The Potter

The next two chapters of Jeremiah include the theme of pottery. A potter was a common profession Jeremiah’s day. They were skilled craftsmen who provided both common and expensive items. Household vessels as well as decorative creations were made and sold by potters. 1 Chronicles 4:23 says that there was an establishment of potters in Jerusalem who were employed by the King. God is going to use the potters house to teach Jeremiah a lesson in chapter 18. In chapter 19 He is going to use pottery itself to teach the people a lesson.

1. Jeremiah visits the Potter’s House (1-12).

A. The prophet is commanded by God to visit the potter’s house (1-4).

Notice that Jeremiah was obedient. The Lord told him what to do and he did it. Jeremiah wasn’t just a prophet. He was a man of God. He obeyed the Lord.

We aren’t told what potters house he visited. Jeremiah obviously knew which one to go to. When he got there, he just observed the potter. I assume he explained the Lord sent him there and the potter allowed Jeremiah to watch the man do his job.

The potter was working a machine that had both an upper and lower wheel. The lower wheel was turned by the foot. The lower wheel turned the upper wheel. As Jeremiah was watching the potter, the clay he was forming developed a defect. The potter did not throw the lump of clay away. He reworked it into another vessel. The verbs used in the Hebrew imply that Jeremiah watched the potter for a while. It would be common for a potter to have a to reshape a lump of clay.

The end of verse 4 is important. It says, “as it seemed good to the potter to so.” This highlights the power the potter has over the clay. It points to God as the One who has power over His creation.

B. The interpretation of the observation (5-6).

After watching the potter, the Lord speaks to Jeremiah concerning the nation of Israel. Judah was part of that nation. In the same way that the clay was in the potter’s hand, Israel was in God’s hand. The clay belonged to the potter and Israel belonged to God. This is also true of all nations. Because God is the Creator, He has authority over all His creation. We will see that in a moment.

God uses a very simple act to remind the people that they belong to God. Their allegiance to other nations and other gods didn’t change that. This is an important thing for us all to remember. God is sovereign over all of His creation. He has ultimate authority. A person cannot remove themselves from obligation to God because they claim they don’t believe in Him or they worship a god other than the one revealed in Scripture. God is the Potter. We are all lumps of clay that belong to Him.

C. The application of this truth (7-10).

God may warn a nation that He is going to destroy them because of their sin. If that nation repents in sincerity God will not destroy the nation.

God may say He is going to build up a nation. If that nation continues in sin God will destroy it.

The word “relent” is used in the ESV. The word “repent” is used in the KJV. Relent is a better word because the word “repent” in the English language assumes something wrong has been done. God never does anything wrong. He does change how He responds to people based on their actions.

Those who have been promised judgment can find grace. Those who have been promised blessings can be cursed. God’s response to nations is always consistent with His character. God is both just and merciful.

D. Judah’s response (11-12).

Jeremiah is to tell the people that God is about to shape the people into a vessel of wrath fit for destruction. What Jeremiah saw in the potter’s house was an act of grace. Grace was available to the people. But they had to repent. If they did not repent judgment would come.

Look how the people respond in verse 12. They tell Jeremiah his preaching is in vain. They say they will follow their own plans and their own stubborn and evil heart. I have known people who probably thought that way. But I have known few who would admit it! Their response revealed how wicked they had become.

Three things stand out to me in this first section:

The authority of God. All of creation belongs to God. He holds it in His hand.

The grace of God. God should just throw us away like a worthless piece of clay. However, God in His love offers us grace.

The justice of God. Our stubbornness will not deter God’s justice. If we are intent on living in sin God will judge us.

2. The Lord marvels at the sin of the people (13-17).

A. The Lord asks a question (13-14).

It’s a rhetorical question. The answer to the question is “No one” but the point of the question is to show how horrible of a thing Judah has done.

The question is directed to pagan nations. The question is “Who has heard of anything like this? Then the Lord describes what He means. Let’s look at that.

The virgin Israel has a done a horrible thing. “Virgin” refers to her previous state of righteousness before the Lord. God is pictured as a good Father whose daughter has thrown away her purity for prostitution. This would break the heart of any father.

Look at the next questions:

Does the snow of Lebanon leave the crags of Sirion?

Do the mountain waters run dry, the cold flowing streams?

The snow and the waters are where they belong. They stay there. In fact, if the snow was removed it would melt and if the waters were removed, they would evaporate. The point God is making is these are things that know their place. Israel’s place is with God, but they left. What they did is as unnatural as water leaving a stream.

Sin is unnatural. As human beings created in the image of God we belong with God. That is our place. When we choose a sinful life, we have chosen to remove ourselves from our natural place which is with God.

B. The Lord describes the sin of the people (15).

They have forgotten God.

They make offerings to false gods.

When we forget God, we will find something else to worship. We may not even do so consciously. We are always worshipping something even if that something is ourselves. Whatever we love the most in this world is what we worship. Our love for what we worship will shape our life and shape us as well.

Notice what the sin of the people caused. Verse 15 says

“they stumble in their ways”

“they walk into side roads”

Worship of the false gods got the people off course. No longer did they follow the ancient paths, the righteous ways of the patriarchs. God had a highway built for them through His Word. If they obeyed God’s Word they would walk with security. Instead of choosing the clear path of God’s Word they decided to travel down the side roads filled with danger and obstacles.

C. The Lord describes the scorn of the people (16-17).

Their actions had changed the promised and into a land of horror. This was no longer a land flowing with milk and honey. They and the land would be pitied.

God says they would be “hissed at forever”. This refers to how people would speak of them. When people see the devastation done to the land and the people they will be horrified. They will shake their heads in disbelief. I think the shaking of the head implies that what Judah has done is foolish. It’s as if the passersby are saying, “What were those people thinking? They had it made and they threw it all away.”

In verse 17 we see another reference to the captivity. God will blow on them like a hot east wind and scatter them into other nations. Look at what God says at the end of verse 17. God will not show His face to the people. He will only show them His back. The face of God symbolizes His favor. It will not be a day of blessing for Judah, it will be a day of calamity.

3. Jeremiah prays for the destruction of his enemies (18-23).

A. The response to Jeremiah’s preaching (18).

Look at how the people responded to Jeremiah’s preaching in verse 18. The first thing they said was they were going to make plots against him. We’ve already seen some people conspiring to kill Jeremiah in this book. Jeremiah’s enemies were brutal. Look at all we see in this section:

Plots against him (18)

Strike against him with our tongue (18)

Dug a pit (20)

Dug a pit (22)

Laid snares for his feet (22)

The intent of his enemies is to slander him, capture him and kill him.

They have no intention of obeying him. They say:

The law shall not perish from the priest

The counsel will not perish from the wise

The word will not perish from the prophet.

Jeremiah had told them all of these things would happen (8:8-10). When the deportation happened, their status would not matter. The Babylonians didn’t care what office they held. They would be killed or be prisoners in Babylon.

They attempted to discredit Jeremiah by slandering him and they had no intention of listening to anything he had to say. They responded to Jeremiah in this way because they wanted to live in sin. That is ultimately why everyone who rejects the preaching of God’s Word rejects it.

B. Jeremiah compares himself to the people (19-20).

Since the people won’t listen to Jeremiah, he asks the Lord to listen to him. He also wants the Lord to hear what his enemies are saying. They are saying they want Jeremiah dead. Jeremiah is saying “You heard that didn’t you Lord?”

Let’s look at how Jeremiah compares himself with his enemies.

He starts by asking the Lord “Should good be repaid with evil?”

Jeremiah has done good to the people because he is seeking their salvation. They have repaid him by seeking his life.

Jeremiah stood before the Lord to speak good for the people. This means he had been praying for the people. In fact, he had prayed so much for them the Lord told him to stop it! Jeremiah stood before the Lord like a mediator desiring the wrath of God be turned away from the nation.

Jeremiah wanted the people to live.

The people wanted Jeremiah to die.

There could not be a greater contrast.

C. Jeremiah prays a harsh prayer (21-23).

This is the harshest of all the prayers he has prayed so far. This isn’t a prayer against the entire nation. It is a prayer against the people who are plotting to kill him. Essentially, he is praying they will be overtaken by all that the Lord has promised will happen to the nation.

Deliver up their children to famine (21)

Give them over to the power of the sword (21)

Let their wives become childless and widowed (21)

May their men meet death by pestilence (21)

Their youths struck down by the sword in battle (21)

May a cry be heard from their houses (22)

Notice the end of verse 22, “When you bring the plunderers suddenly upon them”. This helps us understand the context of the prayer. All these things would happen when Babylon arrived. That’s already been promised by God in the book. Jeremiah is praying that his enemies will be overtaken when Babylon arrives. He is praying that they do not survive the siege and the invasion.

Verse 23 is the harshest part of the prayer. Jeremiah asks that the sins of the people not be forgiven and that the Lord deal with them in His wrath. His reasoning for this harsh prayer is found in the beginning of verse 23 “Yet You, O Lord, know all their plotting against me.”

It seems to me that this time Jeremiah has crossed the line in his prayer life. It is not wrong to pray for the justice of God. But to pray someone will not be forgiven is inexcusable. As we have seen there were times Jeremiah was overwhelmed with emotion and he said things he should not have said. I think this is another case of that.

Jeremiah continues to struggle with why the Lord will not remove his enemies. He looks ta them differently than he does the rest of backslidden Judah. He takes their threats personally.

When I think of this I am reminded of Jesus. Thank God He did not have the same mindset of Jeremiah. Jeremiah seemed to love almost everyone. Jesus does love us all. He prayed “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” We owe our salvation to that prayer.

Jeremiah seemed to forget the lesson at the potter’s house. The Lord took him there to show him that the potter can make something beautiful out of clay that deserves to be thrown away. The Lord can grant grace and forgiveness to a nation or a person if they will simply repent. Jeremiah needed patience. He also needed to see things from the Lord’s perspective. We are not the Potter. We don’t get to tell God what to do with the clay. It’s His clay. It’s His handiwork.