What does Jeremiah 1:9 Mean?

Verse Meaning

By stretching out His hand and touching Jeremiah"s mouth, the Lord symbolized the transfer of His words to the prophet"s mouth (cf. Deuteronomy 18:18). He also explained the meaning of His act. This was a powerful way of visualizing that the Lord Himself would participate in all that Jeremiah would undertake (cf. Isaiah 6:6-7; Ezekiel 3:1-3). [source][source]

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God uses ordinary people to accomplish His extraordinary work if they trust in Him in spite of their fears, obey Him in spite of their inexperience, and proclaim His Word in spite of their feelings of inadequacy. ^[1] [source]

"The word of God is a power that carries out His will, and accomplishes that whereto He sends it, Isa. Leviticus 10 ff. Against this power nothing earthly can stand; it is a hammer that breaks rocks in pieces, xxiii29." ^[2] [source]

Context Summary

God has a distinct purpose for each life, and our one aim should be to discover and work out His plan. See Psalms 139:16; Galatians 1:15. The sanctification here referred to applies to office rather than to character, and means set apart. See John 17:19. Jeremiah was very young, and shrank from the responsibility of the great mission entrusted to him. Thus it has been with the noblest, Exodus 4:10. But that is godly fear indeed which casts us back on God. He never gives a commission without assuming the responsibility of its execution in, and with, or through, us. Powers of utterance are specially His gift, Isaiah 6:7; Acts 6:10; 1 Corinthians 1:5. The almond tree in Hebrew is the wakeful tree. It awakes from the winter sleep earlier than others, flowering in January and fruiting in March. It indicated the swiftness of God's movement. The boiling pot is the symbol of war. The promises of Jeremiah 1:18-19 are very precious to all who are called to stand in the breach and charge men with their sins. [source]

Chapter Summary: Jeremiah 1

¹  The time
⁴  And the calling of Jeremiah
¹¹  His prophetical visions of an almond rod and a seething pot
¹⁵  His heavy message against Judah
¹⁷  God encourages him with his promise of assistance