WAS JEREMIAH REALLY A PROPHET FROM HIS MOTHER'S WOMB?

Jeremiah 1:4–5(NKJV)

4 - Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

So what was God saying here? Was Jeremiah a prophet right from his mother's womb?

From careful observation, we find that that is not the case.

This statement is talking about foreordination not commissioning. Now it is important to note these two facts about foreordination:

1. Foreordination has to do with what God has planned out for each individual before they are born.

Psalm 139:13–16(NKJV)

13 - For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb.

14 - I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.

15 - My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 - Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.

2. The fact that God foreordained something does not mean that it will always happen that way. We can see this clearly in His biggest desire for every man:

1 Timothy 2:3–4(NKJV)

3 - For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

4 - who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

2 Peter 3:9(NKJV)

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

God desires that all men be saved, but is this the case today? Not at all.

This doesn't make Him less God. It is rather because He chose to give us freewill, so that, although He actively plays His part, the direction of our lives is largely in our hands. Things will go just as He has planned if we choose to step into His will, or otherwise if we choose not to.

This means that a man can make a mess of God's foreordination for his life if he doesn't cooperate with God.

1 Samuel 2:30(NKJV)

Therefore the LORD God of Israel says: "I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.' But now the LORD says: "Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.

Back to our theme text, the statement, “Before I formed you in the womb…I ordained you a prophet to the nations” is talking about foreordination not commissioning.

God chose Jeremiah ahead of time that this baby boy would grow up to be a prophet for Him. He wasn't a prophet until God commissioned him on this fateful day:

Jeremiah 1:4–9(NKJV)

4 - Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I SANCTIFIED you; I ORDAINED you a prophet to the nations."

6 - Then said I: "Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth."

7 - But the LORD said to me: "Do not say, "I am a youth,' for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak.

8 - Do not be afraid of their faces, for I am with you to deliver you," says the LORD.

9 - Then the LORD put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me: "Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.

(“I sanctified you” means “I chose you for a special purpose.”)

This was God commissioning him as a prophet to the nations.

Immediately after this, he started to see visions from God, and he became a prophetic voice in the land of Judah, during the reign of King Josiah and for a long time afterwards.

So it was at this point that the LORD spoke to Jeremiah (arguably for the first time ever) in Jeremiah 1:5–9 that this young man became a prophet.

And we can see in verse 6 that he could have walked away from God's foreordination for his life out of fear, if he had insisted on his supposed weakness.

God foreordained him to be a prophet right from his mother's womb but he wasn't a prophet until God commissioned him.

The heir to the throne is a potential king but not the king, neither is the king-elect the king—at least, not yet; not until the coronation.

And anything can still happen before then.

Victor Ibosiola © 2025