Shaping the Messenger
Shaping the Messenger
“When Jewish potters make new pots, they set aside the very best pots and pottery for special treatment. After they put their name on the underside of these extra good pieces, they put them away in a cold, damp room for storage, away from public view. It is only when the more selective buyers ask for the ‘very best’ of the potter’s products that the craftsman will retrieve the chosen pots from their hidden storage place.”
Jeremiah 18:1-6 “This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands, so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.” (NIV)
Jeremiah obeyed and went down. He saw the potter working on the wheel. The Hebrew word for wheel implies two wheels (dual form). Potters typically used a device with a lower stone wheel fastened on a vertical shaft with a small wooden wheel above. The potter would sit turning the large stone wheel with his feet while shaping the clay on the small wooden wheel. To express verse 4 with the meaning of the Hebrew verbs, “Whenever the pot he was shaping was spoiled, as happens with clay in the hands of the potter, he would remake it into another vessel, shaping it as seemed best to him.” Spoiled, marred, ruined vessels were not tossed aside and discarded in favor of those that emerged perfect. They were remade! God can mend cracked pots!
We often try to thwart the purpose of the potter. The clay often presses against the potter’s hand as it goes around. The potter controls the opposing force with pressure if he wants a useful pot. God kneads, pushes, presses, and pulls us into shape, but He doesn’t discard us. He says to Israel in verse 6, “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?” Isn’t this what He says to us as well? Can we not say, “Yes, Lord. Form me into Your image. Do whatever it takes. I want to be like you!”
Next Time: Shaped by the Hand of God
