“Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.’ Then I said, ‘Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth.’ But the LORD said to me, ‘Do not say, “I am a youth,” Because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak…. Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer 1:4-7, 9).
In Jeremiah’s call narrative, we find unmistakable echoes of Moses’ call narrative in Exodus 3–4. Like Moses, Jeremiah was already destined to become a great prophet in his mother’s womb (compare Exod 2:1–2 with Jer 1:5). Like Moses, Jeremiah also resisted God’s calling, offering excuses for why he was not the right man to go (compare Exod 3:11; 4:10 with Jer 1:5). And like Moses, God himself puts his word directly in Jeremiah’s “mouth” (compare Exod 4:12 with Jer 1:9), assuring the reluctant prophet that He will be with him (compare Exod 3:12 with Jer 1:8).
While our people continue to seek a royal Messiah who will come and fix all our problems, we fail to see that what most qualifies Yeshua to be our Messiah is the extent to which we resist Him to this very day—and the extent to which He suffered.
Two word-specific allusions in Jeremiah’s call narrative paint the verbal portrait of this hesitant prophet in Messianic colors. First, the exact phrase “I will put my word in your mouth” (Jer 1:9; see 5:14) is used elsewhere to describe only one other figure in the Hebrew Bible—namely, the promised prophet like Moses (Deut 18:18). Second, the phrase “I formed you in the womb,” when referring to an individual prophet called to Israel, is used only for Jeremiah (Jer 1:5) and the Messianic servant of the LORD (Isa 49:5), who is also described in Isaiah 49 as a remarkably Moses-like figure whose “mouth” is filled with God’s word (Isa 49:2) and who is called to set Israel free (Isa 49:9).
The introduction of the book, therefore, encourages us to regard Jeremiah as a Messianic figure. But in what specific way is Jeremiah most Moses- and Messiah-like? He is a suffering servant who is hated by his own people, constantly persecuted and resisted (Jer 1:17–19). While our people continue to seek a royal Messiah who will come and fix all our problems, we fail to see that what most qualifies Yeshua to be our Messiah is the extent to which we resist Him to this very day—and the extent to which He suffered. And it is specifically in and through Yeshua’s terrible sufferings that we can find God’s help in our weaknesses and comfort in our sorrows.
“Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb 2:14-18).
