Call to Commitment

 

 Chapter 18

 The parable

     1.     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 you to hear My word

      3.     Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. 

     4.     And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. 

 The allegory of the potter and the clay, learned from this chapter of Jeremiah, is frequently referred to and commented upon by Bible teachers and preachers. It is now before us for our contemplation and we will attempt to learn more from it.

 Verse 1 tells us that the source behind the lesson is the Lord and the Holy Spirit will write with the pen of human lives and their daily occupations, in order to illustrate divine principle. (see 2 Co.3:3) He directs Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house to observe his work and hear the word of the Lord through it. Jeremiah will take his pen and record it for the benefit of his people first, and then the Lord will see that His word will come to all mankind through the Bible (2). I encourage you to pause and think for a moment of the loss and consequences to the world, if there had been unfaithfulness on his part

 So the servant of the Lord faithfully obeys, the ears of His heart open to hear vital instruction, by which all future mankind can benefit. The Hebrew will easily relate to the scene that he depicts, because it is commonly practiced throughout Judah. He finds the potter busy at work with his wheel (3). Isaiah already provided some background to this illustration, God sovereignly teaching the principle in various passages.