At The Pottter's House

September 28, 2014

At The Potter’s House

Jeremiah 18:1-11 (also 18:12-19:15)     NOTES NOT EDITED

SIS— When we surrender to God’s will for our lives He shapes us into beautiful, useful vessels fit for His service.

This morning we are going to visit the Potter.  Join me as we read this story together:  Jeremiah 18:1-12

1.  The Potter’s House (v2)

² “Go down at once to the potter’s house; 
there I will reveal My words to you.”

Most would agree that the Potter in this parable is God, Himself.  The “house” is owned by the Potter. Clearly, the purpose of this excursion to the Potter’s House was so God could “reveal a message.”  It no doubt raised a question in Jeremiah’s mind as to why he would have to go down to a potter’s house to hear a word from the Lord.  Why couldn’t God simply speak to Jeremiah in his own home, or in the woods, or sitting by the bank of a gentle brook?  Have we not heard people proclaim often that, “I can hear God better sitting in the woods than sitting in church?”  Is there any truth to the idea that we do not need to “go somewhere” to hear a Word from God?

Well, of course God can—and does—speak to people in many different places.  That does not negate the fact that God has ordained that we would go regularly to His House for worship and instruction.  The fact that God CAN speak to people anywhere, anytime, and in any way that He so chooses, it is equally a fact that God DOES intend to speak to His people in His House. 

Regular attendance at the Potter’s House is essential to getting the Potter’s message.  This is not just something implied in Scripture but a truth scattered throughout the whole of Scripture like pine needles on a forest floor.  Admonitions to gather regularly at the Potter’s House (church, assembly, etc.) occur throughout the Word of God. There are simply too many to list but here’s a few that show how important the “House of God” was to O.T. saints and early believers:

·  "I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord.'" Psalm 122:1

·  "For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God" Psalm 42:4

·  "We who had sweet fellowship together, walked in the house of God in the throng." Psalm 55:14

·  "I will tell of Thy name to my brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise Thee." Psalm 22:22

·  "Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart, In the company of the upright and in the assembly." Psalm 111:1.

The N.T. speaks of the gathering of God’s people many times.  The N.T. gives images of the church such as “a body” (Rom. 12:4-5):

⁴ Now as we have many parts in one body,  and all the parts do not have the same function, ⁵ in the same way we who are many  are one body in Christ  and individually members of one another.

A body as an image of the church would be absurd if the individual parts have no connections.  Christ’s church—the believers gathered—is a central focus of the N.T.  There are no books written to individuals except Philemon and it served as exhortation for the greater body of believers.

Hebrews 10:25 warns us against forsaking the fellowship.  Throughout the Book of Acts we have God’s people gathering to break bread and worship.  The Book of 1Corinthians gives us strong evidence believers met regularly for worship and preaching:  1 Cor 11:17-18, 20, 33; 14:23,26.  In 1Corinthians16:1,2 Paul instructs them about giving "EVERY first day" of the week clearly implying they met regularly at Church.  Jesus assumed His followers would gather regularly, whether it was only two or three, or three thousand (Mt. 18:20).  The earliest church handbook we have, The Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) speaks about both regular Sunday worship, as well as a midweek worship service.  This was written as early as 225 A.D.  Gathering as the Church is a foundational element of what it means to be a Christian.  It is folly to think otherwise.

A significant element in this Parable of the Potter is that the action takes place at the Potter’s House.  God’s House is where the action is and we need to give attendance at God’s House the devotion God demands.

2.  The Potter’s Wheel (v3)

³ So I went down to the potter’s house,
and there he was, working away at the wheel.

One of the tenets in the Humanist Manifesto is “the autonomy of man.”  The Humanist Manifesto (I, II, III).  The Humanist Manifestos set forth the tenets of secular humanism that seeks to define all areas of life--ethics, morality, science, philosophy—without any consideration to any power beyond that of the human intellect.  The Humanist Manifesto II states this in regard to man:  Article 5: "We believe in maximum individual autonomy consonant with social responsibility."

A key concept in these atheistic manifestos is, “human autonomy.” Since God does not exist in any meaningful way for a humanist, man is responsible to no other authority than himself.  Man is the “captain of his own destiny.”  Man, and not God, determines what is or is not true.  There are not absolutes.  Everything is in flux and changing, including truth and morality.

The Potter’s Wheel teaches us something much different.  Man is not “autonomous” (self-acting).  Man is utterly dependent upon God. Without God, man cannot exist. Any power inherent in man is dependent upon God.  The Potter’s Wheel teaches this beautifully.

The Potter’s Wheel actually was two wheels.  In English we have two forms of a noun in regard to grammatical number:  singular, meaning one, or plural, meaning more than one.  In Hebrew as in other languages there is a form meaning, “two.”  The noun translated “wheel” (obnāyim) is a dual form meaning “two wheels.”  The word literally means, “two stones,” because the wheels resembled millstones (oben). 

The bottom stone, or wheel, was large and turned by the foot of the potter.  The top wheel was connected by a wooden shaft and spun in conjunction with the bottom stone.  The clay sat on the top stone and was shaped by the potter as the top wheel spun.  The top wheel had no power of its own.  The top wheel had no power to create anything from the clay.  The only power the top wheel possessed was that created by the larger bottom wheel.  As long as the top wheel was connected to the bottom wheel, the power was transferred and the top wheel could be used to shape the clay.

The application of this passage seems abundantly clear.  We are the small wheel.  God is the large wheel. Nothing happens unless God supplies the power.  Listen to these words through the Lord Jesus Christ, Himself John 15:5:

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.

I think this verse sets forth the most seminal (basic) principle of Christian theology—our welfare, indeed our very existence is dependent upon the favor of God as displayed through the life and work of Jesus Christ.  Let me repeat that: our welfare, indeed our very existence is dependent upon the favor of God as displayed through the life and work of Jesus Christ. 

Our every breadth; our every heartbeat comes as a gift of Almighty God. The N.T. sets forth this same truth (Acts 17:28):

For in Him we live and move and exist, or as other translations say,
in Him we live and move and have our being.

The dual stones of the Potter’s Wheel teach us that man is utterly dependent upon God.  Yet, I must confess that I do not see many people living this way—including myself. I see people trying to solve their own problems.  I see people trying to purchase their own happiness.  I see people making decisions without even a concern for what the Potter might desire. We are perfectly happy to have God participate in our salvation, but we live our lives as one person describes as “practical atheists.”

3.  The Potter’s Clay (v6)

⁶ “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”

As clay, we are a work in progress.  This is clear from the text.  Look at verse 4:  But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

Perhaps the greatest error that has infected the Church is the error that the consummation of God’s plan of redemption is to save us from our sins.  The purpose of God saving us is to bring glory to Himself as we become “perfect through the work of the Holy Spirit.”  Eph. 1 says three times that the purpose of God saving us is that we might “bring praise to His glory!”  Getting saved is not the end of the story but the beginning.  Getting saved is the first step in an eternal journey with Almighty God.

We, as God’s clay, may develop flaws—no, we will develop flaws—but we do not have to be defined by those flaws.  God can and does continue to work on us until we become a beautiful vessel useful in His service. 

The story is told of a grandfather and a grandmother who were in a gift shop looking for something to give their granddaughter for her birthday. Suddenly the grandmother spots a beautiful vase, “Look at this lovely piece of work”, she says to her husband. He picks it up and says you’re right, this is one of the loveliest vases I have ever seen. At that point something remarkable happened. Something that could only happen in a children’s book. The vase says to the grandparents. “Thank you for the compliment, but I wasn’t always beautiful.” Instead of being surprised that the vase can talk, the grandfather ask it, what do you mean when you say you weren’t always beautiful? Well, says the vase, “once I was just an ugly soggy lump of clay. Then one day some man with dirty wet hands threw me on a wheel. Then he started turning me around and around until I got so dizzy I couldn’t see straight. Stop..Stop I cried. But the man with the wet hands said, Not Yet! Then he started to poke me and punch me until I hurt all over, Stop..Stop I cried, but the man said “Not Yet”. Each time I thought he was through, he would crumble and roll me up and began to poke and punch me again.  Finally he did stop. But then he did something much worse, he put me into a furnace. It got hotter and hotter until I couldn’t stand it. Stop..Stop.. I cried. But the man said, “Not Yet”. Finally when I thought I was going to burn up, the man took me out of the furnace. Then some short lady began to paint me, and the fumes got so bad that they made me feel sick. “Stop…Stop..” I cried. “Not Yet” said the lady. Finally she did stop, but then she gave me back to the man and he put me back into that awful furnace. This time it was hotter than before. “Stop…Stop” I cried, but the man said “Not Yet”.  Finally he took me out of the furnace and let me cool. When I was completely cool, a pretty lady put me on this shelf, next to this mirror. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was amazed, I could not believe what I saw. I was no longer ugly, soggy and dirty; I was beautiful, firm and clean. I cried for joy. It was then I realized that all the pain was worthwhile. Without it I would still be an ugly, soggy lump of wet clay. It was then that all the pain took on new meaning for me. It had passed, but the beauty it brought has remained.

Two elements combine to shape the clay on the Potter’s Wheel. First, there is motion. Then, there is the pressure of the Potter upon the clay.  Motion and pressure under the control of the Potter create objects of great beauty.  The clay must be constantly spinning in order for the Potter to work it into a symmetrical, useful vessel.  It is a process. 

Life often seems like it is spinning out of control.  Circumstances seem to scream at us that all is lost—there is not hope.  We just want the spinning to stop.  But, regardless of the reason our lives are spinning out of control, the Potter uses that motion to perfect us. The pressure we feel on our lives is the pressure of His loving grace. Look at verse 4 again:  “but the jar . . . became flawed.” This happens to all of us, more times than we would like to admit.  Our lives start spinning out of control and some flaw develops, or some flaw develops and we spin out of control.  It does not matter the result is the same—a useless lump of clay.  Yet, God has an answer for our flaws.  Look at verse 8:   However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it.
The word “turns” actually means to “turn back, or return” (שׁוּב shub).  When we find ourselves spinning out of control we need to surrender ourselves to the care of the Potter.  Look at verse 11 closely:

Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil (ESV)

The ESV gives a better rendering of this passage than other translations.  The word, “shaping” in relation to “disaster” comes from the same Hebrew root word for “potter.”  In other words, the same Potter that shapes us for good, can reshape us when we are flawed.  The same Potter that is sovereign over our good days is still sovereign over our bad days.  We need to simply allow the Potter to reshape us and remove the flaws in our lives.  We are His clay. God spoke through the Apostle Paul that God’s sovereignty does not only extend to good circumstances, but to every circumstance (Rom. 8):

²⁸ We know that all things work together for the good  of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

We are God’s clay.  When our lives become flawed and spin out of control, we need to “repent” or “turn back” (shub) to the Potter.  As the Potter’s clay, we are a work in progress and from time to time we need to put ourselves back into His kind and gracious hand so He can apply the necessary pressure to reshape us according to His plan.
Sadly, the majority of people in this world have not turned back to God.  In fact, they continue to turn away.  They continue to resist the gracious pressure of the Master Potter and decide, not to turn back, but to continue according to their own stubborn and foolish desires.  The result of this stubborn rebellion is “hopelessness” and judgment. Look at the last point to be made in this ongoing story of the Potter.
4.  The Potter’s Clay Jar (18:12-19:15)

¹² But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless.  We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ”

From chapter 18, verse 12 through chapter 19, verse 15 the Word of God describes the descending path of sin that leads those choosing rebellion to a final state of utter destruction under the Hand of God.  The same Potter that has the power to mold our lives into useful vessels for His service also possesses the power to utterly destroy our lives in judgment.  And make no mistake about it—God’s judgment against sin is as sure as His promises for obedience.
Chapter 19 tells the story of a clay jar.  A clay jar that represents all who reject the purpose and plan of God and seek to do as they please, instead of doing what pleases the Lord.  It is a scary story.
The Potter’s House Parable is incomplete without chapter 19.  The foundational truth of this passage, indeed the foundational truth of the entire Bible, is that God is sovereign.  He has complete control over man, represented by the clay.  As we have seen, clay that submits to the Potter and the pressure of His Divine Grace, become beautiful vessels of honor.  Even when we become flawed, if we have received the Holy Spirit through salvation, God will fix us.
Not so, the clay jars that become vessels of dishonor.  Look at 19:1-3:

This is what the Lord says: “Go, buy a potter’s clay jar. Take  some of the elders of the people and some of the leading priests  ² and go out to the Valley of Hinnom  near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. Proclaim there the words I speak to you. ³ Say: Hear the word of the Lord, kings of Judah and residents of Jerusalem.  This is what the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring such disaster on this place that everyone who hears about it will shudder.  Another translation (NIV) says, Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle.

Have you ever experienced something so shocking it makes you tingle?  In English we could translate this verse as, “It will send shivers down your spine!” Something horrible is going to happen to those that reject the grace of the Potter’s Hand.  They will experience the full force of His wrath.
Notice where the clay pot representing those who reject the offer of salvation from God is shattered.  Verse 2 says, “Go out into the Valley of Hinnom.”  Then verse 10 says, “Then you are to shatter the jug in the presence of the people.”
The Valley of Hinnom was a place where the Israelites (the clay jar) took up the pagan practices of the nations around them, particularly the Canaanites.  Idol worship alone would have been bad enough, but in the Valley of Hinnom, children were sacrificed to the god, Moloch.  Therefore, God declared this land to be cursed.  Verses 3-9 describes God’s hatred for these practices and the punishment He was about to bestow.  The clay jar represents God’s wrath that will be poured out on all who do not receive His free gift of grace.  The same God that bestows grace upon those who surrender to Him, will reign down terror on those that reject Him.  Jesus mentions the Valley of Hinnom:

⁸ Don’t fear those who kill the body but are not able to kill the soul; rather, fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mat. 10:28).

The word for “hell” in this verse (and others throughout the N.T.) is “Gehenna,” the Greek name for the Valley of Hinnom.  The Valley of Hinnom was cursed and became the garbage dump of the City of Jerusalem.  There was always rotting meat and fires smoldering at Gehenna.  It was a horrible place.  The fires never went out and the maggots feasted constantly.  It was a fit illustration for what an eternity without God will be for those who fall under His judgment.
It was in this awful place God said, “shatter the clay jug.”  Even the disobedient represented by this clay jug, fall under the control of the Potter.
As we wind up our time at the Potter’s House, let me summarize the story.  The setting is the “House” of the Potter reminding us that God has commanded His people to gather at His House to hear His Word.  The Potter’s Wheel reminds us that we have no power apart from God, no matter how much we would like to think we do.  The Potter’s Clay shows us that when we submit to the gracious Hand of the Potter, even our flaws will be corrected by His grace.  We are work in progress. And, finally there is the Clay Jug—a terrible reminder that all those who resist God’s love WILL experience God’s wrath.
Now, the question that keeps coming back to me is:  “Am I willingly and expectantly submitting myself to the will of the Potter?  How often do I foolishly act as if I, the clay, have power to make anything good of my life?  These are piercing questions but we need to ask them.
Let the Master Potter make something beautiful out of your life by surrendering to His kind, powerful hands.
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