Jeremiah · chapter 1 of 52
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Jeremiah 1 introduces the prophet, the son of the priest Hilkiah of Anathoth, and tells of his call in the thirteenth year of King Josiah. The Lord says he knew Jeremiah before forming him in the womb and appoints him a prophet to the nations; Jeremiah protests that he is only a youth, but God touches his mouth and puts his words there. Two visions, the almond branch and the boiling pot, announce that judgment is coming from the north.
The book of Jeremiah covers about forty years of ministry, from the reign of Josiah to the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the years after it. This first chapter serves as both cover page and credentials: it says who the prophet is, who sends him and what awaits him. The reader understands that what follows will be a hard message, spoken by a fragile man held up only by the promise of God's presence.
Verses 1-3 introduce Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, from a priestly family of Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. The word of the Lord came to him in the thirteenth year of Josiah, and his ministry ran through the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, down to the exile of Jerusalem in the fifth month of Zedekiah's eleventh year.
In verses 4-10 the Lord tells him that he knew him before forming him in the womb, set him apart and appointed him a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah protests that he cannot speak because he is only a youth. God tells him not to say that: he will go wherever he is sent, say whatever he is commanded, and need not be afraid, because God will be with him. Then the Lord stretches out his hand, touches the prophet's mouth and puts his words there. He sets him over nations and kingdoms to pluck up and break down, and also to build and plant.
In verses 11-16 the Lord shows him an almond branch. In Hebrew the almond sounds like the verb to watch, and God says he is watching over his word to carry it out. Next he shows him a boiling pot, tilted away from the north: disaster will come from there on Judah, and the kingdoms of the north will set their thrones at the gates of Jerusalem because of the people's idolatry.
Verses 17-19 close with a command and a promise. Jeremiah must gird up his loins, stand and say everything he is commanded, without being shattered before them. The Lord makes him a fortified city, an iron pillar and bronze walls against the kings, officials, priests and people. They will fight against him but will not prevail, for the Lord is with him to deliver him.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
God says he knew Jeremiah before forming him in the womb, set him apart and appointed him a prophet to the nations. His calling does not rest on his talent but on God's earlier choice, and that will hold him up when everyone rejects him.
Jeremiah answers that he is only a youth, and the Lord asks him not to use that excuse, because he will send him and be with him. God does not deny the weakness of the one called; he covers it with his presence.
The Lord touches the prophet's mouth and puts his words there, then gives him a double task: to pluck up and break down, to build and plant. It summarizes the whole book, judgment first and hope after, and the authority comes from the word, not from the messenger.
God warns that they will fight against Jeremiah but will not prevail, because he himself is with him to deliver him. The promise is not that the prophet will not suffer, but that he will not be destroyed.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: The son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who lived at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. — Jeremiah 1:1
Answer: In the thirteenth year of his reign. — Jeremiah 1:2
Answer: He knew him, set him apart and appointed him a prophet to the nations. — Jeremiah 1:5
Answer: He said he did not know how to speak because he was a youth; the Lord told him not to be afraid, because he would be with him to deliver him. — Jeremiah 1:6-8
Answer: He stretched out his hand, touched it and put his words there. — Jeremiah 1:9
Answer: An almond branch and a boiling pot tilted away from the north. — Jeremiah 1:11-13
Jeremiah's call comforts anyone who feels too small for what God asks. His excuse, that he was young and could not speak, is the one many give when asked to teach a class, lead a small group or talk about their faith. God does not answer by praising his abilities but by promising to be with him. A group can ask which calling it is putting off with an excuse God already knows.
The chapter also warns that faithfulness does not guarantee a warm welcome. Jeremiah is told from the start that people will fight against him. Those who serve in the church can learn to measure success by faithfulness to God's word rather than by the approval of others, trusting that God sustains those he sends.
Jeremiah 1 sets the stage: a young prophet, a word that plucks up and builds, and a threat coming from the north. Chapter 2 begins the message itself, with the Lord's complaint against a people who forgot the love of their youth.
It means God chose him and set him apart for this task before any merit on his part existed. The text speaks of Jeremiah's particular calling; many Christians also see in it a wider teaching about God's care for each person from the womb, though the passage deals directly with his call as a prophet.
In Hebrew the word for almond sounds like the word for watching or being alert. The almond tree blooms very early, and God uses the wordplay to say that he is watching and will carry out his word without delay.
It pictured the judgment that would reach Judah through peoples from the north. The invasions of Assyria, and above all of Babylon, entered the land from that direction. The chapter does not name the invader here, and the book makes it clearer as it goes on.