“Jeremiah Was Foreordained to Be a Prophet unto the Nations—He Is Called as a Mortal to Declare the Word of the Lord”
Jeremiah 1:4–9
4 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
6 Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.
7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.
8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
9 Then the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
President J. Reuben Clark Jr. said:
“That our spirits were with the Father before our births into mortality is clearly shown by the scriptures.
“Jeremiah protested to the Lord he could not speak for he was a child [see Jer. 1:6], but the Lord rebuked him:
“‘Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord’ [Jer. 1:7–8].
“And to show He knew Jeremiah and his abilities, the Lord said:
“‘Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations’ [Jer. 1:5].”
(On the Way to Immortality and Eternal Life [1949], 28–29.)
