Jeremiah Learns That He Was Chosen From Birth To Be A Prophet To The Nations (Jeremiah 1:4-5).
When the ‘word of YHWH' first came to Jeremiah God informed him that he had been chosen even before he was born in order that he might be appointed as a ‘prophet to the nations'. From the very beginning he was called on to recognise that he was not only a local seer, but was called on to affect the destiny of nations, re-emphasising the fact that YHWH was lord over the whole world.
‘Now the word of YHWH came to me, saying,'
When God first spoke to him Jeremiah knew that it was ‘the word of YHWH', and it made clear to him his privileged status. He was to be God's direct spokesman. We are never told quite how the word of YHWH came to the prophets, but it was clearly with clarity and certainty. They knew the difference between the word of YHWH and their own ideas. See for one known method Numbers 12:6, but we are given no real grounds, in contrast with Ezekiel, for seeing Jeremiah as having dreams and visions. YHWH's word probably came to him when in an enhanced spiritual state, but not at his beck and call. He sometimes had to wait for YHWH's revelation (Jeremiah 42:7).
“Before I formed you in the belly I knew you,
And before you came forth out of the womb I sanctified you,
I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
He learned at that point that YHWH had already ‘entered into a relationship with' him (for ‘known' compare Deuteronomy 34:10; Amos 3:2; Genesis 18:19; Psalms 1:6) even before He had formed him in his mother's belly, and had set him apart to Himself as His holy ‘separated one', that is, even before he had come forth from the womb. His purpose in doing so was so that he might be YHWH's appointed representative to the nations. This choosing was a reminder that YHWH's purposes were not subject to man's interference or propensities. He shared such a privilege of being chosen from birth both with Moses (something which can be assumed from what happened to him right from birth) who was called to be a prophet to Israel, with Samson (Judges 13:3-5), and with the Apostle Paul (Galatians 1:15), who was called to be a prophet to the Gentile world. But he also shared it with all of those of Israel/Judah who were God's chosen ones (Isaiah 44:2), something which would result in their reception of the Spirit of God and the transformation of their lives (Isaiah 44:3-5). It is quite clear that these words of Isaiah were not spoken to the whole of Israel, for the large part of them rejected Him. Thus it must have been to the chosen within Israel, the ‘true believers'. It was this conception of the chosen line within Israel, who were the true Israel, that Paul would draw attention to in Romans 9 (see Jeremiah 1:6), a true Israel which would then welcome in Gentiles who would become a part of that true Israel (Romans 11:17 ff.). They too are God's chosen ones from before they were born (Ephesians 1:4). But not all are called on to bear what Jeremiah would have to bear.