JER. 18:2-4
I want to leap frog to verse six for a second. "... as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand..." Note that in this parable God is calling himself the potter and us the clay(Is. 64:8). Gen. 2:7 tells us the Potter formed the first man from the ground(dust, dirt, clay). In fact the Hebrew word translated "formed" in Gen. 2:7,8 is the same word translated potter in our current study. It is also translated formed in Jer. 1:5 as well as many other places.
In Jerusalem of that day, the potter's store was outside Jerusalem in or near the place called the potter's field. This field was just beyond the valley of Hinnom. It is this same place where centuries later, the chief priests would buy a parcel of land to bury Judas and others(Mt. 27:5-10). There is an oddity in this passage of Matthew. In verse 9, It gives Jeremiah the credit for the prophecy of the purchase for thirty pieces of silver. It was not him, but Zechariah!(Zech. 11:13). In fact, in the original texts, no name is mentioned. The prevailing theory is that many centuries after Matthew's gospel was written, an overzealous scribe or copier added the name. He should at least have done his homework and inserted the proper prophet! In other words, if you're going to coin a phrase, it should make cents!
Let's go back to verse 3. "...behold, he wrought a work on the wheels." This begins the salvation phase. The potter reached down and collected specific material for his new creation. The mud and clay did not choose him. He chose it(Dt. 7:6; Ps. 33:12; Jn. 15:16-19; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:13). The potter used a system of two wheels one above the other. He used his foot or feet to pedal the bottom wheel which moved the top wheel. The top wheel usually had a flat piece of wood on which the clay was fashioned. From time to time, the potter would stop the wheel to admire his progress. Perhaps he would need more water to anoint the clay. He would then return to spinning the vessel on the wheel and molding it with his hands. For much of the process, the pottery cannot yet stand by itself. The craftsman's hands must constantly be stabilizing it while at the same time forming, sculpting, molding, and shaping. The word translated "wheels" is used one other time. in Ex. 1:16, it is the "stools" upon which the woman sits during childbirth. In both cases, it is applied to instruments used in bringing forth new life!
"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred..." The word translated "marred" is often elsewhere translated "corrupt" and can have the sense of moral and or spiritual decay. The vessel was marred or corrupt not from anything the potter did, but there was something wrong with the clay. It had picked up some small pebbles, pieces of leaves, bugs,or twigs. Sin. Just as mud likes to draw and contain these, we like to sin. We enjoy its pleasures for a season(Heb. 11:25). We dont want to get rid of those pieces of rock or twigs. We like having those bugs around. But the Potter knows He needs to pull them out of us. Pieces of dead bugs! They must go! There was something in the clay which made the vessel imperfect, not right. It could have been a glaring, obvious defect. It could have been the slightest imperfection seen only by the potter. In another's eyes it may have been a completely good vessel(Ps. 14:3; 53:3; Rom. 3:12). However, the potter knew what he wanted to make. He knew his plans, his designs. He knew the desired end result(Jer. 1:5; Rom. 8:29). The clay had inhibitors in it. Tiny pieces of foreign material that prevented completion, maturity, perfection(2 Tim. 3:17;1 Pet. 5:10; . Sin. Sin mars us on the Potter's wheel. He cannot fashion us to His desire with all those twigs, pebbles, leaves, bugs, worms in our clay.
"...in the hand of the potter..." Saved/born again people will sin. Do not expect it, but know that all sin(Rom. 3:23; 1 Jn.1:8-10). This also means that because you know of flaws in your clay(sin), and can't seem to get past or stop them, do not begin thinking you are out of His hands. Follow His lead. Let Him continue to make and mold you.
"...so he made it again another vessel..." Ok. was it "it"? Or was it another. Did the potter make the same thing again? Or did he make something different? This is the grace part of the narrative. The vessel was securely in the potter's hand but it was marred. We can be securely in God's hand though in need of repentance and change.
How did a potter "make again" a marred vessel? The creation often had to be crushed or brought back to its original state(Ps. 2:9; Is. 29:16; 41:25; Rev. 2:27). Then the mud and clay would be sifted and resifted to remove the impurities which were preventing the desired results. He would then put it back on the wheel and start the process again.
Once this step was completed, it was time for the fiery trial to test, firm, and strengthen the vessel(Pr. 17:3; Is. 48:10; 1Pet. 1:7; 1Pet. 4:12). The vessel was put into the kiln. The kiln was much hotter than the clay had ever experienced in its own comfort zone. At the precise time known only to the potter, it is removed from the heat. It is now glowing, shining, strong(Lam. 4:2). It can stand on its own, and it is ready for the intended purpose.
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I want to leap frog to verse six for a second. "... as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand..." Note that in this parable God is calling himself the potter and us the clay(Is. 64:8). Gen. 2:7 tells us the Potter formed the first man from the ground(dust, dirt, clay). In fact the Hebrew word translated "formed" in Gen. 2:7,8 is the same word translated potter in our current study. It is also translated formed in Jer. 1:5 as well as many other places.
In Jerusalem of that day, the potter's store was outside Jerusalem in or near the place called the potter's field. This field was just beyond the valley of Hinnom. It is this same place where centuries later, the chief priests would buy a parcel of land to bury Judas and others(Mt. 27:5-10). There is an oddity in this passage of Matthew. In verse 9, It gives Jeremiah the credit for the prophecy of the purchase for thirty pieces of silver. It was not him, but Zechariah!(Zech. 11:13). In fact, in the original texts, no name is mentioned. The prevailing theory is that many centuries after Matthew's gospel was written, an overzealous scribe or copier added the name. He should at least have done his homework and inserted the proper prophet! In other words, if you're going to coin a phrase, it should make cents!
Let's go back to verse 3. "...behold, he wrought a work on the wheels." This begins the salvation phase. The potter reached down and collected specific material for his new creation. The mud and clay did not choose him. He chose it(Dt. 7:6; Ps. 33:12; Jn. 15:16-19; Eph. 1:4; 2 Thes. 2:13). The potter used a system of two wheels one above the other. He used his foot or feet to pedal the bottom wheel which moved the top wheel. The top wheel usually had a flat piece of wood on which the clay was fashioned. From time to time, the potter would stop the wheel to admire his progress. Perhaps he would need more water to anoint the clay. He would then return to spinning the vessel on the wheel and molding it with his hands. For much of the process, the pottery cannot yet stand by itself. The craftsman's hands must constantly be stabilizing it while at the same time forming, sculpting, molding, and shaping. The word translated "wheels" is used one other time. in Ex. 1:16, it is the "stools" upon which the woman sits during childbirth. In both cases, it is applied to instruments used in bringing forth new life!
"And the vessel that he made of clay was marred..." The word translated "marred" is often elsewhere translated "corrupt" and can have the sense of moral and or spiritual decay. The vessel was marred or corrupt not from anything the potter did, but there was something wrong with the clay. It had picked up some small pebbles, pieces of leaves, bugs,or twigs. Sin. Just as mud likes to draw and contain these, we like to sin. We enjoy its pleasures for a season(Heb. 11:25). We dont want to get rid of those pieces of rock or twigs. We like having those bugs around. But the Potter knows He needs to pull them out of us. Pieces of dead bugs! They must go! There was something in the clay which made the vessel imperfect, not right. It could have been a glaring, obvious defect. It could have been the slightest imperfection seen only by the potter. In another's eyes it may have been a completely good vessel(Ps. 14:3; 53:3; Rom. 3:12). However, the potter knew what he wanted to make. He knew his plans, his designs. He knew the desired end result(Jer. 1:5; Rom. 8:29). The clay had inhibitors in it. Tiny pieces of foreign material that prevented completion, maturity, perfection(2 Tim. 3:17;1 Pet. 5:10; . Sin. Sin mars us on the Potter's wheel. He cannot fashion us to His desire with all those twigs, pebbles, leaves, bugs, worms in our clay.
"...in the hand of the potter..." Saved/born again people will sin. Do not expect it, but know that all sin(Rom. 3:23; 1 Jn.1:8-10). This also means that because you know of flaws in your clay(sin), and can't seem to get past or stop them, do not begin thinking you are out of His hands. Follow His lead. Let Him continue to make and mold you.
"...so he made it again another vessel..." Ok. was it "it"? Or was it another. Did the potter make the same thing again? Or did he make something different? This is the grace part of the narrative. The vessel was securely in the potter's hand but it was marred. We can be securely in God's hand though in need of repentance and change.
How did a potter "make again" a marred vessel? The creation often had to be crushed or brought back to its original state(Ps. 2:9; Is. 29:16; 41:25; Rev. 2:27). Then the mud and clay would be sifted and resifted to remove the impurities which were preventing the desired results. He would then put it back on the wheel and start the process again.
Once this step was completed, it was time for the fiery trial to test, firm, and strengthen the vessel(Pr. 17:3; Is. 48:10; 1Pet. 1:7; 1Pet. 4:12). The vessel was put into the kiln. The kiln was much hotter than the clay had ever experienced in its own comfort zone. At the precise time known only to the potter, it is removed from the heat. It is now glowing, shining, strong(Lam. 4:2). It can stand on its own, and it is ready for the intended purpose.
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