuilding are possible only with deconstruction and dismantling. Systemic structures of oppression rooted in denying dignity and humanity to God’s beloved children need to be overthrown in order to rebuild systems that are welcoming and affirming of God’s love for all. The positive words “build” and “plant” imagine a new world of possibilities where covenant faithfulness is restored.

The call of Jeremiah gives us language to articulate God’s sovereignty and empowerment despite our inadequacies.