Saturday, July 4
Read Jeremiah 18
Think About It:
No doubt Jeremiah had passed the potter’s house many times, but this time God had a special message for him that, after he preached it, would put him in jail. When you follow the Lord, you never know what will happen to you next.
The potter sat before two parallel stone wheels that were joined by a shaft. He turned the bottom wheel with his feet and worked the clay on the top wheel as the wheel turned. As Jeremiah watched, he saw that the clay resisted the potter’s hand so that the vessel was ruined, but the potter patiently kneaded the clay and made another vessel.
The interpretation of the image was national, relating to the house of Israel (verses 6-10), but the application was individual (verses 11-17), calling for a response from the people of Judah and Jerusalem. It also calls for personal response from us today. As the potter has power over the clay, so God has sovereign authority over the nations. This doesn’t mean that God is irresponsible and arbitrary in what He does, even though He is free to act as He pleases. His actions are always consistent with his nature, which is holy, just, wise, and loving.
(Verses 11-17) Nations are made up of individuals, and individuals have the ability to receive God’s Word or reject it. Unlike the clay on the potter’s wheel, we have the ability to resist. God uses many different hands to mold our lives – our parents, siblings, teachers, ministers, authors – and we can fight against them. But if we do, we are fighting against God. God announced that He was framing evil against the kingdom of Judah. If the people would repent, He would deliver them. But the people were so chained to their sins that they chose to follow their own evil plans. They would rather worship idols and suffer for it, than serve the True and Living God and enjoy His blessings.
Proud sinners (verse 18) don’t enjoy hearing about God’s Sovereignty or the threat of impending judgment. They think that by silencing the messenger they will silence the Lord. Their argument was, “We have plenty of priests, prophets, and elders, so we can do without Jeremiah!”
This is the fifth of Jeremiah’s private “laments” to the Lord concerning his situation and his ministry (verses 19-23). His words seem terribly harsh to us and unlike the spirit of Jesus, but keep in mind that Jeremiah was a divinely appointed prophet who represented God to the nations. Those who opposed him were opposing God, and Jeremiah asked God to deal with them.
Unrighteous anger takes matters into its own hands and seeks to destroy the offender, while righteous anger turns the matter over to God and seeks to help the offended.
Family Time:
- God is often called the potter. We are the clay that is formed and shaped by the potter. Look up a video of a potter’s wheel being used. This will really help you see how God forms us.
- Read verse 4. If WE are the vessels made of clay and GOD is the potter, how could we become marred? (marred: spoiled, of poor quality)
- How might God reshape you right now like the potter reshapes clay?
