◄ Jeremiah 1:7 ►
But the LORD told me: "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' For to everyone I send you, you must go, and all that I command you, you must speak.
Study Bible
But the LORD said to me
This phrase introduces the divine response to Jeremiah's hesitation. The Hebrew word for "LORD" here is "Yahweh," the covenant name of God, emphasizing His eternal and unchanging nature. This highlights the personal relationship between God and Jeremiah, underscoring that the call to prophecy is not from a distant deity but from a personal, covenant-keeping God who knows Jeremiah intimately.

Do not say
God's command here is direct and authoritative. The Hebrew verb used implies a prohibition, indicating that Jeremiah's self-doubt is not just a personal issue but a matter of obedience to God. This reflects the biblical principle that God's commands often challenge our natural inclinations and require faith and trust in His wisdom over our own understanding.

I am only a boy
Jeremiah's self-description as a "boy" (Hebrew: "na'ar") suggests youth and inexperience. In ancient Near Eastern culture, age was associated with wisdom and authority, so Jeremiah's concern is understandable. However, God's call often transcends human qualifications, reminding us that divine empowerment is not limited by age or experience.

for to everyone I send you
The phrase emphasizes the universality and scope of Jeremiah's mission. The Hebrew root for "send" (shalach) is often used in the context of divine commissioning, indicating that Jeremiah's authority and purpose are derived from God's sovereign will. This underscores the biblical theme that God's purposes are global and inclusive, reaching all people.

you must go
This imperative highlights the necessity of obedience in the prophetic calling. The Hebrew verb "halak" (to go) is a common biblical term for walking or journeying, symbolizing the life of faith and obedience. Jeremiah's mission requires active participation and movement, reflecting the dynamic nature of God's work in the world.

and all that I command you
The phrase underscores the completeness and sufficiency of God's instructions. The Hebrew word for "command" (tsavah) implies a divine mandate that is not optional but obligatory. This reflects the biblical principle that God's word is authoritative and must be proclaimed in its entirety, without alteration or omission.

you shall speak
The final phrase emphasizes the prophetic role of speaking God's word. The Hebrew verb "dabar" (to speak) is central to the prophetic vocation, highlighting the power and importance of the spoken word in conveying divine truth. This reminds us that the prophet's role is not to create or modify the message but to faithfully communicate what God has revealed.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver His messages to the people of Judah. Known for his reluctance due to his youth and inexperience.

2. The LORD (Yahweh)
The covenant God of Israel, who calls and commissions Jeremiah for a prophetic mission.

3. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was the primary audience of Jeremiah's prophetic ministry.

4. Prophetic Calling
The event where God calls Jeremiah to be His prophet, despite Jeremiah's initial hesitations.
Teaching Points
God's Sovereignty in Calling
God chooses whom He wills, regardless of human limitations or self-perceived inadequacies.

Obedience Overcomes Inadequacy
Our perceived weaknesses do not hinder God's plans; obedience is key.

Youth is Not a Barrier
God can use anyone, regardless of age, to fulfill His purposes.

Divine Empowerment
When God calls, He also equips and empowers for the task.

Faithful Proclamation
We are called to speak God's truth, regardless of our personal feelings of inadequacy.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Jeremiah's initial response to God's call reflect common human fears, and how can we overcome similar fears in our own lives?

2. In what ways does God's reassurance to Jeremiah in this verse parallel His reassurances to other biblical figures, and what does this teach us about God's character?

3. How can we apply the principle of "going where God sends" in our daily lives, especially when we feel unprepared or inadequate?

4. What are some modern-day examples of God using young people to accomplish His purposes, and how can this encourage us in our own faith journey?

5. How does understanding the original Hebrew context of "child" (na'ar) in this verse deepen our understanding of God's call to Jeremiah and to us today?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Exodus 4:10-12
Moses expresses his inadequacy to speak, and God reassures him, similar to how He reassures Jeremiah.

1 Timothy 4:12
Paul advises Timothy not to let anyone look down on him because of his youth, echoing God's encouragement to Jeremiah.

Isaiah 6:8
Isaiah's response to God's call, "Here am I. Send me!" contrasts with Jeremiah's initial reluctance, yet both are ultimately obedient.
Sermons
Jehovah Calls Jeremiah and Gives Him Ample EncouragementsD. Young Jeremiah 1:4-9
A Call to ServiceChristian AgeJeremiah 1:4-10
A Portrait of the True Servant of GodHomilistJeremiah 1:4-10
A Reason for BraveryJeremiah 1:4-10
A Sense of Helplessness as a Preparation for MinistryF. B. Meyer, B. A.Jeremiah 1:4-10
A Young Preacher's Oppressive Sense of ResponsibilityJeremiah 1:4-10
Calling to ServiceJ. Spencer.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Charge to Pastors: Their Work DefinedAndrew Fuller.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Childhood PropheticJeremiah 1:4-10
Childlike, not ChildishG. E. Jeli, M. A.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Courage is MinistersBp. Phillips Brooks.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Danger Regarded from the High Ground of FaithThe Signal.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Destruction and Construction ConjoinedJohn Trapp.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Election and MediationJ. Parker, D. D.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Fears and Comforts in Prospect of Labour for GodR. A. Griffin.Jeremiah 1:4-10
God Achieves His Work by Seemingly Inadequate Workmen that the Glory May be HisJeremiah 1:4-10
God Teaching His ProphetF. G. Crossman.Jeremiah 1:4-10
I Formed TheeF. B. Meyer, B. A.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Jeremiah a ServantG. Inglis.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Prophet's CommissionC. J. Ball, M. A.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Reluctance OvercomeY. Burns, D. D.Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Call of the ProphetA.F. Muir Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Divine Mission of ChildrenD. J. Hamer.Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Gospel Minister Encouraged and InstructedD. Wilson.Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Prophet's CallJ. Waite Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Prophet's Call and ConsecrationC. F. Keil.Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Ways in Which Men are Called to ServiceJ. Parker, D. D.Jeremiah 1:4-10
The Work of Jeremiah, and that of St. PaulJohn Ellerton, M. A.Jeremiah 1:4-10
Valiant ManhoodJeremiah 1:4-10
The Dread CommissionS. Conway Jeremiah 1:4-19
People
Amon, Anathoth, Benjamin, Hilkiah, Jehoiakim, Jeremiah, Josiah, Zedekiah
Places
Anathoth, Jerusalem
Topics
Child, Command, Everywhere, Goest, Orders, Speak, Speakest, Whatever, Whatsoever, Wherever, Whomsoever, Youth
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 1:7

     5167   mouth
     8404   commands, in OT

Jeremiah 1:1-10

     7758   preachers, call

Jeremiah 1:4-9

     8496   witnessing, importance

Jeremiah 1:4-10

     7740   missionaries, call

Jeremiah 1:6-8

     5887   inexperience

Library
May the Fifteenth God is Wide-Awake
"Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree." --JEREMIAH i. 7-19. And through the almond tree the Lord gave the trembling young prophet the strength of assurance. The almond tree is the first to awake from its wintry sleep. When all other trees are held in frozen slumber the almond blossoms are looking out on the barren world. And God is like that, awake and vigilant. Nobody anticipates Him. Wherever Jeremiah was sent on his prophetic mission the Lord would be there before …
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Jeremiah, a Lesson for the Disappointed.
"Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord."--Jeremiah i. 8. The Prophets were ever ungratefully treated by the Israelites, they were resisted, their warnings neglected, their good services forgotten. But there was this difference between the earlier and the later Prophets; the earlier lived and died in honour among their people,--in outward honour; though hated and thwarted by the wicked, they were exalted to high places, and ruled in the congregation. …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Writings of Jerome.
The following is a list of the writings arranged under various heads, and showing the date of composition and the place held by each in the Edition of Vallarsi, the eleven volumes of which will be found in Migne's Patrologia, vols. xxii. to xxx. The references are to the volumes of Jerome's works (i.-xi.) in that edition. I. Bible translations: (1) From the Hebrew.--The Vulgate of the Old Testament, written at Bethlehem, begun 391, finished 404, vol. ix. (2) From the Septuagint.--The Psalms as used …
St. Jerome—The Principal Works of St. Jerome

Out of Sectarian Confusion
I was still a Methodist. The Methodist did not license women to preach; but when the preachers found out that God was using me in the salvation of souls and that I was not especially interested in building up any certain denomination, I had an abundance of calls. God had already begun talking to my brother Jeremiah about the sin of division, and he was beginning to see the evils of sectarianism. The winter after I was healed, he had attended the Jacksonville, Illinois, holiness convention, and had …
Mary Cole—Trials and Triumphs of Faith

How those are to be Admonished who do not Even Begin Good Things, and those who do not Finish them when Begun.
(Admonition 35.) Differently to be admonished are they who do not even begin good things, and those who in no wise complete such as they have begun. For as to those who do not even begin good things, for them the first need is, not to build up what they may wholesomely love, but to demolish that wherein they are wrongly occupied. For they will not follow the untried things they hear of, unless they first come to feel how pernicious are the things that they have tried; since neither does one desire …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Servant's Inflexible Resolve
'For the Lord God will help Me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set My face like a flint.'--ISAIAH l. 7. What a striking contrast between the tone of these words and of the preceding! There all is gentleness, docility, still communion, submission, patient endurance. Here all is energy and determination, resistance and martial vigour. It is like the contrast between a priest and a warrior. And that gentleness is the parent of this boldness. The same Will which is all submission …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Baptismal Covenant Can be Kept Unbroken. Aim and Responsibility of Parents.
We have gone "to the Law and to the Testimony" to find out what the nature and benefits of Baptism are. We have gathered out of the Word all the principal passages bearing on this subject. We have grouped them together, and studied them side by side. We have noticed that their sense is uniform, clear, and strong. Unless we are willing to throw aside all sound principles of interpretation, we can extract from the words of inspiration only one meaning, and that is that the baptized child is, by virtue …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

That Sometimes Some Laudably Desire the Office of Preaching, While Others, as Laudably, are Drawn to it by Compulsion.
Although sometimes some laudably desire the office of preaching, yet others are as laudably drawn to it by compulsion; as we plainly perceive, if we consider the conduct of two prophets, one of whom offered himself of his own accord to be sent to preach, yet the other in fear refused to go. For Isaiah, when the Lord asked whom He should send, offered himself of his own accord, saying, Here I am; send me (Isai. vi. 8). But Jeremiah is sent, yet humbly pleads that he should not be sent, saying, Ah, …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification, by Faith in Jesus Christ;
SHEWING, TRUE GOSPEL-HOLINESS FLOWS FROM THENCE; OR, MR. FOWLER'S PRETENDED DESIGN OF CHRISTIANITY, PROVED TO BE NOTHING MORE THAN TO TRAMPLE UNDER FOOT THE BLOOD OF THE SON OF GOD; AND THE IDOLIZING OF MAN'S OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS AS ALSO, HOW WHILE HE PRETENDS TO BE A MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, HE OVERTHROWETH THE WHOLESOME DOCTRINE CONTAINED IN THE 10TH, 11TH, AND 13TH, OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES OF THE SAME, AND THAT HE FALLETH IN WITH THE QUAKER AND ROMANIST, AGAINST THEM. BY JOHN BUNYAN …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Letter Xlv (Circa A. D. 1140) to the Canons of Lyons, on the Conception of S. Mary.
To the Canons of Lyons, on the Conception of S. Mary. Bernard states that the Festival of the Conception was new; that it rested on no legitimate foundation; and that it should not have been instituted without consulting the Apostolic See, to whose opinion he submits. 1. It is well known that among all the Churches of France that of Lyons is first in importance, whether we regard the dignity of its See, its praiseworthy regulations, or its honourable zeal for learning. Where was there ever the vigour …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Epistle iv. To Cyriacus, Bishop.
To Cyriacus, Bishop. Gregory to Cyriacus, Bishop of Constantinople. We have received with becoming charity our common sons, George the presbyter and Theodore your deacon; and we rejoice that you have passed from the care of ecclesiastical business to the government of souls, since, according to the voice of the Truth, He that is faithful in a little will be faithful also in much (Luke xvi. 10). And to the servant who administers well it is said, Because thou hast been faithful over a few things, …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

The Sin-Bearer.
A COMMUNION MEDITATION AT MENTONE. "Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."--1 Peter ii. 24, 25. THE SIN-BEARER. THIS wonderful passage is a part of Peter's address to servants; and in his day nearly all servants were slaves. Peter begins at the eighteenth verse: "Servants, be subject …
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

John the Baptist's Person and Preaching.
(in the Wilderness of Judæa, and on the Banks of the Jordan, Occupying Several Months, Probably a.d. 25 or 26.) ^A Matt. III. 1-12; ^B Mark I. 1-8; ^C Luke III. 1-18. ^b 1 The beginning of the gospel [John begins his Gospel from eternity, where the Word is found coexistent with God. Matthew begins with Jesus, the humanly generated son of Abraham and David, born in the days of Herod the king. Luke begins with the birth of John the Baptist, the Messiah's herald; and Mark begins with the ministry …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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