Jeremiah 18 contains a portion of the prophet’s ministry that should be very instructive to us. He is told to visit the potter’s house where God will speak to him.

We tend to think that God talking to us might be a happy occasion, but it is important to remember that the prophets were outcasts from their own people as a result of the message they bore. A quick reflection on Jonah helps us realize that it wasn’t a comfortable thing to be called as God’s mouthpiece.

Faithfully, Jeremiah heeds the call and what he experiences is of no small consequence. Jeremiah watches as the potter attempts to make a vessel but the clay collapses in his hands and he begins anew with another vessel. The problem was not the skill of the potter but the material with which he was working.

Then God confronted Israel through Jeremiah saying:

"Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it. Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will think better of the good with which I had promised to bless it." (Jer. 18:6-10 NASB)

The message of the prophets was two-fold: condemnation and consolation. Here, we get a glimpse of both. God makes it clear that He will not regard an evil nation. Repentance could lead to restoration, but continued rebellion would result in the loss of His promised blessing.

God then summarizes their disobedience and reveals not only His plan to scatter them but to turn His back on them "in the day of their calamity." In arrogance, the people respond, "Come and let us devise plans against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest, nor counsel to the sage, nor the divine word to the prophet! Come on and let us strike at him with our tongue, and let us give no heed to any of his words."

Jeremiah responds to their arrogance with an imprecatory prayer concluding with, "Do not forgive their iniquity or blot out their sin from Your sight. But may they be overthrown before You; Deal with them in the time of Your anger!"

That’s pretty stout! We don’t hear much about this kind of prayer these days and I won’t get sidetracked with it here, but do be aware that there is yet room for it in our world today. Asking God to deal with His enemies is always in order!

In Chapter 19, God has Jeremiah buy a jar from the potter and sends him to the potsherd gate where he will be given a message for the people. You have to get the full picture here. People are already mad at him, and God orders Jeremiah to go out and confront them with words which he will be given. That’s a pretty terrifying scenario!

Jeremiah again proclaims the coming calamity which climaxes with:

"I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. I will also make this city a desolation and an object of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its disasters. I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them."

This is more than just an ugly picture. It represents the complete overthrow of the Jewish world and they knew it. Following the pronouncement of the coming judgment, God orders Jeremiah to break the jar before the people and say, "Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘Just so will I break this people and this city, even as one breaks a potter’s vessel, which cannot again be repaired....’"

Here the prophetic word becomes most telling. No longer are we at the potter’s house where the pliable clay can be remade. The potsherd gate led from the city to the valley of Ben-hinnom (Gehenna). Here the fired clay of Old Covenant Israel, permanently set in its way, is to be broken and cast off. The significance of the moment must have been chilling.

Nevertheless, their judgment is not immediate. In Chapter 20, Jeremiah laments that God has made a laughingstock out of him. He proclaims the coming wrath, God delays, and the people, ever more overcome by their rebellion mock the prophet. His experience as well as that of the other prophets help us to understand their cry, "How long, O Lord, holy and true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" (Rev. 6:10)

It would be over about 700 years before Jeremiah was vindicated. He died having never seen the day, but his words were not forgotten. Fast forward to Romans 9 and see how Paul recalls this prophecy and its implication in verses 20-21, "The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?"

Anyone who thinks Paul just pulled this example at random needs to remember that he was well educated in the law and the prophets. Considering the context should convince us that this is no random choice of a metaphor.

Paul begins Romans by announcing that the gospel message is for everyone and demonstrating that everyone needs it. He establishes the fact that the Old Covenant could not and did not bring righteousness. Righteousness came by faith, not obedience to the Law. The Law merely demonstrated how utterly evil mankind is. It was a covenant they couldn’t keep. God would certainly have honored His promises had they kept the covenant, but He knew from the beginning they would not.

Nevertheless, He created Old Covenant Israel as a vessel for destruction and dishonor that His promise to Abraham might be fulfilled. It seems clear that this is the image Paul is drawing from with the reference to the potter.

As Paul continues in Romans 11, he makes it clear that Jews who repent can be grafted back into the vine and that anyone who does not remain faithful to the end will be cut off.

By now, we should understand that the end in view is not the "end of time" or the "end of the planet earth" but the end of Old Covenant Judaism. Anyone who did not repent prior to AD 70 suffered the wrath of God. It would be an interesting study to see if any unbelieving Jew came to faith after AD 70. If you know the answer to that musing, share it with the rest of us.

Some understand these passages to teach that God arbitrarily chooses individuals to honor or dishonor. That seems to take the message here beyond the context. Peter proclaims in Acts 10 that "God is not a respecter of persons" as the KJV has it. The NASB is clearer in stating that He shows no partiality. To suggest that He does is to question the attributes of God as they are revealed in scripture. God is limited only by Himself. I see no compromise of His sovereignty if He has chosen to allow individuals to choose or reject Him based on the revelation they have received.

Understanding the significance of the events in Jeremiah should help us better understand the imagery employed by Paul in Romans 9.

© Copyright 2003 - Jim Wade

Updated 12/08/03