The Lesson Of The Patient Potter (Jeremiah 18:1-10).
In one of the most beautiful illustrations in the Old Testament YHWH illustrates His readiness ever to show mercy in the lesson of the patient potter. It is a real life parable which has a lesson for us all. In it the potter is at work on his wheel manipulating the clay in order to turn it into a fine vessel, and when the clay fails fully to respond ‘and is marred in the hand of the potter', he does not throw it away but patiently ‘makes it again' until it becomes what he wants it to be.
The potter represents God as the One Who act in sovereign power, and the clay represents God's people, a clay which so often resists the work of the Potter. And the final lesson is that if men repent and seek to do good, then any evil He has purposed against them will not come about, whilst if those on Whom He intends to show favour turn back to disobedience and evil ways He will change His mind about any good that He intended to do towards them. It was a warning to ‘the house of Israel' (Israel/Judah) of the opportunity open to them to repent, and of what would follow if they did not repent.
‘The word which came to Jeremiah from YHWH, saying,'
Once again it is emphasised that the word which Jeremiah speaks is the word of YHWH.
“Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words.”
One day YHWH came to him and told him to go down to the potter's house where He had a lesson to teach him, and a new word to speak to him. Jeremiah must have been somewhat intrigued as to what YHWH could say to him at the Potter's house which he could not say elsewhere, but being obedient he did as he was told. It is a reminder to us that while we may well not always understand why God tells us to do certain things, it is wise to do as He requests.
The idea of YHWH as the Potter was not a new one. The germ of the idea is found in Genesis 2:7 where YHWH God shaped man from the dust of the ground. This idea was then expanded on in Job 10:8-9; Job 33:6 and came to full fruit in Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 45:9; Isaiah 64:8, where it stresses God's right to do what He would with His own..
‘Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was fashioning a work on the wheels (literally ‘the two stones').'
So Jeremiah went down to the potter's house and watched him at work on his ‘wheels' as he fashioned the clay. The potter's wheels consisted of one wheel near the ground which could be turned with the potter's feet, which had an attached shaft going upwards to another wheel, which resulted in the upper wheel also turning in unison with the lower wheel. The clay was then put on the spinning upper wheel and shaped by the potter's hands as it went round and round.
‘And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.'
And as Jeremiah watched the potter at work he saw how he took the wet clay in his hands and sought to shape it on the spinning wheel. But it was soon clear to him that all was not well, for the clay was not responding to the potter's expert hands, with the result that the vessel ended up something of a messy mass. What then did the potter do? Did he toss the clay away in disgust? No, he patiently brought the clay together again, and then refashioned it into another vessel, producing from the clay a vessel which was in accordance with his wishes.
‘Then the word of YHWH came to me, saying,'
And it was through what Jeremiah had seen in the house of the potter that the word of YHWH came to him.
“O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says YHWH. “Behold, as the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.”
The lesson was that the Potter was YHWH, and that ‘the house of Israel' were like the clay in the Potter's hands. And the point was that He wanted to shape them into something that could be usable in His service. But He then goes on to stress that this will only be possible if they respond to His will.
“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom,
To pluck up and to break down and to destroy it,
If that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turn from their evil,
I will relent of the evil that I thought to do to them.”
The first example is of a kingdom which YHWH has determined in His sovereignty (it is the result of His sovereign word) to ‘pluck up, break down and destroy' because of its sinfulness. Note how this connects with His words in the first part of Jeremiah 1:10 where Jeremiah was to be the prophetic instrument through whom He would do this. He is now therefore fulfilling His word. And the promise is that if that kingdom will begin to respond to His hands and will turn from its evil path then He will relent of the evil that He had intended to do to its people. He will ‘make them again'.
“And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom,
To build and to plant it,
If they do what is evil in my sight, so that they obey not my voice,
Then I will repent of the good, by which I said I would benefit them.”
The second example is of a nation which He has determined to build up and plant (tying in with the last part of Jeremiah 1:10). And the warning is that if this nation does not respond to His nurturing, but instead does evil in His sight and is disobedient, then He will change His mind about the good that He had intended to do to them.
Both examples had a lesson for ‘the house of Israel'. Initially they had been the nation that He had intended to build up and to plant. But almost the whole nation had turned to evil ways and had been disobedient. Thus YHWH had changed His mind about the good that He had intended to do to them, and had now determined to pluck them up, break them down and destroy them, apart of course from the believing few. But He was giving the majority one last chance. If they now turned from their evil ways and once more became obedient then He would ‘make them again' into what He wanted them to be. It was an offer of full mercy and forgiveness on the condition of repentance.
It will be noted that although God ‘changes His mind' in both examples, it is not as a result of feeling that He has made the wrong decision, nor an indication that He is not on overall control, but is as a gracious response to man's change of mind. By repenting (or otherwise) man can determine what action God will take towards him, because God is consistent and in His sovereignty takes note of it and shapes His plan accordingly. God thus acts consistently and sovereignly in all cases, showing mercy to the repentant and bringing judgment on the unrepentant while at the same time bringing about His will.
We see a later fulfilment of this in the words of Jesus in Matthew 21:43, ‘Truly I tell you, the Kingly Rule of God will be taken away from you, and will be given to a nation bringing forth its fruits.' The Kingly Rule of God would be given to the believing remnant, who would eventually become a great multitude forming God's new people, while the remainder would be cast off.