Jeremiah 1:4

"Now the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee; I have appointed thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord Jehovah! behold, I know not how to speak; for I am a child. But Jehovah said unto me, Say not, I am a child; for to whomsoever I shall send thee thou shalt go, and whatsoever I shall command thee thou shalt speak."

The foreknowledge of God is clearly stated here, revealing that, long before Jeremiah was born, God knew him and selected him as the great prophet who would announce the final judgment upon Judah and condemn all of the wicked nations on earth.

"I know not how to speak, for I am a child ..." (Jeremiah 1:6).

This reluctance on Jeremiah's part is similar to that of Moses when he was called to deliver Israel from Egypt. God overruled his objection, "On the grounds that authority resides not in the person of the messenger, but in the Divine commission!"[8] Jeremiah's plea that he was only a child was overruled by God who commanded him not to say that. As a matter of fact, scholars place his age at the time given here as being about twenty years of age. "The very same words were applied to Solomon after he was anointed king about the age of 20!"[9]

We should not believe that Jeremiah's timidity and hesitation in the acceptance of so formidable a task were a sign of inability upon his part. They were due to a recognition of the nearly impossible difficulty of the assignment.