THE CALL OF JEREMIAH by DAVID TUDOR ... - David T Williams

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trust in the temple of Jeremiah 26, Jeremiah defended his action (v
12-15) starting with an emphatic "the LORD" and concluding with an
emphatic "in truth", simply asserting an external cause for his actions
(Blank 1961:19). It is Jeremiah's appreciation of the validity of his
message as from outside of himself which causes such an outburst
against the "false prophets" (eg Jr 5:12). If Wanke's assessment of
Jeremiah 37-43 is correct (cf section 1.5.3), the reason for the
composition of the cycle is basically the effect of the external
imposition of his office upon Jeremiah.
Heschel (1962:11) refers to calling as "anthropotropism", a turning to
men, an event which occurs to a man, happening to him and also
beyond him. Similarly Mowvley (1979:20) says there is no evidence
that men set out to be prophets, and that moreover they rarely sought
the word of God. The prophet is a partner in the establishment of a
special relationship, perhaps best summed up in the word "know" (Jr
1:5), involving more than just a factual knowledge.
But thou O Lord knowest me, thou seest me, and triest
my mind towards thee (Jr 12:3 cf Jr 11:18).
However, any idea of the merging of the prophet with God is excluded
(Robinson 1946:167).
The establishment of this relationship at a specific time does not