Gracious Sovereignty

The Potter and the Clay
[18:1] The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: [2] “Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will let you hear my words.” [3] So I went down to the potter's house, and there he was working at his wheel. [4] And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter's hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
 [5] Then the word of the LORD came to me: [6] “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. [7] If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, [8] and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. [9] And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, [10] and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.
[11] 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 way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ [12] “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
(Jeremiah 18:1-12 ESV)

What Jeremiah observes is simply the potter’s work. There is nothing out of the ordinary with what the potter does and his purpose demands that he work the clay to its best use. The observation of Jeremiah 18:4, the clay becoming marred in the potters hand so being reworked, was a common enough occurrence. Wet clay was worked on the spinning stone to make whatever vessel or pot the potter required. However, the mixture and consistency of the clay was vital in providing the structural integrity needed to create particular vessels. If at any point during his creation the potter realised that his mixture of clay was unsuitable for the type of vessel he was creating he would begin again and create something different, and better suited to the mixture he had to work with.

The word of the Lord comes to Jeremiah (Jer 18:5-6) showing the pottery scene to literally be a ‘parable in action’.   “Jeremiah’s readers and hearers can use their imagination to envisage the workshop and the efforts of a potter… God (the potter) has the sovereign right to make and remake the clay as he sees fit.”   Yahweh is the potter so is free to shape Judah as his clay, any way he chooses.

Yet the actual depiction of the potter represents a deeper, underlying attribute of God’s grace. “God is not only sovereign Lord free to do what he wills, but he is patient and loving, and will not let them defeat his intention to make them a people for his own possession.” The potter has every right to simply dispose of unsuitable clay and mix himself a new batch.  Yet the gracious sovereignty of Yahweh keeps Judah on the potter’s wheel and not cast aside as useless mud. Though the impending destruction and exile appears a wholly ungracious and finite act, in truth Yahweh is graciously working by forming Judah “into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him” (Jer 18:4)