©Michael Player
Chapter 18:1-11 (ESV) - The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’
Question to consider: How do you think the people would have reacted to this analogy from the LORD?
The book of Jonah has always been one of my favorites in summing up the mercy of God. He is quick to show mercy to those who repent— even among the Gentiles, and He will intervene where necessary to bring about this repentance. Because of our sin nature, we have become acclimated to the evil in the world to the degree that we have no real concept of the holy nature of God.
In our sin, we have a diminished view of the power, nature, and character of God as well as an elevated view of our own power, nature and character. Despite their continued worship of other gods and dismissal of His pleas to turn back to Him and remember the Sabbath, the people of Judah and king Jehoiakim despised the word of the LORD given through Jeremiah and clung to the empty promises given by the false prophets of his day.
Imagine how offended they must have been to be compared with clay on a potter’s wheel? We don’t really have to imagine because people today refuse to accept this idea. They believe God has to justify and prove Himself to us, and we shake our fist in anger at Him when things don’t go our way. We’d rather fashion our own gods out of clay, metal, or wood and determine right and wrong for ourselves or how we’re going to worship. We want to control the things that are beyond us like: life and death, marriage, our gender, and even how the world should end, and if anyone tells us otherwise, especially God, our anger burns brighter than the sun.
However, instead of being angry, the LORD wanted Israel to realize that He was molding them and shaping them for their own good— that they return to Him. They saw their own personal wealth and pleasure as good even though they gathered and maintained them in sin. The things of the LORD are truly good, for instead of bringing death and decay, they bring life and salvation.
The potter is molding us into the very image of Christ and disciplines us like His precious children. We are learning to love the things of God and are willing to endure the trials of this world so that others may come to receive the life and salvation Christ has given us. We can rejoice as clay when we know that the potter who molds us is good.
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for Your willingness to mold us into sacred vessels. Help us to see Your work in us and rejoice that day by day we are becoming more like Christ. Please forgive us when we fall short and renew us daily with Your tender mercy. Amen.