The lord Reworks Spoiled Pots

   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.’ (Jeremiah 18:1–11)

God commissions Jeremiah as a prophet to rebuke the sin of the people of Israel. Israel was brought into existence by the grace of God promised and poured out when He rescued them from Egyptian bondage. Through Moses, God gave His Law to direct and press His people into His grace. God guides Israel into the land of Canaan, a land they will possess as a nation blessed by God’s goodness. 

God directs the development of His people by discipline and correction through the provision of judges and then kings. As a nation, they experience great blessing and provision by God. Aging as a nation did not develop hearts of humble dependence on God and His truth. Longing to be like the godless nations around them, spurning God’s truth and ways became characteristic.

The prophet Jeremiah declares God will no longer tolerate their defiance. To illustrate what God intends to do, He sends Jeremiah to observe the work of a potter throwing a vessel on a wheel. While shaping the clay, it becomes flawed and must be pulverized and reworked into a different type of vessel. The potter’s reworking activity explains what God intends to do with Israel and what He says He will do to any nation that disregards His truth and direction.

The United States is not the replacement of Israel. Still, it is a nation experiencing the blessing and provision of God because of its past commitment to biblical principles and structure. Our country is no longer on the path of biblical truth, but the men and women (yes, I can define them) in our nation act according to the stubbornness of their evil hearts. The vessel of our nation is being pulverized and reshaped by God.

May we who love and walk in God’s gospel truth and righteousness in Jesus commit to being part of God’s reshaping process of our nation. Let us walk in biblical truth and holiness by God’s grace and for God’s glory and may the gospel that lives in us be used in the hands of God to bring the transformation our country desperately needs. We have the hope and promise that God reworks spoiled pots!