ing how
possible and natural it was for Jeremiah to hear his mission _to the
nations_ clearly indicated in the very moment of his call.

And in fact Jeremiah's acknowledged Oracles--some of them among his
earliest--travel far beyond Judah and show not merely a knowledge of, and
vivid interest in, the qualities and fortunes of other peoples, but a wise
judgment of their policies and therefore of what should be Judah's prudent
attitude and duty towards them. For long before his call she had been
intriguing with Egypt and Assyria.(120) Just then or immediately later the
Scythians, after threatening the Medes, were sweeping over Western Asia as
far as the frontier of Egypt, and in his Scythian songs Jeremiah(121)
shows an intimate knowledge of their habits. In his Parable of the Potter
(for which unfortunately there is no date) he declares God's power to
mould or re-mould _any_ nation.(122) And Baruch, writing of Jeremiah's
earlier ministry, says that he spoke _concerning all nations_.(123)

No wonder that Jeremiah shrank from such a task: _Ah, Lord God, I know not
to speak, I am too young._(124) His excuse is interesting. Had he not
developed his gift for verse? Or, conscious of its rustic simplicity, did
he fear to take the prophet's thunder on lips, that had hitherto moved
only to the music of his country-side? In the light of his later
experience the second alternative is not impossible. When much practice
must have made him confident of his art as a singer, he tells us how
burning he felt the Word of the Lord to be. But whatever was the motive of
his reluctance it was overcome. As he afterwards said:--

Ah, Lord, Thou didst beguile me,
And beguiled I let myself be;
Thou wast too strong for me
And hast prevailed.(125)

The following shows how this came about:--

And the Lord said unto me, Say not I am too young, for to all to
which I send thee thou shalt go, and all I command thee thou shalt
speak,

Be not afraid before them
For with thee am I to deliver,

Rede of the Lord. And the Lord put forth His hand and caused it to
touch my mouth, and the Lord said to me, Lo, I have set My Word in
thy mouth,

See I appoint thee this day
Over the nations and kingdoms,
To pull up and tear down and destroy,(126)
To build and to plant.

To this also objection has been taken as still more incredible in the
spiritual experience of so youthful