Jeremiah Seeks To Excuse Himself From His God-appointed Task Only To Be Set Right By YHWH (Jeremiah 1:7-10).
Jeremiah diffidently sought to excuse himself from the task to which God was calling him, seeing himself as not mature enough for it, but YHWH pushed his fears to one side on the grounds that because He, God, was with him he had nothing to fear. And He pointed out that this was ‘neum YHWH', the divine prophetic word and whisper of YHWH that never failed in its purpose.
‘Then I said, “Ah, Lord YHWH! behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am a child.”
Jeremiah's reply was deferential, referring to YHWH as ‘Sovereign Lord'. But he nevertheless humbly pointed to his immaturity and inexperience. He did not feel that he was suited or equipped for the task that YHWH wanted to set him. By ‘a child' he probably meant under twenty five, the age at which a man could become a Levite.
‘But YHWH said to me,
“Do not say, ‘I am a child,',
For to whoever I shall send you, you will go,
And whatever I shall command you, you will speak.
Do not be afraid because of them,
For I am with you to deliver you,”
The word of YHWH (neum YHWH).'
YHWH's response to that was simply that with Him at his elbow he had nothing to fear. Thus he was not to look at his immaturity and inexperience, but was resolutely to obey God and go to whoever He sent him to. Furthermore he was not to be afraid of them (king or prime minister or whoever) because YHWH would be with him to deliver him, and He confirmed that this would be so in accordance with His infallible and invincible word. Note the confidence that Jeremiah could have that his words were not just his own words, but the word of YHWH.
‘Then YHWH put forth his hand, and touched my mouth, and YHWH said to me,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth,
See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms,
To pluck up and to break down,
And to destroy and to overthrow,
To build and to plant.”
Then YHWH ‘put forth His hand and touched' Jeremiah's mouth (compare Jesus' reference to ‘the finger of God' in Luke 11:20, which has in mind the Spirit of God - Matthew 12:28). We are not told what Jeremiah saw, if anything, only what he was aware of, but he was clearly aware of God's touch, an indication to him that YHWH would from now on speak through his lips. (It may also have included a purifying element as with Isaiah - Isaiah 6:7). Then YHWH said, ‘Behold I have put my words in your mouth', thus making him a ‘prophet like unto Moses', (compare Deuteronomy 18:18), and went on to explain what he was to do. By his words he was to bring judgment on the sinful nations, including his own, while at the same time he was to build up and plant the faithful remnant. For God's word as building up the latter compare Luke 1:15-17; Acts 22:14-15. But we will later learn that as events would turn out even the faithful remnant were to be removed out of the land (Jeremiah 45:4-5). Thus the building up of them and their planting was to be a spiritual building up and planting. Note the combination of architectural and agricultural metaphors. They were to be made ‘at home' and fruitful. This same combination of ideas introduces God's promise of the new covenant with His people which would change their innermost lives (Jeremiah 31:28-34).
Jeremiah's calling was thus a momentous one, and was enough to quail the stoutest heart. As YHWH's appointed spokesman he was that day ‘set over nations and kingdoms'. His words against nations and kingdoms, which because they were YHWH's would be fully effective, are especially found in Chapter s 46-51, although there are earlier references to it (e.g. Jeremiah 9:25-26). They are a vivid reminder of the prophetic idea that the whole world was under God's sway. And his appointed task was by his words of power from YHWH to pluck them up and break them down, and destroy them and overthrow them (compare Jeremiah 18:7 where the first three verbs are used in such a way as to include the destruction and removal out of the land of His erring people), and this is in contrast with the building and planting, which was His desire for his people if only they would turn to Him (compare Jeremiah 18:9).
In the latter case what Jeremiah would achieve would be to establish trees of righteousness as a minority within the land (Isaiah 61:3), and to put His word in their minds and hearts within a new covenant (31:28-24), something specifically said to be fulfilled in the birth of the church of our Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 8). Here then there is the idea of the removal of the sinful majority, and the establishing of a righteous remnant. But it was an attempt that would initially appear to fail, for at one stage he would be called on to produce just one righteous man from the streets of Jerusalem, and could not (Jeremiah 5:1 - although the call was probably intended to exclude those who were in his own circle, who would not need to be sought out, and it did not necessarily refer to some who were in ‘the cities of Judah' outside of Jerusalem). That is why in the end the land would lie empty (Jeremiah 45:4-5). He was thus called to be mainly the shepherd of a faithless Israel. It was a daunting task. We can compare to it that described of Isaiah in Isaiah 6:9-13.