Jeremiah 18

REVIEW OF CHAPTER ELEVEN

I. Facts to Master

The place to which Jeremiah is directed to go (Jeremiah 18:2).

That which Israel was in the hand of God (Jeremiah 18:6).

The response of Israel to the prophet’s call for repentance (Jeremiah 18:12).

The figure by which the prophet illustrates the unnaturalness of Israel’s apostasy (Jeremiah 18:14).

The nature of another plot against Jeremiah (Jeremiah 18:18).

That which Jeremiah is now commanded to purchase (Jeremiah 19:1).

The place where the action parable was to take place (Jeremiah 19:2).

That which Jeremiah was to do with the bottle after he preached his sermon (Jeremiah 19:10).

Two acts of worship to the astral deities (Jeremiah 19:13).

The place of defilement and death which Jerusalem will shortly resemble (Jeremiah 19:12).

Name of the chief officer of the temple who smote Jeremiah and put him in the stocks (Jeremiah 20:2).

Location of the stocks and length of time Jeremiah spent there (Jeremiah 20:2-3).

New name given to Pashur and significance of that name (Jeremiah 20:3).

Fate of Pashur (Jeremiah 20:6).

That of which Jeremiah accuses God (Jeremiah 20:7 RSV).

16. That which Jeremiah felt within himself whenever he tried to resign from his prophetic ministry (Jeremiah 20:9).

II. Questions to Ponder

What is the basic lesson that Jeremiah learned in the house of the potter? Where does the analogy of the potter and clay break down?

What bypaths have this modern generation chosen above the ancient paths of fidelity to God? In what sense is the road that leads to destruction a broad and smooth way and in what sense is it an ill-defined and unprepared way?

What is meant by the expression I will show them the back and not the face.? Jeremiah 18:17.

How were the people of Judah rendering to Jeremiah evil for good? See Jeremiah 18:20.

Is Jeremiah 18:21 a petition or a recognition of the inevitable? Can you cite other examples of this type of verse in the Old Testament? Are Jeremiah 18:21-23 the cry of a vengeful spirit?

How are the words eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters to be interpreted? Jeremiah 19:9.

What was the significance of the smashed bottle? Jeremiah 19:11.

Was Pashur a priest or a prophet? See Jeremiah 20:1; Jeremiah 20:6.

In what respect did Jeremiah feel that God had deceived him? Jeremiah 20:7-8.

Jeremiah experienced discouragement and even despair during his ministry, yet he did not quit! Why do so many leave the Gospel ministry today?

Why did Jeremiah become so discouraged? Jeremiah 20:10.

How does Jeremiah’s confidence shine through the gloom of despair? Jeremiah 20:11-13.

In Jeremiah 20:14-18 does Jeremiah lapse back into despair or could these verses be assigned to another occasion?

Why did Jeremiah curse the day of his birth? Jeremiah 20:15-18.

Jeremiah 18:1-4

CHAPTER ELEVEN

THE POTTER AND HIS VESSELS

Jeremiah 18:1 to Jeremiah 20:18

Chapter s 18-20 are composed of various types of literature centering around the common theme of the potter’s vessels. The first seventeen verses might be captioned the marred vessel. In the prose section Jeremiah 18:1-12 God’s sovereignty over His creatures is compared to a potter’s sovereignty over his clay. The passage Jeremiah 18:13-17 is a poetic expression of the unnaturalness of Israel’s sin. The passage Jeremiah 18:18-23 might be entitled the human vessel for it records Jeremiah’s prayer for vengeance upon those who were plotting against him. The breaking of a potter’s vessel as a symbol of divine judgment and the consequences of this action for Jeremiah personally are recorded in Jeremiah 19:1 to Jeremiah 20:6. In the final paragraph of this section (Jeremiah 20:7-18) the spotlight is back on the human vessel again as Jeremiah records the saddest and most bitter of his confessions.

It is impossible to date with precision the events of this section. These Chapter s are probably to be assigned to the early years of Jehoiakim for it is hard to imagine that Jeremiah would have been arrested and mistreated (Jeremiah 20:1-2) during the reign of good king Josiah.

I. THE MARRED VESSEL Jeremiah 18:1-17

In Jeremiah 18:1-17 Jeremiah learns an important theological truth through visiting the workshop of a potter. The first twelve verses are prose narrative and relate (1) the observation of the prophet (Jeremiah 18:1-4), (2) the interpretation of the Lord (Jeremiah 18:5-10); and (3) the proclamation to the people (Jeremiah 18:11-12). To this narrative is appended a poetic oracle in which the prophet makes an accusation against the people (Jeremiah 18:13-15) and then announces that the nation will be destroyed (Jeremiah 18:16-17).

A. The Observation of the Prophet Jeremiah 18:1-4

TRANSLATION

(1) The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD saying, (2) Arise and go down to the house of the potter and there I will cause you to hear My word. (3) And I went down to the house of the potter and behold, he was busy at work upon the wheels. (4) And the vessel which he was making with the clay was marred in the hand of the potter. And again he made it into another vessel as it was fitting in the eyes of the potter to make it.

COMMENTS

Jeremiah received instructions from the Lord to go down to the house of the potter where God would reveal to him something of vital significance for His people (Jeremiah 18:1-2). The verb go down suggests that the potter’s workshop was located in the lower part of the city. When Jeremiah arrived the potter was at work on his wheeltwo circular stones connected by a vertical axis. The lower disk was worked by the foot. This in turn set in motion the upper disk upon which the potter worked the clay. Thompson has given the classic description of the operation:

Taking a lump in his hand he placed it on the top of the wheel and smoothed it into a low cone; then thrusting his thumb into the top of it, he opened a hole down through the center, and this he constantly widened by pressing the edges of the revolving cone between his hands. As it enlarged and became thinner, he gave it whatever shape he pleased with the utmost ease and expedition.[210]

[210] Thompson, op cit., p. 520.

As Jeremiah observed the potter at work he noticed that the emerging vessel developed some imperfection which displeased the eye of that artisan. The potter rolled the clay into a lump again and reshaped it into an object that met with his approval (Jeremiah 18:4). The narrative does not reveal the cause of the ruination of the original vessel. This is not the point. The major lesson here is that the potter can do with the clay as he pleases. When the wet clay becomes marred he can finish that vessel in its imperfection, cast it aside or create a new vessel out of the clay. The new vessel might be similar to the original vessel or it might be something entirely new. It is all in the potter’s hands to do as he sees fit. If he so desires he can crush that emerging jar or vase into a shapeless mass of mud and then begin the whole process all over again.

Jeremiah 18:5-10

B. The Interpretation for the Prophet Jeremiah 18:5-10

TRANSLATION

(5) And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (6) Am I not able to do to you as this potter (oracle of the LORD)? Behold, like clay in the hand of the potter, thus are you in My hands, O house of Israel. (7) One moment I may speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to pluck up, to tear down and to destroy; (8) but if that nation repents of its evil on account of which I have spoken, then I will relent concerning the evil which I had thought to do unto it. (9) One instance I may speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom to build and to plant; (10) but if it does evil in My eyes that it not hearken to My voice, then I will relent concerning the good which I have spoken to benefit it.

COMMENTS

The nation of Israel is but clay in the hands of the divine Potter. He can dispose of them as he wills. If the nation yields and submits to the working of the divine hand, He will produce from it a beautiful and useful vessel. But if Israel refuses to allow the Potter to have his way then Israel will be discarded and God will start all over again with a new creation. A word of caution is in order on this passage. Analogies when pressed beyond their intended purpose yield bad theology. One should not conclude from this episode that in God’s dealing with Israel He has been at fault in the ruination of the vessel. The potter which Jeremiah watched may have made an error of judgment in the amount of clay he selected or in some other respect that caused the first vessel to be inadequate. But no one should attribute such errors of judgment to the master Potter. The analogy breaks down in another respect. Clay is inanimate and material. The human heart possesses the power to willfully rebel against the Potter. Man can choose to be pliable in the hands of the Creator or to be a hard as sun-baked clay. Every child of God should be praying: Have Thine own way Lord, Have thine own way. Thou are the potter, I am the clay.

A most important principle of Biblical interpretation emerges in Jeremiah 18:7-10. Simply stated the principle is this: Neither God’s threats nor His promises are unconditional. The attitude of God toward any people depends entirely upon their response to Him. He is not an arbitrary God ruled by whims or fancies. He is the God of unchanging justice and mercy. God may decree the destruction of a nation and give no hint that the nation can survive. Yet if that nation repents of its sin God will rescind the execution order. One thinks immediately of Jonah’s mission to Nineveh. Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown, he cried. The message was absolute and unequivocal without any hint of hope. Yet Nineveh repented and Nineveh found forgiveness. The threat was not executed and Jonah’s prophecy of doom went unfulfilled. The principle enunciated by Jeremiah in these verses helps to explain why some prophecies in the Bible have not been fulfilled. Biblical prophecies must be interpreted as conditional even though the conditional element may at times be missing.

Jeremiah 18:11-12

C. The Proclamation to the People Jeremiah 18:11-12

TRANSLATION

(11) And now speak please unto the men of Judah and unto the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD! Behold, I am about to form calamity against you and I am about to plan destruction against you. Turn now each man from his evil and amend your ways and your deeds. (12) But they say, It is hopeless; for after our thoughts we will walk and we will do every man according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.

COMMENTS

Great theological truths are not to be jealously guarded but freely shared with all who will receive them. So it is that Jeremiah is told to proclaim the great truth that he has discovered at the potter’s house. The Lord is in the process of forming (Hebrew participle) and planning the destruction of the nation. The verb translated form is identical with the word translated potter in the preceding verses. No doubt the verb has been deliberately selected here to suggest the connection between what is now said and the episode of the potter just described. Just as the potter crushed the marred vessel in his hand and began anew, so God is about to destroy Judah and start all over again. In view of this impending disaster God pleads through his prophet for the people to repent (Jeremiah 18:11). It is not too late if they will only turn to God. The men of Judah respond to this last-ditch effort to secure their repentance in the same language which they used in Jeremiah 2:25. It is hopeless, they say. The mood here is not one of despondency but one of defiance. The leaders are warning the prophet that it is useless for him to continue trying to convert them. They are saying in Jeremiah 18:12, We have chosen our path and we will continue to walk in it regardless of what you say the consequences will be.

Jeremiah 18:13-15

D. The Accusation Against the Nation Jeremiah 18:13-15

TRANSLATION

(13) Therefore thus says the LORD: Ask now among the nations who has heard such things. An exceedingly horrible thing has the virgin of Israel done! (14) Does the snow of Lebanon depart from the rock of the field? Shall the strange, cold flowing waters be dried up?[211] (15) Yet My people have forgotten Me; they offer incense to vanities which caused them to stumble in their ways, the paths of old, to walk in by-paths, a way that is not built up.

[211] The Hebrew says plucked up. The reading dried up, which is followed by the American Standard Version, necessitates reversing two letters in the word in question.

COMMENTS

In Jeremiah 18:13-15 Jeremiah presses the point that the nation has a serious flaw of which the divine Potter is acutely aware. Judah’s horrible sin, unheard of among foreign nations, is that she has rejected her God. A virgin should keep herself undefiled for her future husband; but the virgin of Israel has defiled herself with the worship of heathen deities (Jeremiah 18:13). That this national apostasy is unnatural is brought out by two rhetorical questions in Jeremiah 18:14. Does the snow of Lebanon depart from the rock of the field? The summit of Lebanon is snowcapped the year around. The snow does not leave the mountain even in the hottest weather. Shall the strange, cold flowing waters be dried up? The reference here is probably to the mountain streams which perpetually flow down the slopes of the Lebanon mountains. These waters are called strange or foreign because they are not of Israel. The basic implication of the two questions is that nature pursues her course unchanged whereas Judah has unnaturally changed her course. They have offered incense to vanities or nothingness, i.e., nonentities. These idols have been major stumbling blocks in the paths of the men of Judah. The people of God have forsaken the old paths (cf. Jeremiah 6:16) to walk in by-paths. A great deal of effort went into preparing a first class roadway in antiquity (see Isaiah 40:3-4). But the people of Judah preferred to travel a way that is not built or cast up. i.e., a road that was not properly constructed but just carelessly trodden down. Instead of the ancient, well-marked paths of righteousness the people of God had chosen rather to walk in footpaths which were not clearly defined and led to no place. Such paths are unfit for any child of God to trod!

Jeremiah 18:16-17

E. The Devastation of the Land Jeremiah 18:16-17

TRANSLATION

(16) The result of this is that they will make their land a desolation, an object of everlasting derision. Everyone who passes by it shall be astonished and will shake his head. (17) Like the east wind I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them the back and not the face in the day of their calamity.

COMMENTS

The inevitable result of abandoning the God-ordained way is desolation and destruction. All who pass by will be amazed, shocked and astonished at what has befallen the once proud little nation of Judah. They will wag their heads in a scornful sneer at the wicked and stupid folly of the people who had forsaken their God (Jeremiah 18:16). God will scatter the men of Judah before their enemies just as men scatter and seek refuge when the torrid east wind, the so-called sirocco, begins to sweep in from the desert. God will turn his back upon them in that day of calamity and he will not listen to their cries for help[212] (Jeremiah 18:17)

[212] An alternate translation of the last Part of Jer 18:17 is: On their back and not their face I w1ll look in the day of calamity. In this case the meaning would be: When they flee before their enemies I will see their backs and will not intervene to save them.

Jeremiah 18:18

**II. **THE HUMAN VESSEL Jeremiah 18:18-23

In Jeremiah 18:18-23 Jeremiah experiences the third personal crisis of his ministry. These verses contain (1) the plan of the adversaries (Jeremiah 18:18), and (2) the prayer of the prophet (Jeremiah 18:19-23).

A. The Plan of the Adversaries Jeremiah 18:18

TRANSLATION

(18) And they said, Come and let us devise a plot against Jeremiah that instruction may not perish from the priest, counsel from the wise or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let us smite him with the tongue in order that we might not have to listen to all of his words.

COMMENTS

Any man of God who preaches the word of God with boldness will inevitably make enemies. Their patience exhausted, the enemies of Jeremiah secretly began making plans to rid themselves of the prophetic pest. After all, they had the priests, the wisemen and other prophets so why should they tolerate a dangerous preacher like Jeremiah. They seemed to fear that if left alone Jeremiah might gain a popular hearing and the regular leaders of the nation might loose their positions of influence. Thus the enemies plan to smite Jeremiah with the tongue i.e., to slander him and make lying accusations against him. By twisting his words they hoped to turn the masses against him and perhaps lay the ground work which would result in legal action against the prophet.

Jeremiah 18:18 is instructive in pointing to the three groups within ancient Israelite society from which one might receive divine instruction. It was the special duty of the priests to give instruction based on the law of Moses (Deuteronomy 33:10; Deuteronomy 17:9-11). The priests of Jeremiah’s day had not been mindful of their high mission. The second class of religious instructors were the wise men. In the period of the United Monarchy Ahithophel and Hushai were prominent members in the court of David. Some of the wise men of ancient Israel, being gifted by the Holy Spirit, produced the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. But the wise men in Jeremiah’s day had become worldly wise. They were strictly political counselors or statesmen who judged matters purely from the standpoint of logic and not faith. The third class of religious teachers were the prophets who were to deliver to the people the word or oracle which was revealed to them by God from time to time. Throughout his ministry Jeremiah seems to have been in constant conflict with the prophets. These men had not received a heavenly call to the prophetic office nor did they receive genuine revelations from God. They were mere professionals who maintained their positions by giving oracles which were pleasing to both the general populace and the ruling powers.

Jeremiah 18:19-23

B. The Prayer of the Prophet Jeremiah 18:19-23

TRANSLATION

(19) Give ear unto me, O LORD, and hearken to the voice of my adversaries. (20) Shall evil be recompensed instead of good? For they are digging a pit for my soul! Remember that I stood before You to speak good on their behalf and to cause Your wrath to turn from them. (21) Therefore give their sons to famine and deliver them to the power of the sword. Let their wives become childless and widows, and let their husbands be slain by death, their chosen young men smitten by the sword in battle. (22) Let a cry be heard from their houses when You bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have dug a pit to capture me and snares they have hidden for my feet. (23) But as for You, O LORD, You know all of their counsel against me for death. Do not pardon their guilt and do not blot out their sin from before Your face; but let them be made to stumble before You! Deal with them in the time of Your anger!

COMMENTS

The text does not indicate how Jeremiah became aware of the plot against him. But when he hears what his enemies have planned for him he cries out to God asking Him to take note of the threat against His messenger (Jeremiah 18:19). Jeremiah cannot understand why he is the object of such a vicious plot. He has preached bluntly but always with the ultimate good of his people at heart. He had wept for his people, pled with them and interceded for them at the throne of grace. He was the only true friend that the nation really had. When the people should be honoring him for what he has been doing, they are instead plotting against him. Jeremiah is both perplexed and perturbed by this turn of events. Borrowing the terminology from the Psalmist[213] he cries, They are digging a pit for my soul! (Jeremiah 18:20).

[213] See Psalms 57:6; Psalms 35:7.

The prayer moves from narrative to petition and the petition takes the form of bitter imprecation. He prays that the sons of his enemies might experience famine and that they might be delivered over to (literally, poured out to) the power of the sword. The same terminology occurs also in Psalms 63:10 and Ezekiel 35:5 and the meaning is that the young soldiers would be thrust upon the sword until their life-blood had been poured out. He prays that the wives of his enemies will become childless and widows (Jeremiah 18:21). He prays that the homes of his enemies might be plundered by a troop of enemy soldiers (Jeremiah 18:22). He asks God not to pardon these men and to deal with them in the time of divine anger (Jeremiah 18:23).

Several points need to be considered in interpreting this difficult prayer.

1. The imprecation is not hurled at the nation as a whole but at those enemies who plotted his death.

2. The prophets were neither vegetables nor ma chines but men of like passions with ourselves (G. A. Smith).

3. This outburst does not represent Jeremiah at his best and is uttered in a moment of exasperation.

4. The anger of the prophet is aroused not so much because he personally is being attacked as because God was being rejected in the person of His prophet. To blaspheme the Lord’s messenger is to blaspheme the Lord Himself.

5. The particular blasphemy which the enemies hurled at Jeremiah was that his prophecies had not been fulfilled and that consequently he was a false prophet. Jeremiah now is calling upon God to execute those threats which he has so boldly proclaimed (Jeremiah 4:6-31; Jeremiah 9:17-22; Jeremiah 14:15-18; Jeremiah 15:2-9).

6. The prophet does not pray for these hardened people because the Lord has already indicated His unwillingness to forgive. Cf. Jeremiah 7:16; Jeremiah 14:10; Jeremiah 14:12; Jeremiah 15:1; Jeremiah 15:6; Jeremiah 16:5 b.

7. Precedents for such prayers of imprecation can be found in the Psalms. Jeremiah may have been borrowing the language of the Psalms in formulating this prayer.