Jeremiah 1:11
Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree.
The verse belongs to the account of God calling Jeremiah when he was a very young man, a later prophet than Isaiah who prophesied in the closing days before the Babylonian captivity from Josiah to Zedekiah, the last king of Judah who was carried away into Babylon. When called to witness against kingdoms and kings, he resisted and shrank tremblingly from the awful responsibility of his mission, calling himself a child and saying he was not able to go. The Lord encouraged him with the assurance of His presence to deliver him, giving him words by which nations would be plucked up and broken down or built and planted. God set before him a hard task before a rebellious and gainsaying people, commanding him not to be dismayed, making him a fortified city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls whom they would fight against and cause to suffer but would not prevail against, and then beginning declarations concerning the awful backsliding of Judah.
What Jeremiah saw was the growing branch or rod of an almond tree, which blossoms early before it comes into leaf and buds rapidly and miraculously. The Hebrew word for almond, shaked, is linked to a word meaning to hasten, watch, or wake early, making the early-blossoming almond a fitting image of haste. By the almond tree God declared that He would hasten His word to perform it, revealing His upholding power to the prophet and assuring him of His presence to deliver him. The almond rod is a sign that God will hasten judgment on the people.
His response illustrates that those called to God's work recognize their own weakness and undertake it only because God's authority moves them. Before God calls men to preach, He gives them humbling views of themselves and removes self-sufficiency, bringing those truly called to deep acquaintance with themselves, feeling their own ignorance and weakness and thinking soberly of themselves. They know the awful responsibility of the work and undertake it only on God's authority with singleness of purpose, determination that self shall die daily, and inward moving of the Holy Spirit for God's honor and the salvation of souls, while God's strength is made perfect in their weakness.