Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from Jer 18.1 and following. Indeed, a new teaching awaits Jeremiah in the potter’s house. The first vase he sees made is in the image of the people. Like the belt of Ch. 13, this vase was also spoiled, recognized good for nothing (Jer 13:1-11). Yes, Israel, and indeed all of humanity, is thus represented. The Divine Craftsman could do nothing with the first man he formed of clay. “They all made themselves useless together…” (Rom 3:9-26). Sin has ruined and corrupted the entire human race. But on the potter’s wheel, here the work resumes: a new vase is shaped “as it pleased the eyes of the potter to do”. This flawless vessel carries our thoughts on the second Man, in whom God has found his pleasure. According to God’s counsel, Christ came to replace adam’s failing race. But he is no longer alone. “If anyone is in Christ, it is a new creation” (2 Cor 5:14-21). By God’s grace, the redeemed can in turn become “a vessel of honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work” (2 Tim 2:19-21; Eph 2:4-10). The dialogue of versets 11 and 12 confirms the desperate state of the people and justifies their rejection as the spoiled vase of the potter. Then, with the clay of Israel’s spoiled vase, God can make another vase, but He will break the present vase.
Thus, he was ordered to go to a potter’s house and watch his work. The vase that Jeremiah sees shaped into clay is damaged; it didn’t go well. Then the clay was taken up and made in another container, as it seemed good for the potter to make it. Then came the message: “O house of Israel, can I not make you this potter?” said the Lord.
Behold, as the clay is in the hand of the potter, so you are in my hand, house of Israel. If the creature of dust can do as it pleases with clay, how much more the Sovereign God. This is what the Holy Spirit obviously uses in Rom 9:20. For if a nation is threatened with destruction and that nation turns to the Lord, it will repent of the evil pronounced upon it. This is fully illustrated in the case of Jonah’s prediction, so to speak given by God, of the overthrow of Nineveh. Nineveh repented and the judgment was not executed on this generation. But if the Lord has promised a good nation and this nation is doing harm to Him, He will repent of the good He promised them.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Jeremiah at the potter’s house:
- Divine inspiration
-The seventy ancients Nb 11:25 The Lord descended into the cloud, and spoke to Moses; he took from the spirit that was upon him, and put it upon the seventy elders. And as soon as the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied; but they did not continue.
-Balaam Nb 23:5 The Lord put words in Balaam’s mouth, and said, Go back to Balak, and you will speak like this.
David 2 Sam 23:2 The spirit of jehovah speaks through me, and his word is on my tongue.
-Micah 1 Kings 22:14 Micah answered: Jehovah is alive! I will announce what the Lord will tell me.
-Zechariah 2 Ch 24:20 Zechariah, son of the priest Jehojada, was clothed in the spirit of God; he came before the people and said, “Thus speaks God: Why do you transgress the commandments of jehovah? You will not prosper; for you have forsaken the Lord, and he will abandon you.
Jeremiah Jr. 1:9 Then the Lord stretched out his hand, and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, Behold, I put my words in your mouth.
Ezekiel Ez 3:17 Son of man, I establish you as a sentinel on the house of Israel. You will listen to the word that comes out of my mouth, and you will warn them from me.
- Obedience, examples
Noah Gen 6:22 Noah did: he carried out all that God had commanded him.
Abraham Gen 22:2-3 God said: Take your son, your only one, the one you love, Isaac; go to the land of Morija, and there offer him as a holocaust on one of the mountains that I will tell you. 3 Abraham got up early in the morning, sealed his donkey, and took with him two servants and his son Isaac. He split wood for the Holocaust, and left to go to the place God had told him.
-Betsaleel Ex 36:1 Betsaleel, Oholiab, and all skillful men, in whom Jehovah had put wisdom and intelligence to know and to do, performed the works intended for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that Jehovah had commanded
Joshua Joshua 11:15 Joshua carried out The Lord’s commands to Moses, his servant, and from Moses to Joshua; he neglected nothing of all that Jehovah had commanded Moses.
-Hezekiah 2 Kings 18:6 He was attached to jehovah, he did not turn away from him, and he kept the commandments that Jehovah had prescribed to Moses.
Joseph and Mary Luke 2:39 When they had done all that the Lord’s law commanded, Joseph and Mary returned to Galilee, to Nazareth, their city.
-Paul Acts 26:19 Therefore, King Agrippa, I have not resisted the heavenly vision:
Christ Hb 5:7 It was he who, in the days of his flesh, who presented with great cries and tears prayers and supplications to him who could save him from death, and having been answered because of his piety,
- Sovereignty of God
Dt 4:39 Know, therefore, on this day, and hold in your heart that Jehovah is God, up in heaven and below on earth, and that there is no other. Ps 29:10 The Lord was on His throne during the flood; The Lord on His throne reigns eternally. Ps 135:6 Whatever Jehovah wants, He does, In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all abysses. Dn 4:32 You will be driven out of the midst of men, thou shalt have thy abode with the beasts of the fields, thou shalt be given like oxen of grass to eat; and seven times shall pass upon you, until thou shalt know that the Most High dominions over the reign of men and gives it to whomever he pleases. Mt 6:13 do not induce us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For it is to you that the reign, power and glory belong in all the centuries. Amen! Acts 17:24 he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, he who gives to all life, breath, and all things. Rom 9:19 You will say to me: Why does he blame again? For who is it that resists his will?
- Repentance, Promises to Those Who Repent
Answer to prayer 2 Ch 7:14 if my people, on whom my name is invoked, humble themselves, pray, and seek my face, and turn away from their evil ways, I will answer them from heaven, forgive them for their sin, and heal their country.
-Forgiveness of sins Isa 55:7 Let the wicked abandon his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; May he return to the Lord, who will have mercy on him, to our God, who never tires of forgiving.
-Life Ez 18:21 If the wicked man returns from all the sins he has committed, if he observes all my laws and practices righteousness and righteousness, he will live, he will not die.
-Comfort Mt 5:4 Blessed are the debonair, for they will inherit the earth!
-Gift of the Holy Ghost Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
From all the above, we note that the action of the potter is used to convey a great lesson, the lesson of God’s sovereignty, to do what he wants, but always in perfect justice. For if Israel had then acknowledged sin and guilt and turned to the Lord, He would have acted in sovereign grace to them. Their response was, “There is no hope; but we will walk according to our own designs, and each will make the imagination of his evil heart. “What depravity and wicked audacity these words reveal! They refused to believe the Lord’s message: They spread the hand that would tear them out of the fire. They recognized the evil heart and deliberately declared that they would continue to despise Jehovah. And is it better to profess Christianity today? The Lord’s response, a response of goodness and long-suffering follows. For they revolted against Jehovah’s messenger; they hated him. They beat him with their tongues, slandered him, made false accusations against him. But the man of God does not take up their arguments. Like Hezekiah when the enemy insulted him, Jeremiah turned to the Lord. He tells the Lord all about it, and then he prays that the judgment will fall on them. Here again, we must consider these words prophetically. Such expressions as used here by the prophet will come, during the great tribulation, from the lips of the rest of Israel, which suffers from their enemies and rightly calls for the vengeance of heaven, which will fall on these enemies when Jehovah, our Lord, manifests himself in glory. May the mighty hand of God watch over all of us.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the avenger of blood.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.