At the potter's house

Jeremiah 18:1-6 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD. "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the LORD came to me. "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

In this passage, we have a true and mysterious blending of the divine sovereignty and human responsibility. The Lord used the potter to illustrate how He deals with humanity. Here, the Bible tells us how God revealed to Jeremiah His truths through an ordinary occurrence in a common workshop. As the prophet understood God's revelation, through inspiration, he put it in words that the people could understand and apply to their situation. We too can understand and apply it to our lives as well. As the potter molds the clay, so God molds believers in His image. He wants to make us the very best we can be. Our responsibility is to obey His truths written in the bible and to be willing servants.

Lets look carefully at this passage again. This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message. So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. God told Jeremiah to go to the potters house to learn some valuable lessons. As Jeremiah approached the workshop, the potter began to work on the wheels, literally "two stones". The potter rotated the lower wheel with his feet while shaping the clay on the upper wheel with his hands. An experienced potter has amazing control over this (though ones like myself seem to create disaster when touching it :) The potter exercising control over the clay is a great example of divine sovereignty. Nothing in the clay would make a beautiful vessel of itself. The wheels could do nothing except as the feet of the potter worked. They were under complete control of the potter. A poor potter, like myself, can do little with the clay to make much of it. But an experienced potter creates majestically. God is the supreme power of the universe, the ultimate potter.

He is sovereign over all the physical world. He "hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. (Nahum 1:3) Do you ever think about the earth in orbit or the sea rising and falling? During Christ's reign, He exercised control over the physical world by stilling the life-threatening storm on the sea of Galilee. God also declared His sovereignty over Judah. Because Judah disobeyed God, worshipped idols, and desecrated the temple, God said that He would bring desolation upon the land. "I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons: and I will make the cities of Judah desolate without inhabitant." (Jeremiah 9:11) Thirdly, God is sovereign over everyone. We act as if we are in control of our destiny and make plans for 10, 15, or even 30 years. However, each time we read the obituary column, death reminds us that we have little control over our future. "There is no man that hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death" (Ecclesiastes 8:8)

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. As Jeremiah watched, the potter's expert hands began to mold the clay into a useful vessel, perhaps a cup for drinking. For some reason the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, and the finished product would never meet his high standards. How was the vessel marred? A minute amount of sand in the clay or a hard clump would make it impossible to make a useful vessel.

The clay in this discussion is human clay, capable of ruining the divine plan. Although God is sovereign, He works with free men. Man is free to choose the response he will make to God. Very often we make wrong choices, violate God's laws and become unfit vessels. Sin separates us from God. "Your inequities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that he will not hear" (Isaiah 59:2) Those who practice sin become unfit vessels in God's kingdom. Jeremiah repeatedly pointed out Judah's stubbornness. When Judah refused to hear God's word and practiced the inequities of her forefathers, God warned them of judgement. Judah became an unfit vessel because she willfully and stubbornly refused to obey God's instructions. Our deliberate disobedience can have the same effect upon our lives. Selfishness also can mar our service and witness for the Lord. It can cause us to become calloused and hard hearted to the point of total disregard for others and no compassion for sinners God seeks to reach. Jeremiah's experience at the potters house taught him about God's patience and love. Whenever the developing vessel was marred and failing his high standards, he removed the unfit portion and worked it into something good. The divine potter can make something good of the sorriest clay. Upon a persons repentance, God can rework him or her into a vessel of honor.

Though this parable is meant principally for Judah, God deals similarly with all nations, and all people. Each is given the opportunity to repent and conform to God's purpose. God has called man to turn from their evil ways and to obey His laws. "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3) This is a beautiful passage of scripture. Although Judah was facing exile, God's love never wavered. Nor does His love for us ever waver. He promised to rebuild the nation and make them good vessels again. We must apply God's love in our lives as well. Christ not only died to carry the penlaty for our sins, He also rose from the dead to intercede for us at the throne of God. He desires to be the potter in our lives.. as we are the clay. He desires to mold us into the image of Christ. He desires to make new vessels out of the nation of Somalia and out of each and every life.