Potter and the Clay

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RETURN TO SYLLABUS

JEREMIAH 18
Lesson #19
THE POTTER AND THE CLAY

• Memory Verse: Rom 9:21
• We are going to discuss a parable that has far-reaching repercussions.
  • It was so important in the Old Testament that God gave the same concept to the prophet Isaiah who writes about it three times. (Isa 29:16 Isa 45:9 Isa 64:8)
  • It is so important in the New Testament that Paul refers to the images of this parable twice in his writings. (Rom 9:18-21 2Tim 2:20-21) And Matthew gives us a startling application.
• Read Jer 18:1-6
  • The Parable of the Potter and the Clay:
    • As with all parables we first need to identify and assign meanings to the objects in the parable.
      • The potter represents God.
      • The clay represents the people of God. Of course the people of God in Jeremiah’s day were the Israelites.
      • The finished pot represents the character of life that produces fruit.
    • Then we need to identify and assign meanings to the actions in the parable.
      • The potter (God) actively uses clay (the people of God) to create (Gen 2:7) something beautiful.
        • It is here we need to ask some hard questions:
        • Discussion: How much power did the clay have in determining what the end result would be?

Read Rom 9:14-16, 20-23

Do these passages say that it is not God’s fault that some vessels don’t turn out beautifully?

• • • • • Discussion: What determines the difference between the end result of a beautiful bowl or a marred bowl?
        • Discussion: What is it that mars the end result to make a vessel worthless?
      • The potter (God) discards the marred vessel (unprofitable Israelites) to begin again.
        • God would set aside unprofitable Israel to work with the Gentiles. (Rom 11)
        • Because the Jews were not obedient to God’s call, they did not produce fruit for the Kingdom of God. Therefore, God temporarily set them aside during this New Testament age of grace in order to work with the Gentiles to bring them to Christ. This is the basic message of Rom 11.
    • The basic elemental principles that we notice in the Parable of the Potter and the Clay:
      • =1= The absolute dominance of the sovereignty of the potter (God) over the clay (the people of God).
        • In God’s mind there is a basic plan that He wants to fulfill.
        • Nothing can change God’s basic plan. Certainly the clay cannot change God’s plan. It cannot talk back to the potter, neither can it get up and remove itself from the potter’s wheel.
        • However, there is a flaw somewhere that prevents a beautiful result every time.
      • =2= The marvelous and absolute creativity of the potter (God) to produce something beautiful.
        • In God’s patient love and mercy, he works around man’s weaknesses and failures in order to keep reforming the lump on the potter’s wheel. It is a continuous action of shaping and forming.
        • We call this process sanctification in the New Testament. It is God, by way of the Holy Spirit, that uses people and circumstances in your life, both good and bad, to change your character and make you more like Christ. (Rom 8:28)
        • The clay must be centered properly on the potter’s wheel so as not to fly off as the wheel turns. This is the work of the potter (God) that gave us Christ upon whom we must center our lives.
      • =3= Since the flaw is not in God, then in man there is a flaw that mars the end result. What is the flaw against which God will not violate?
        • Of course, the flaw in man is sin. However, that flaw is in all humans and Christ came to forgive sin, so we must look more closely because some vessels, as believers, turn out to honor Christ and others do not.
        • The basic flaw is the sin of disobedience to become a true disciple. The flaw in the clay does not respond to the absolute power of the potter. Why?

God cannot use believers who are constantly disobedient to His will.

They will not be conformed to the image of Christ no matter how hard God works with them.

Why is the absolute power of God not sufficient to overcome this flaw?

The power of God is sufficient enough.

However, God restricts His own power so as not to violate the precious gift God gave to man. That is the gift of free will.

Therefore, it is the very gift of free will that disobedient man uses against God, the giver of the gift, to frustrate God’s plan and to perpetuate man’s determined goal to do his own sinful, disobedient will. This is the amazing presumption by man against the all powerful and sovereign God.

Read Psa 103:14

God remembers we are dust but man forgets that and gets stuck on himself.

When dust gets stuck on itself, it is mud.

• • • • =4= The potter (God) has a predetermined purpose for working with the clay (God’s people).
        • Working in the lives of His people is the work of God. It is not a hobby with Him. He takes His work seriously.
        • God is not experimenting with man. He has a determined purpose in mind.
        • The clay (God’s people) does not know the potter’s (God’s) purpose, but by faith we learn to trust Him to do His work beautifully. (1Joh 3:2)
      • =5= The story of the marred pot is so important that God marked it for eternity!
        • Read Mat 27:3-10
        • Read Zec 11:12-13 The prophecy.
        • The field where Judas was buried was the potter’s field purchased by the 30 pieces of silver.

Notice that the potter’s field is called the field of blood.

Notice that Matthew tells us that this was a fulfillment of a prophecy given in Jeremiah, and we also read this prophecy in Zechariah 11.

• • • • • The message is this: The blood of Jesus Christ paid the price for the flaw in the clay. That flaw is disobedience to true discipleship.

The disciple, Judas, had this flaw in him but he did not repent of it. Christ purchased forgiveness for him, but he did not accept it. He forever stands as the example of a failed disciple.

If you find this flaw of disobedience in you, repent and the blood of Christ will forgive you.

Then be sure to obediently permit the potter to continue His work in your life.

• • • What is the meaning of the message of the potter and the clay?
    • The Central Message of the Potter and the Clay:
      • To the people of Israel:
        • God would like to discard Israel because of the flaw of disobedience that does not permit God to accomplish what He wants to accomplish through them.
        • However, God will not abandon Israel. That is a message God already gave to them through Jeremiah. However, from Rom 11 we know that He just puts them to the side temporarily in this age of grace to work with the Gentiles.
      • To New Testament believers today:
        • God wants believers in Jesus Christ to be obedient disciples.
        • That means full obedience and full cooperation with the Holy Spirit to permit God to make of your life exactly what He wants.

So many times we make excuses for not doing God’s will as though it is an option. God’s will is not an option! It is His command.

Every believer in Christ must get to the point where complete obedience is an essential part of the Christian life.

Read Luk 14:27

• • Application:
    • God in His sovereignty chooses to work with sinful man which is nothing more than clay, a mass of dust stuck on itself. He wants to put his hand into your life to make something beautiful. Then what does God expect from you?
    • God expects cooperation through obedience, not excuses like, “Well the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Remember God knows we are dust.
    • God gives us His power through Christ to obey what He wants us to do.
      • Remember that the clay has no will of its own, but man has the gift of free will.
      • It is up to man to permit the master potter to work and change your life as He sees fit.
• Jer18:7-17
  • This passage repeats Israel’s sins and the coming judgment.
  • As we have read and discussed these details before in our study, I will not repeat them here.
  • Jeremiah tells Israel to repent of their failed discipleship so that God can reform them on the potter’s wheel to become a vessel of honor to God.
    • Israel thought they were living in liberty, free from God’s commands.
    • In reality living in sin to the lust of the flesh is the ultimate of slavery.
    • Living as an obedient disciple is the ultimate freedom.
• Read Jer18:18-23
  • We see a new threat against the reputation and the life of Jeremiah.
    • He will suffer a smear campaign against his character through lies and gossip.
      • They said that Jeremiah must be a false prophet because he was not commissioned by the priesthood.
      • They said that Jeremiah’s messages must be false because he did not consult with the other prophets and priests.
    • He will suffer shunning as no one would listen to him, people will avoid contact with him.
    • He must be careful where he goes as evil people lay in wait for him to kill him.
  • Notice that this persecution of the prophet occurs in the chapter with the parable of the Potter and the Clay. Of what significance is that?
    • In God’s sovereignty as the potter, He sometimes permits persecution in the life of a believer. Now we know that it is for man’s ultimate good that this is permitted. Suffering is the refining process that makes faith and discipleship pure.
    • The refuge of a persecuted disciple, faithful in obedience to God, as Jeremiah was, is to draw closer to the potter in greater obedience and fellowship. We see Jeremiah do this in prayer.
    • Read Luk 14:26-33 To be a true disciple of Jesus Christ is to be willing to give up everything for Him.
  • Jeremiah’s prayer against his enemies:
    • The New Testament believer must remember that he is not to pray this kind of prayer against his enemies. This kind of prayer was permitted in the Old Testament as it is calling upon God’s judgment on the evil deeds of one’s enemies.
    • The New Testament believer is to prayer for his enemies not against them. (Mat 5:44)
    • This is especially important during times of persecution.

HOMEWORK
Jeremiah 19

• Application of Jer 18
  • As you consider your own aspect of complete obedience as a disciple of Jesus Christ, can you honestly say that you are obedient 100% of the time? In what areas do you find your greatest disobedience?
    • In the use of your time?
    • In the use of your money?
    • In the transformation of your character to reflect the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-24)
    • In surrendering things to Him?
    • In surrendering areas of your life to Him?
  • What will you do to improve your obedience to Christ?
• Preparation for Jer 19
  • Read Jer 19:1-15
    • What is the intended message from the broken pottery vessel? (Keep in mind this question follows the parable of the Potter and the Clay.)
• Memory Verse: Rom 9:22