1 These are the words of Jeremiah son of Hilkiah, one of the priests at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin.
2 The word of Yahweh came to him in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.
3 It came again during the reign of Jehoiakim son of Jo siah, king of Judah, until the eleventh year of Zedekiah son of Josiah, king of Judah. In the fifth month of that year, the inhabitants of Jerusalem were taken into exile.
The call of Jeremiah
4 A word of Yahweh came to me,
5 “Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even be fore you were born I had set you apart, and appointed you a prophet to the nations!”
6 I said, “Ah, Lord Yahweh! I do not know how to speak; I am still young!”
7 But Yahweh replied, “Do not say; ‘I am still young’, for now you will go whatever be the mission I am en trusting to you, and you will speak of whatever I command you to say.
8 Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you – it is Yahweh who speaks!”
9 Then Yahweh stretched out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me,
“Now I have put my words in your mouth. Acts 9,1510 See! Today I give you authority over nations and over kingdoms
10 to uproot and to pull down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
11 A word of Yahweh came to me again, “Jeremiah what do you see?” I said, “I see the branch of a watching tree.”
12 And Yahweh said to me, “You are right. I too am watching to fulfill my word.”
13 The word of Yah weh came to me a second time, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a boiling caldron coming from the north and it is tilted towards this direction.” Then Yahweh said to me,
14 “From the north disaster will boil down on all the people of this land.
15 I am calling all the kingdoms of the north – it is Yahweh who speaks. Each of them will come and encamp at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem; against all its surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah.
16 I will pass judgment on my people because of the evil they do in forsaking me; they have burned incense to foreign gods and wor ship ped gods their hands have made.
17 But you, get ready for action; stand up and say to them all that I com mand you. Be not scared of them or I will scare you in their presence!
18 See, I will make you a fortified city, a pillar of iron with walls of bronze, against all the nations, against the kings and princes of Judah, against the priests and the people of the land.
19 They will fight against you but shall not overcome you, for I am with you to rescue you – it is Yahweh who speaks.”
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Comments Jeremiah, Chapter 1
• 1.4 Jeremiah says little about his vocation. We have no flashing revelation from God. The two visions – the branch of the watching-tree (the almond tree) and the boiling caldron – seem quite or dinary for such a transcendental mission. This helps us understand that God’s call was first of all something interior.
I have put my words in your mouth. Jere miah is made a prophet: from now on, he will proclaim the word of God. That does not mean that God will always tell him what he must announce, rather, since he now thinks and feels like the Lord, he will be able to comment on every word of God given to him.
To all those I send you, you will go. From now on, Jeremiah will be guided by the power of the Spirit; he will obey, whatever the risks and in spite of the resistance of his timid nature. Have no fear before them, or I will make you afraid in their presence. This is an amazing revelation of the demanding love of Yahweh. He has de cided to make this lad his chosen one and forces him to overcome and forget his human weakness.
I am with you to rescue you. Yahweh repeats what he said to Moses when he called him (Ex 3:12) and what he will also say to Paul (Acts 26:17). Moreover, Jeremiah is assured that the Lord destined him for this mission, of which he had never thought, and which frightens him: Even before I formed you in the womb I have known you; even before you were born I had set you apart. Later, the same will be said of John the Baptist (Lk 1:15), of Christ (see Is 49) and of Paul (Gal 1:15).
These words spoken to Jeremiah are, some-how, also meant for us: we are not the product of chance. In Ephesians 1, Paul praises this foreknowledge of God who called us from eternity to know Christ and to have a share in the divine riches. But what is said to Jeremiah urges us to reflect that God, in his eternal designs, clearly sees – next to Christ – those who are given a more transcendental mission. It would be difficult for them to escape God’s irresistible call.
God seems to force Jeremiah’s freedom, but that is but an impression of ours because we have not experienced the real freedom, and words rarely fully express reality.
I give you authority over the nations; to uproot and to pull down. From now on, Jeremiah will carry Yahweh’s creative word. In the first years, this word seems rather destructive. Jeremiah knows that when he pronounces a condemnation, he expresses God’s judgment which will shortly take place.
Jeremiah’s mission: “To uproot and to pull down; to build and to plant” will be the mission of any worker in the Lord’s vineyard. There can be no compromise between a semblance of Christian life and authentic faith; the genuine apostle must destroy in order to build.