Jeremiah 1:7

My Notes

What Does Jeremiah 1:7 Mean?

Jeremiah has just protested his calling: "Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child" (v. 6). He's young — probably a teenager — and the calling is terrifying: prophet to nations, speaker of God's words to kings and armies. His objection is reasonable. His résumé is empty. And God's response is immediate and absolute: "Say not, I am a child."

The Hebrew al tomar na'ar anokhi — don't say "I am a youth" — isn't a suggestion. It's a command. God is forbidding Jeremiah from using his age, his inexperience, or his self-assessment as a reason to decline the assignment. The disqualification Jeremiah sees in himself is not the disqualification God recognizes. God's assessment overrides the prophet's self-assessment.

The two clauses that follow are the job description: "thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee" (the destination is God's choice, not Jeremiah's) "and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak" (the message is God's content, not Jeremiah's). Jeremiah's qualifications are irrelevant because Jeremiah's contribution is obedience, not expertise. He doesn't need to be old enough, eloquent enough, or experienced enough. He needs to go where he's sent and say what he's told. The power is in the sender and the message, not in the messenger.

Reflection Questions

• 1.What excuse have you been using — age, experience, ability — that God might be telling you to stop saying?
• 2.How does Jeremiah's stripped-down job description (go where sent, say what told) simplify whatever calling is in front of you?
• 3.Where have you been waiting to feel qualified instead of simply obeying the assignment?
• 4.If the power is in the sender and the message, not in the messenger, how does that free you from the pressure to be impressive?

Devotional

"Say not, I am a child." God doesn't argue with Jeremiah's self-assessment. He doesn't say "you're not that young" or "you're more qualified than you think." He simply forbids the excuse. Stop saying that. Your evaluation of yourself is not the relevant data point. My calling is.

Every objection you've raised against your calling — I'm too young, too old, too inexperienced, too broken, too ordinary, too unqualified — God's response is the same: don't say that. Not because it's untrue. Jeremiah was young. Moses did stutter. Gideon was from the weakest clan. The facts of your limitation are real. God just doesn't consider them relevant. He's not looking for someone qualified. He's looking for someone willing to go where sent and speak what commanded.

The job description is beautifully stripped down: go where I send you. Say what I tell you. That's it. God didn't ask Jeremiah to write the sermons. He didn't ask him to plan the strategy. He didn't ask him to be impressive. He asked him to show up and open his mouth. Everything else — the power, the content, the outcome — belonged to God. If you've been paralyzed by your own inadequacy, frozen by the gap between the calling and the capacity — Jeremiah's commission is your permission slip. You don't have to be enough. You just have to go and speak. The rest is God's department.

Commentary

Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.

Cross References

Related passages throughout Scripture