Jer 18:7-8 | KingComments | STEP | Jeremiah 18-20 belong together. In these chapters we have pictorial teaching about a potter and his workpiece, a vessel. This imagery is used more often in Scripture ( ; ). Jeremiah receives a command from the LORD through the word that comes to him ( ). He is sent to the potter’s house. That house is in the lowlands, for he is to go down there. It is not a potter’s house, but the potter’s house. It is a particular house known to Jeremiah. There are potters in the service of the king. They enjoy his protection. In the house where the king’s authority is and his protection is enjoyed, vessels are made ( ). Potters are held in high esteem in those days. In the potter’s house, the LORD will let Jeremiah hear His words ( ). Jeremiah obeys and goes to the potter’s house. When he gets there, he describes what he sees ( ). Before he is told the words of the LORD, he first takes in what he sees. It is likely that Jeremiah does know how a potter works. Yet he must see the work done up close and fill his mind with it, so that from a renewed acquaintance with it he can deliver his message. Likewise, we must always be fresh in the application of everyday things as we bring the message of God’s Word. He sees the potter busy making something on the wheel. These are two discs connected by a spindle. They are set in motion by setting the lower wheel in motion with the foot. On the upper wheel, which rotates simultaneously, a lump of clay is worked. Jeremiah sees the potter at work. Then he describes what the potter does to a vessel that is spoiled ( ). The potter’s hand has worked the clay, but the result is not good in his eyes. He does not throw the clay away, but makes another vessel from the same piece of clay, which is good in his eyes. The potter works according to a plan. He has something in mind to make that meets the goal he has set himself. If the pot does not meet it, he makes another vessel from the same lump of clay. That is his freedom as a potter. He can do with the clay whatever he wants. The point is not that the vessel is not beautiful, but that it does not meet the goal. We can think of the wheel as the circumstances of our lives. With these, God, the great Potter, forms us. We are like the clay in His hand. We can have joy or sorrow, wealth or poverty, prosperity or loss. All are touches of His hand by which we are formed. Sorrow is the pressure of His hand so that He may come to His goal with us. Thus we are formed like earthen vessels ( ). When Jeremiah has seen the potter busy and has noted what he does with the clay when the vessel is spoiled, the word of the LORD comes to him ( ). The LORD, through Jeremiah, addresses Israel directly. In what He says, His unquestionable right to and His irresistible power over peoples and kingdoms are evident (cf. ; cf. ). He points out that as the sovereign Former He can do to them what the potter did to the vessel ( ; ; ; ). Israel is in His hand as the clay is in the hand of the potter (cf. ). The main idea is that the potter has complete power over the clay. We also see here both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. We humans cannot combine the two, God can. We err if we think that everything in God’s plan is immutably fixed. He can go back on a purpose if He is given cause to do so. For example, He tells the sinner that His anger is on him. But if the sinner repents, He turns His anger away from him. He is also a God Who answers prayers and thereby comes to a change of His original purpose. However, we also err when we think that nothing is fixed with God and that He lets Himself be led by the current situation. He has control over everything and nothing is out of His hands. We must let God be Who He is: God; and we must remain aware of who we are: puny, little creatures who cannot call God to account ( ). The example of the potter does not mean that the LORD did not work skillfully. Israel is not a spoiled pot because the LORD is an incompetent potter. The clay has become unsound. The vessel has come forth from His hand well, but has rebelled against its Maker. We should not extend the picture and say that the people, like the clay, are passive. Through repentance a person can become a new vessel. Therefore, the LORD must pronounce upon that people and that kingdom, which is Israel, that He will uproot it and pull it down and destroy it ( ). Israel has forsaken the LORD and no longer fulfills His purpose. However, there is a way back, there is a way to become a vessel again that fulfills His purpose and that is the way of turning from evil ( ; cf. ). When the people turns from their evil, the LORD will relent concerning the calamity He planned to bring on them. Then the Maker will change His mind and build and plant that people and kingdom ( ). Then He will make a vessel out of that same piece of clay to His glory. Thus He spares Nineveh when the city repents, after He has made her announce judgment. But if the people do what is evil in His sight by not listening to His voice, then that good will not come ( ). The potter’s house is a house of comfort for Jeremiah. There he sees in picture what the LORD will do to Israel. He is discouraged by what he has had to announce about Israel, but now he is told that the LORD can make another vessel out of the spoiled Israel that does fulfill His purpose. In , the assignment for Jeremiah comes in connection with what he has seen and what the LORD has said about it in connection with Israel. He is to go to Judah and Jerusalem with a message from the LORD and tell them of the calamity the LORD is fashioning against them and the plan He is devising against them. The word “fashioning” in Hebrew is jasar . From that the word joser , which is potter, is derived. The imagery continues in these words. On the announcement of the calamity, Jeremiah must let the call to repentance follow. The people must repent of their evil ways, not continue in them, but turn toward God. They must also prove their repentance by making good their ways and deeds, that is, start doing in their comings and goings what the LORD asks of them. God’s will over Jerusalem is a will for good, for salvation. He wants nothing more than for them to repent, so that He does not have to carry out His decree of disaster and misery. We hear here what the heart of God is after. The reaction of the people is astonishing ( ). There is not just indifference, but a deliberate choice of evil (cf. ). They point out to Jeremiah that he should not count on them to repent. Any hope of that they declare as futile. They have their own plans. The plans of God do not interest them. The people live for themselves and according to their own stubborn, wicked hearts. For a people with such an attitude, there is indeed no hope.

‏ Jeremiah 18:7-8

Introduction

Jeremiah 18-20 belong together. In these chapters we have pictorial teaching about a potter and his workpiece, a vessel. This imagery is used more often in Scripture (Isa 29:16 ; Isa 64:8; Rom 9:21).

The Message of the Potter

Jeremiah receives a command from the LORD through the word that comes to him (Jer 18:1). He is sent to the potter’s house. That house is in the lowlands, for he is to go down there. It is not a potter’s house, but the potter’s house. It is a particular house known to Jeremiah. There are potters in the service of the king. They enjoy his protection. In the house where the king’s authority is and his protection is enjoyed, vessels are made (1Chr 4:22-23). Potters are held in high esteem in those days.

In the potter’s house, the LORD will let Jeremiah hear His words (Jer 18:2). Jeremiah obeys and goes to the potter’s house. When he gets there, he describes what he sees (Jer 18:3). Before he is told the words of the LORD, he first takes in what he sees. It is likely that Jeremiah does know how a potter works. Yet he must see the work done up close and fill his mind with it, so that from a renewed acquaintance with it he can deliver his message. Likewise, we must always be fresh in the application of everyday things as we bring the message of God’s Word.

He sees the potter busy making something on the wheel. These are two discs connected by a spindle. They are set in motion by setting the lower wheel in motion with the foot. On the upper wheel, which rotates simultaneously, a lump of clay is worked.

Jeremiah sees the potter at work. Then he describes what the potter does to a vessel that is spoiled (Jer 18:4). The potter’s hand has worked the clay, but the result is not good in his eyes. He does not throw the clay away, but makes another vessel from the same piece of clay, which is good in his eyes.

The potter works according to a plan. He has something in mind to make that meets the goal he has set himself. If the pot does not meet it, he makes another vessel from the same lump of clay. That is his freedom as a potter. He can do with the clay whatever he wants. The point is not that the vessel is not beautiful, but that it does not meet the goal.

We can think of the wheel as the circumstances of our lives. With these, God, the great Potter, forms us. We are like the clay in His hand. We can have joy or sorrow, wealth or poverty, prosperity or loss. All are touches of His hand by which we are formed. Sorrow is the pressure of His hand so that He may come to His goal with us. Thus we are formed like earthen vessels (2Cor 4:7-8).

When Jeremiah has seen the potter busy and has noted what he does with the clay when the vessel is spoiled, the word of the LORD comes to him (Jer 18:5). The LORD, through Jeremiah, addresses Israel directly. In what He says, His unquestionable right to and His irresistible power over peoples and kingdoms are evident (cf. Job 12:23; cf. Isa 40:15).

He points out that as the sovereign Former He can do to them what the potter did to the vessel (Jer 18:6; Isa 64:8; Isa 29:16 ; Isa 45:9; Rom 9:20-23). Israel is in His hand as the clay is in the hand of the potter (cf. Job 10:9). The main idea is that the potter has complete power over the clay. We also see here both the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. We humans cannot combine the two, God can.

We err if we think that everything in God’s plan is immutably fixed. He can go back on a purpose if He is given cause to do so. For example, He tells the sinner that His anger is on him. But if the sinner repents, He turns His anger away from him. He is also a God Who answers prayers and thereby comes to a change of His original purpose.

However, we also err when we think that nothing is fixed with God and that He lets Himself be led by the current situation. He has control over everything and nothing is out of His hands. We must let God be Who He is: God; and we must remain aware of who we are: puny, little creatures who cannot call God to account (Rom 9:19-21).

The example of the potter does not mean that the LORD did not work skillfully. Israel is not a spoiled pot because the LORD is an incompetent potter. The clay has become unsound. The vessel has come forth from His hand well, but has rebelled against its Maker. We should not extend the picture and say that the people, like the clay, are passive. Through repentance a person can become a new vessel.

Therefore, the LORD must pronounce upon that people and that kingdom, which is Israel, that He will uproot it and pull it down and destroy it (Jer 18:7). Israel has forsaken the LORD and no longer fulfills His purpose. However, there is a way back, there is a way to become a vessel again that fulfills His purpose and that is the way of turning from evil (Jer 18:8; cf. 2Chr 7:14).

When the people turns from their evil, the LORD will relent concerning the calamity He planned to bring on them. Then the Maker will change His mind and build and plant that people and kingdom (Jer 18:9). Then He will make a vessel out of that same piece of clay to His glory. Thus He spares Nineveh when the city repents, after He has made her announce judgment. But if the people do what is evil in His sight by not listening to His voice, then that good will not come (Jer 18:10).

The potter’s house is a house of comfort for Jeremiah. There he sees in picture what the LORD will do to Israel. He is discouraged by what he has had to announce about Israel, but now he is told that the LORD can make another vessel out of the spoiled Israel that does fulfill His purpose.

In Jer 18:11, the assignment for Jeremiah comes in connection with what he has seen and what the LORD has said about it in connection with Israel. He is to go to Judah and Jerusalem with a message from the LORD and tell them of the calamity the LORD is fashioning against them and the plan He is devising against them. The word “fashioning” in Hebrew is jasar. From that the word joser, which is potter, is derived. The imagery continues in these words.

On the announcement of the calamity, Jeremiah must let the call to repentance follow. The people must repent of their evil ways, not continue in them, but turn toward God. They must also prove their repentance by making good their ways and deeds, that is, start doing in their comings and goings what the LORD asks of them. God’s will over Jerusalem is a will for good, for salvation. He wants nothing more than for them to repent, so that He does not have to carry out His decree of disaster and misery. We hear here what the heart of God is after.

The reaction of the people is astonishing (Jer 18:12). There is not just indifference, but a deliberate choice of evil (cf. Jer 2:25 ; Jer 6:16). They point out to Jeremiah that he should not count on them to repent. Any hope of that they declare as futile. They have their own plans. The plans of God do not interest them. The people live for themselves and according to their own stubborn, wicked hearts. For a people with such an attitude, there is indeed no hope.