God Speaks Through Clay

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Usually when I pick up a Bible, it is to research a particular verse or topic, or to read what goes along with the devotion for the day. Occasionally, I will pick one up, close my eyes, open the Bible, and point to a particular verse. By using this "surprise" method, I sometimes come across just what God wants me to see at that moment. Such is the case with the Scripture for this week's blog. When I tried it this week, I pointed to Jeremiah 18:1, so I started reading through the whole chapter. In this chapter, God is giving Jeremiah another word to Israel and God begins by sending Jeremiah down to the local potter's shop. God tells him that once he is there, God will reveal His word to Jeremiah. So Jeremiah saunters on down to the potter's wheel and notices that the potter is making something. He begins to watch and observe. Let's compare here several versions of the same verse that describe what Jeremiah observes (vs. 4):

"And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape." (CEV)

"But the jar that he was forming didn’t turn out as he wished, so he kneaded it into a lump and started again" (Living)

"And as I watched, the clay vessel in his hands became flawed and unusable. So the potter started again with the same clay. He crushed and squeezed and shaped it into another vessel that was to his liking." (The Voice)

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While I enjoy all three of these versions, I like The Voice best in this case. This version adds some additional comments (italicized words) to passages to help them be a little more understandable. In this case, they have added the words unusable, crushed, and squeezed and this formed a meaningful picture for me. 

We have often heard the idea that God is the potter and we are the clay in His hands, but as I really read these verses, especially verse 4, God began to reveal a little bit more. Not only does God mold and make us as a potter makes a pot, but just as a potter does, God must crush and squeeze us (or allow us to be) and cause us to become unusable before we are fit to be re-made. Maybe this involves changing our attitudes, changing our hearts, changing our circumstances or changing something else. Whatever that change may be, it causes us to become pliable again and allows us to be molded into something usable. Looking at the CEV and Living Bible versions of this verse, it also reveals that perhaps when we are headed in the wrong direction, we didn't turn out the way He wished, or did not take the shape He wanted, it was at this time that the Master Potter crushed and squeezed us and we became unusable for a time, allowing Him to re-mold and re-make us into a usable vessel once more.

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The other point that God wanted to make to Jeremiah and Israel through this passage is more clearly eluded to in the CEV version above.  The fact that the potter would change his mind was something God wanted Israel to know. God, as the Master Potter, can and will, change His mind from time to time. Further in Jeremiah 18, God explains how He deals with some of the neighboring people. (Jonah would have benefitted from reading this passage). God sometimes changes His mind in how he deals with people. Verses 6-10 say, "People of Israel, I, the Lord, have power over you, just as a potter has power over clay. If I threaten to uproot and shatter an evil nation and that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind. If I promise to make a nation strong, but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all." He wanted the people of Israel to understand why He may decide NOT to destroy a nation or why He may be inclined TO destroy a nation. 

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With this in mind, in verse 11, God lays down His next announcement, "So listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! I have decided to strike you with disaster, and I won’t change my mind unless you stop sinning and start living right." Rather than belabor a long story, Let's cut to the end. Israel (at least in chapter 18), does not make efforts to change and in fact, look for ways to kill God's messenger, Jeremiah. I suspect Israel is about to be crushed, squeezed, and rendered unusable. Read Jeremiah 19 and beyond for the rest of the story.
So, what points can we take away from Jeremiah 18? First, understand that God is the Master Potter and we are the clay. God will mold us into His desired creation. If we mess up, we may be crushed and squeezed and become unusable (by God) until we repent and he remakes the vessel. Second, if we are not Christians, we are headed for disaster; an everlasting sorrow, guilt, and sadness once we die our earthly death. God has said that we are not worthy to spend life with Him on our own graces. However, if we try to stop sinning AND accept that Jesus took our penalty and created a worthy pathway for us, God will change His mind and save us from eternal misery. 

For more information about this Worthy Pathway that Jesus created, please contact me, or go here: Peace with God