The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. 3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. 5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel. 7At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
God’s Power Over Israel
The potter Jeremiah is watching is a symbol. God is the potter and Israel is the vessel. As Jeremiah watched the potter work, the pot he was throwing on the wheels was marred, something got out of balance, or collapsed, or a fault was found in the clay. When that happened, the potter started over and remade the pot. He would beat it back down to a lump and then begin again to build it up into the vessel he desired it to become.
God then give Jeremiah this message to Israel in s 8-11, Jeremiah 18:8-10 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. 9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; 10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
In this living sermon, we see the sovereignty of God over the Israel and all the nations of the world. God, the Bible tells, us is sovereign. That means that God will exercise His absolute right to do all things according to his own good pleasure.
Daniel the prophet in Babylon tells Nebuchadnezzar the King he will be struck mad and live as an animal by the hand of God so that he might learn who truly is the ruler of all. In Daniel 4:35 we read the understanding of the King after God returns his sanity, “and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
God does what He wills, but His will is always just, benevolent and wise. God’s will is always what is best for us and all creation because He is just and loving, our Creator.
Paul says in Romans 11:33-36 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Shaped by Our Sovereign God
God is Sovereign over the nations and kingdoms of the world and He is also Sovereign over us. God is our omnipotent, omniscient Creator. He made us in His image and when sin entered into the world at Adam’s sin that image was marred. God through Jesus’s substitutionary death upon the cross redeemed us and remade us spiritually. That remaking, that process is called sanctification, it begins at our salvation and it continues throughout our lives and one day it will end with our homegoing to heaven. In the meantime, in our lifetime, the process of God reworking and remaking us, like the potter, goes on. And it is our choice whether God must use harsh and gentle means to shape us into a vessel fit for His service and blessings.
The Shaping by God’s Hands
Shattered - Before the clay can be made into a useful vessel it is just hard dry rock. It must be beaten fine with a hammer so that it can be used. Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.
God’s hammer is His Word, our Holy Bible and He uses it to shatter our hard hearts. He shatters our ideas, our plans, our will and turns our rights into dust. He does this to bring us to a place where our lives can then be worked by His gentle, powerful and loving hands.
Sprinkled - The potter then takes that pulverized, dry clay and kneades into it pure, clean water. The water is what brings the clay to life, enabling it to be worked by the potter, made into a vessel of his design.
In us, God takes our old dry life, that has been shattered by His word and then with the water of the Holy Spirit, He brings us to eternal life. John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. Isaiah 44:3 For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:
Shaped - As the potter spins the pot upon the wheel, his hands are constantly working the clay. Feeling for hard spots, dry spots or foreign material that has no place in the pot. If he finds it he either applies more water to get rid of the dry spots or he removes the hard, dry areas they have no place in the pot and he remove them from the clay. Sometimes the flaw is only on the surface, sometimes it requires probing down into the very core of the clay. Sometimes it requires the pot to be completely remade in order to be rid of the flaw.
As God works in our life, sin, weakness, fear, stubbornness, jealousy, and all manner of other flaws and weakness will become apparent. God again applies His word and His Holy Spirit as the potter would apply tools and water to soften and work the clay. If in His working of us He finds those things which should not be in us, he removes them. If he finds sinful habits, anger, bitterness, harshness, immorality, laziness, unfaithfulness or anything else that should not be in a vessel fit for God’s service, He begins to work in that area of our life. That flaw or sin, may be near the surface and easily dealt with or it may be deep with our character, but God never stops probing trying to rid His vessels of those things which could make them unfit for Him to use.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
Sovereign Design - As the potter works upon the wheel, he has in mind what he will make of the clay of the shapeless worthless clay. It may be a vase, or cup, or a bowl, only the potter knows how he will make the shapeless clay into a vessel or worth and beauty.
As God works in our lives, He also has a plan in mind. Some are being fashioned for one task and some for others. Some are being prepared to go to the furthest ends of the earth, others for service right here. Some are being prepared to lead churches, others to lead families, others to lead friends to Christ, but all are being formed by God’s hands with His purpose in mind.
Ephesians 1:11-12 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ
To be what God wants us to be, to be fit for His service, to be used of Him and be blessed by Him, then we must be willing to let God work, and shape us as He sees fit, knowing that He is made us, loved us, saved us and prepared an eternal home for us. He is working out His design for us and it is the best thing I can be.
In God’s word we see God shaping of nations, of history and of his servants. Peter, Andrew, James, and John shaped by God’s from the clay of simple fishermen to His apostles that changed the world by their preaching of the Gospel. Saul the Pharisee and persecutor of the Lord’s church is transformed into Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles.
We see this in modern times as well. Charles Spurgeon was a nominal Congregational church member when he heard the Gospel and God shaped him into one of the most influential Baptist preachers of all time. DL Moody was a successful manufacturer of boots and shoes when God touched his heart and made him into the great evangelist of the 1800s. W A Criswell was a country boy, the son of a cowboy / barber. Saved at 10, he became the pastor of 1st Baptist Church in Dallas and long before Dallas was called America’s team, WA Criswell was America’s pastor.
In God’s sovereign design we have people like Fanny J. Crosby the poverty ridden, blind hymn writer. We have the depressed and suicidal William Cowper who God used to write some of the most touching hymns we still sing. Hymns like “There is a fountain filled with blood” and even helping John Newton a former slaver trader to write “Amazing Grace.” God’s hands were on Oswald Chambers the Baptist preacher and writer who died as a chaplain in WWI. Only his 30s of the flu, he left behind his wife and young daughter. God’s hands were on his wife, Biddy, who took all her notes of her husband’s lessons and sermons and typed them into the devotional book “My Utmost For His Highest.”
Oswald in his writings said this about God’s working and shaping us, “The tendency is strong to say, "O God won't be so stern as to expect me to give up that!" but he will; "He won't expect me to walk in the light so that I have nothing to hide," but he will; "He won't expect me to draw on his grace for everything," but he will. - Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
Our Creator has a design for the nations, kingdoms and for us and it is the best for all, but included in God’s will is man’s free will. God does not make puppets or robots. He made man in His image and that image included and still includes the ability to choose even against the good and benevolent will of God.
