The call of Jeremiah should really have come before the Isaiah reading, as it gives us a good introduction to what a prophet is, and what prophets do. This reading also gives us a clear idea why prophets were often not much appreciated by the people to whom they were sent to proclaim God’s message.

There is so much one could talk about here, that I will focus mainly on Jeremiah’s call and what that tells us about prophets, to help you understand other prophetic books. I will also talk a little about the other chapter and a bit, but recognise that there are loads of issues in that section that I will not touch on, because of the interest in making sense of prophecy in general…