The Potter's House
Notes
Transcript
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.
the potter would spin the wheel with his feet
Some things about clay:
comes out of the “dust of the ground”
is malleable, can be come hard
it can be molded into something beautiful or something bad
can be useful or useless and anywhere in between
even has a flesh-like coloration
Couple things about the potter:
He is hard at work at His wheel
He’s operating the whole mechanism
He’s molding all different sorts of clay into something beautiful and useful
He’s in control of the clay
He is a fine craftsman with the best intentions for His clay
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
So now we see why the Bible is using the plural of “wheels” here, it’s because there are two wheels on the potters wheel
We see that the potter “wrought a work” on the wheels, the potter took some of essentially dirt from the ground, at made a work out of it
this can be compared to what God did at Eden, He took the dust of the ground and wrought a great work out of it
just think of the incredible power that God has! Look at the complexity of the eye or the complexity of the brain!
there are still many things which are a mystery to us regarding how the brain works, but God not only knows, but came up with the schematic
not only with us, but look at all the nature around us, all the different animals in the sea, the rain forests, the deserts, the arctic, and so on
not only did He make all these things, but it’s all made in an amazing system that all works together,
this is only counting God’s creation act on earth as well, this is not even thinking about the wonders of space
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
for God to teach us about ourselves, He has to show us who we are
we as people have a tendency toward pride - some more than others
even if some people aren’t so confident to the outside world, they usually tend to feel like they are good or right on the inside
sometimes people get frustrated with themselves, but with the core of their personality they usually like it
so we have this tendency toward pride, we have a certain way that we view ourselves
So if we view ourselves a certain way, and that way is wrong, God has to teach us about ourseleves to show us our real selves and the errors of our ways
and that’s part of what God is doing with the clay, He’s showing us that, “Hey, you can be a malleable piece of clay that I can mold and mold for good, you can even be a piece of clay that didn’t turn out so good, and I can re-mold you into something great”
or it can be, “You can be a piece of clay that is not turning out so good, even though I’m trying to mold you into something beautiful”
God showed Israel what they were really like by showing them this example, but how do we know what we’re really like
it’s Scripture, it’s like holding a mirror against ourselves to see who we really are
without Scripture, we’re floating along in this world, thinking, “Eh, I’m an alright person and I’m doing alright, I certainly don’t think I’m some kind of evil person”
but with Scripture, we understand the condition we’re in, we’re a fallen people, fallen away from God living an anti-Godly life
So not only is this Scripture like a mirror to us, but it shows us who’s really in control
we are never promised another day in this life, we’re not promised another second, we go on in this world by the grace and mercy of God
this brings us to the next verses...
5 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.
we have to choose how we are going to live based upon now knowing who we are, we are a broken vase, a broken vessel
we could be made into something great, something beautiful, something useful, by the greatest craftsman that will ever exist
we will not only be made whole, but we receive purpose and a reason to go on, no matter how old you are, how young you are, how anything you are, God can mold you into something beautiful with a true and good purpose
what do these clay vessels do? what is their purpose? - they serve, which is what we’re called to do as believers
we’re called to serve God and serve others by delivering the gospel and fostering their spiritual development
it comes down to an authority question: do we have the authority to live our lives the way we want to? who has authority over us? We have freedom, we’re in America, we can live our lives sovereign as we please
but God is truly the one with the authority in the situation, He’s our creator, and He’s our loving redeemer as well, so even if we somehow didn’t respect just the fact that He’s our creator, He’s done so much for us that it’s only right that we give up our lives for Him
This molding is also a process, the Christian life is a process - it’s not always easy and a great time and private jets and sports cars like some on TV say
we have to go through hard times sometimes, but we can either let these hard times destroy us, or depend on God through these times and blossom into a better person
we can be a statue that is hammered into pieces, or hammered into a great statue
That God hath an absolute sovereign power to do what he pleaseth with the work of his hands, can be denied by no men of sense,
“so are ye in my hands...” - so it can be denied by no men of sense that we are in God’s hands, which means we are in good hands
for us to rebel against God’s molding is rebelling against God Himself and against Him molding us into something beautiful
we are in good hands, and no men of sense would go against His molding
we have many examples in the Bible of God taking broken clay and making them into something great, we have the disciples, especially Peter, we have abraham, we have people like rahab and the lady who anointed Jesus before He went to the cross
8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
So Peter was broken, saw He was broken, and Jesus told Him, “Hey, I’m going to mold you and change you into something great.” and he eventually became the rock on which the church was built
We have a similar story with Paul as well, a very sinful man, who thought He was doing great, but when confronted with the truth of God, He saw who He really was and was molded by God’s good hands into an instrumental tool in the building of the church
7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; 8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.
We see that this is a more full application of the story, it’s not just that all of us as individuals are in God’s hands, but entire nations as well
we see many times through the Bible this exact thing happening, and even happening to Israel
Unfortunately, the way our country is heading, it’s going to happen to us as well, and we have to do what we can to change it bit by bit
if we all did our part and all dedicated our lives to spreading the gospel, we could make a good bit of progress
we as believers have to work together and we have to do the best we can, because that’s how a town, a county, a state, a country is changed, bit by bit, person by person
9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
This is the opposite teaching, so we see that God not only has the power and will to take down a nation, but also to build one up and mold it, if only they let Him.
11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I frame evil against you, and devise a device against you: return ye now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.
God tells Israel that judgement is coming
but He not only warns them of the coming judgement, He pleads with them to change their ways
the Bible tells us that God is not willing that any man should perish, and wants both Israel and us to live Godly lives, but their has to be justice in this world as well
God didn’t have to warn them that justice was coming, He could have just done what He was planning to do to them, fulfill the justice and law of God, and leave it at that
but no, He’s our Good Shepherd, He has our best interests at heart and wants to have a good relationship with us
He wants to be the potter and us be the clay, and make us into great vessels, He’s a good creator to us, if only we listen and live rightly according to His Word
12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.
so we see at this time that Israel was being obstinate, they were being stubborn, they weren’t listening to the truths of God
we see natural man’s state described how it really can be, the imaginations of our evil hearts, we have to learn our true state, who we truly are without God and away from God
they thought they were doing fine, they didn’t think they were a messed up piece of clay, but God is trying to show them who they really are and show them that they need to rely and depend upon Him.
13 Therefore thus saith the Lord; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.
reiterating the fact that this is not just something to take lightly
14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?
Lebanon is in the north, and there are very green mountains and cold streams coming from Mt Hermon and other mountains up that way, and this would be truly satisfying in southern Israel, where Jerusalem is
God is essentially calling Himself the water of life here, satisfying, cool, life giving water
Explain photos
15 Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up;
“MY people have FORGOTTEN me” - what a powerful statement
not only does God call them MY people, He is their creator, benefactor, merciful God
but He also says they FORGOT Him - Wow! After all God’s done for them, for how good He is to them and what great plans He had to mold them, they have just forgotten Him
a lot of times in the context of relationships people say something like, “I’d rather be hated then forgotten”, because when you’re forgotten, there are just no feelings at all left at that point, they’re just completely out of the other persons mind
what a sad place to be in relation to God
16 To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his head.
17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face on the day of their calamity.
We know that this ended up being the case after Jeremiah being down there warning Israel, they just would not listen, they would not respond to God’s molding
they brought destruction upon themselves, and we must be careful that we don’t do the same to ourselves, because we can do it just as easily as they did
we can never forget God, we have to understand who He is, the authority that He has, the good that He’s done for us and is willing to do for us, that we are in good hands and that He wants to mold us into greatness
the question is, will we respond to God’s Words and realize who we truly are, a marred piece of clay, and let Him mold us and transform us?