And Jehovah put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and Jehovah said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
Jeremiah had just protested that he was only a youth. God did not argue with him. He reached out, touched the young man's mouth, and put His own words there. Everything Jeremiah said afterwards rests on that moment. It raises the question of where a servant's message comes from.
Fear answered by presence
His first reaction to the call was fear, and that fear had a precedent.
Jeremiah expresses his fear at once. Like Moses (Exodus 4:10), he shows self-distrust. He was a child, not in the sense of a small child, but a youth. The Septuagint translates it, "I am too young." After that the Lord encouraged him by the promise of His presence, "I am with you to deliver you." Then He touched his mouth and said, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth." He was the mouthpiece of the LORD.
The meaning of the touch
A touch from God carries meaning elsewhere in the Old Testament too.
In the Old Testament a touch expresses God giving power to people. So it is with Isaiah (Isa. 6:7), with Jeremiah (Jer. 1:9), and with Daniel (Dan. 10:10, 16, 18). In Job's case the touch means bringing personal trial on him (Job 1:11; Job 2:5).
Isaiah's mouth was also touched, but the two scenes are not identical.
Isaiah's lips were cleansed, Jeremiah's were opened. Isaiah's touch was one of cleansing. Jeremiah's touch was one of power, as verse 10 shows. The LORD put His positive words into Jeremiah's mouth; He definitely put His own words there.
Not his own resources
The touch settles what the prophet will draw on when he speaks.
Jeremiah was not to speak on the basis of what he had in himself. God put out His hand and touched the young man's mouth, saying, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth." God would reveal things to him, and he must pass them on to others faithfully.
Darby puts the result in one sentence.
All Jeremiah's words, as a prophet, were absolutely God's words; that is what it means to be as God's mouth.
A setting apart for service
Davison sees verse 9 as the moment God equipped Jeremiah for his work.
This man was a prophet, and he was to speak on behalf of God. That is why we venture to call verse 9 his consecration. Consecration means the "filling of the hands". In other words, it is God's own equipment for carrying on His service, and we each need to be equipped like that.
The prophet like Moses
The wording here is borrowed, and its source explains the place Jeremiah held in Israelite thinking.
Deuteronomy speaks of a coming "Prophet", and the very words used there are applied to Jeremiah, though they point clearly and first of all to the Lord. It says, "I will raise up for them a prophet like you (Moses) from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him" (Deut. 18:18). Of Jeremiah we read, "The LORD said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth" (Jer. 1:9)… It is easy to understand, then, why Jeremiah had such a leading place in the mind of an Israelite. It also explains why, when our blessed Saviour was here, some thought He was "Jeremiah, or one of the prophets" (Matt. 16:14).
What it asks of a servant now
What was true for Jeremiah touches anyone who speaks for God now.
It is marvellous grace on God's part that He should put His words into our mouths. But it is also a challenging matter… We may be sure of this. If God has put His Word into our lips, and we speak it, there will be results for His glory and for the blessing of the saints. God has said it "shall not return to me empty."
Knowing the Bible well and having a word given are not the same thing.
One may have a good knowledge of the Scriptures and yet not have a specific word from the Lord… To speak for the sake of speaking can bring a destructive element in among the saints of God… Waiting until you are sure of a definite word from the Lord brings an atmosphere of power and blessing.
Summary
- Fear first. Jeremiah's protest was self-distrust, like Moses before him. God promised His presence before He gave him anything to say.
- Touch next. The hand on his mouth gave power. Isaiah's lips were cleansed; Jeremiah's were opened.
- Words given. He was not to speak out of his own resources. As a prophet, his words were God's own words. That is what being God's mouth means.
- Christ foreshadowed. The wording comes from Deuteronomy 18:18, the promise of a prophet like Moses. It points first of all to the Lord Himself.
- Result guaranteed. God's Word in a servant's lips will not return empty. So waiting for a definite word beats speaking for the sake of speaking.