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

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other countries in the Ancient Near East. It is unlikely that such
experienced a call, rather entering their profession owing to a
tendency to ecstasy or second sight, or by learning their art, or by the
hereditary process (Lindblom 1962:64). For such it would be
practicable to speak of an office.
2.3 A disruptive act
Because the prophetic call involves establishing a personal
relationship with God, the effect on the prophet will be traumatic. It
must be beyond human comprehension because of its source
(Robinson 1946:173). No other group in Israel appears to have
experienced such trauma as their relationship with God was not so
close. In Jeremiah, this is particularly in evidence in the "confessions"
(cf especially Jr 15:10, 18) (Vanden Busch 1980:18).
Now although it is true that a prophet's outward circumstances are
unchanged by a call (Gouders 1971b:80) and that the previous
environment of a man may subsequently be of help, such as the
priestly background of Jeremiah, or the presence in the area of related
phenomena such as divination and ecstasy, Von Rad (1968:37) can
aptly say:
Neither previous faith nor any other personal
endowment had the slightest part to play in preparing a