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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 39
22 February 2009
The Clay in the Potter’s
Hand
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Feb 22, 09)
Text: Jer
18:3-6
We have learnt that God has
spoken to us through His creation, His written Word (the Holy
Scriptures, written by His prophets and servants) and through His only
begotten Son Jesus Christ. When our Lord Jesus was on this earth, He
usually used parables to teach God’s truth to the people. A parable is a
short and simple story, usually taken from the affairs of common life,
used to illustrate a moral lesson or spiritual truth. The parable of the
sower is a very popular one. In the Old Testament, God also used real
affairs of common life to teach His people His truth, among which “the
Potter and the Clay” is the very popular one.
Nowadays we have vessels like
containers, pots, vases, dishes, cups, bowls, jugs or pitchers, etc.,
which are not only made of clay or ceramic but also made of glass,
crystal, stainless steel, plastic, melamine, or Corning Ware, etc.
However, in the Old Testament time, except the golden or silver vessels
for the royal family or rich people, the common vessels were usually
made of clay, so pottery was a very popular and important craft.
Here in Jeremiah chapter 18,
God told him to go down to the potter’s house and there God would cause
him to hear His words. Jeremiah obeyed God and went down to the potter’s
house and he saw the potter doing a work on the wheels (v 3), which
literally means “a pair of two stones.” The lower stone was attached to
the upper stone by an axle. When the lower wheel was turned with the
potter’s feet, the upper wheel was rotated, and the potter could shape
or mould the clay on the upper wheel into a vessel he pleased. Sadly,
“the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter:
so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make
it” (v 4). Then, Jeremiah heard God’s Word, saying, “O house of
Israel, cannot I
do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in
the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel”
(v 6). What shall we learn from this message of God?
God’s Sovereignty and His
Mighty and Gracious Work
The potter has his absolute
power and authority over the clay, and he can shape or mould the clay
into a vessel he wants as long as the clay is in proper condition and
quality, not too soft nor too hard, “Hath not the potter power over
the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another
unto dishonour?” (Rom 9:21). Even when the clay is marred in his
hand due to its defect, he is able to patiently and graciously reshape
it or remould it as long as it is “submissive” in his hand. The potter
also has absolute power and authority to leave the marred vessel alone
and then to break it or throw it away.
God said, “O house of
Israel, cannot I do
with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the
potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel”
(v 6). Dear friends, our loving Father is our Almighty God, and He is
able to do with us much better than a human potter does to his clay as
long as we are humble, repentant, teachable, and submissive to Him and
to His Word.
The Clay Marred in the
Potter’s Hand
Is it the potter’s fault when
the clay is marred in his hand? Can human beings blame God for anything
wrong in their lives? God forbid! “Nay but, O man, who art thou that
repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it,
Why hast thou made me thus?” (Rom 9:20).
Even though God formed man
“of the dust of the ground,” He also “breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Gen 2:7). Then,
as being created with a free will, conscience, power of reason, concept
of worship, intelligence and skills, etc, man must be accountable for
what he has chosen or decided to do because he is not created like a
robot or just like impersonal and non-living clay.
God is perfect (Matt 5:48) and
what He has done is perfect because He is almighty and all-wise. Truly,
God’s will is perfect (Rom 12:2), His law is perfect (Ps 19:7), His work
is perfect (Deut 32:4), and His way is perfect (2 Sam 22:31; Ps 18:30).
Moreover, God is holy and righteous and “God is light, and in Him is
no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Then, man cannot blame God for
anything wrong in his life. If he wants to blame, he must blame himself.
The verb “mar” in Hebrew is
tshakeith, which means marred, wicked, corrupt, spoiled, and
in Niphan (passive) it means be corrupted by putridity (Gesenius’
Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon). The same term is used in Jeremiah 13:7,
“Then I went to
Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place where I had
hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred
(corrupted), it was profitable for nothing,” and in Genesis
6:11-12, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was
filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was
corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” Then,
the clay is marred due to its defect or poor quality, and man is sinful
because of his totally depraved, sinful, and corrupt nature. God did not
create sinful man like that but due to the disobedience of Adam and Eve,
sin and death entered into the world (Rom 5:12), so man cannot blame God
for anything.
To Enjoy God’s Gracious
Work: Be Humble, Teachable and Submissive
Even though the clay is
marred, the potter is able to reshape it or remould it to be a good
vessel he wants as long as it is submissive in his hand. God was able to
transform the life of Saul, a blasphemer and persecutor, and reshaped
him and remoulded him to be the apostle Paul, a faithful servant of God
when he met Jesus Christ on the way to Damascus and submitted himself to
the Lord, saying, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts
9:6).
The clay is marred due to its
defect. It may be too hard or too soft or contaminated with other
substances. The only remedy is that it must be in the potter’s hand.
Some have their strong self-will and if they do not come back to God in
humble submission and if God gives them up to their own un-submissive
and sinful will, they will be like a Pharaoh or a Hitler. Many are too
soft or compromising. They do not want to take a stand for God’s Word or
God’s truth, but just tolerate sins and worldliness and let themselves
be contaminated with wrong doctrines and worldly values or human
philosophies, and if they do not come back to God in humble submission
and if God leaves them alone, they will be profitable for nothing.
God was willing to do His
gracious work to His unfaithful people Israel, calling them back to
Himself even though they were marred or corrupted in sins and idolatry,
“O house of
Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as
the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of
Israel” (v 6). God
called them back in repentance and submission so that He might reshape
and remould them. Sadly, they did not want to come back to their Maker
in repentance, but continued practising sins and idolatry and doing
wicked things before Him (Jer 19:4, 5), so the righteous God had to
judge them and break them like a vessel, “Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a
potter’s vessel, that cannot be made whole again” (Jer 19:11).
Dear friends, God is willing
to do His gracious work in your life and my life through our Saviour
Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and His Word if you and I come back to Him
and commit our lives to Him and submit ourselves to Him and to His Word
unconditionally without any doubt. Shall not you and I be wise to be in
our loving and almighty Father’s hand as the clay in the Potter’s hand,
saying to Him, “But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the
clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand” (Isa
64:8), and pray to Him, “thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever:
forsake not the works of thine own hands” (Ps 138:8).
Dear friends, no matter how
corrupt and sinful we are, there is one way for us to be cured and
remoulded, and that is to come back to our God in humble repentance with
full dependence and submission.
To Be Used by God: Be Pure
and Holy
You and I surely do not want
to use a dirty cup for a drink. We have to wash it and only use it when
it is clean. God is holy and righteous and do you and I want to be used
by Him? May God wash us and keep us clean always, “But in a great
house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood
and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man
therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour,
sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good
work” (2 Tim 2:20-21). God’s commandment for you and me is, “keep
thyself pure” (1 Tim 1:5), and “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1
Peter 1:16), and “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth
himself, even as he (Jesus) is pure” (1 John 3:3).
Conclusion
Dear friends, when our car
breaks down, we do need a mechanic to repair it. Without a mechanic the
car cannot be repaired by itself. The marred clay cannot be remoulded
without a Potter. Many in this world are deceiving themselves by
thinking that they can improve themselves to be saints through their
self-discipline and efforts or through their religious practices, rites
or mysticism. They fail to see that they cannot change their sinful and
corrupt hearts by themselves. Even though they may keep themselves from
the world and confine themselves in a far away pagoda or a temple or a
monastery, their hearts are still full of self-righteousness, pride and
sinful lusts. It is so dangerous when we fail to acknowledge that we do
need God our Creator as the clay needs the Potter. We must thank God and
praise the Lord that while we are hopeless and helpless in sins, He is
able to reshape us and remould us into the image of His Son Jesus Christ
as long as we are submissive in His mighty and gracious hand. Truly,
“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil
1:6). May our holy God keep us pure and holy in this sinful world and
graciously use our lives to glorify Him and to bring others back to
Himself so that they may also enjoy His gracious work, transforming them
from sinners to His saints. All glory and praise and thanks be to God
alone. Amen.
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