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Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Jeremiah 18

If we have to make a choice between the potter and the clay concerning which one is in charge of the production of the pottery, there can be little doubt that the clay loses that battle. Not that this is bad news for the clay. There would be nothing created at all if the clay were in charge, since a lifeless lump does not have the capacity to form itself into something beautiful or useful. The clay cannot exercise the necessary judgment concerning what to keep and what to throw away. The potter is the one who is in charge of the process, and that is a good thing. Of necessity, the potter must be the one who determines whether the clay will be used for the formation of a delicate vase suitable only for a fine display case in a museum or a simple rough mug that is meant to hold a hot beverage in a common home.

In the relationship between God and the house of Israel, can there be any doubt as to who the potter is? The Lord God Almighty is the potter, and the nation of His people is the vessel that He has made for His own purpose. If He wills that they exist, then they shall exist. If He wills that they be destroyed by a foreign adversary, that is His decision and it shall be accomplished. God calls on His people to hear His Word and to turn from their evil ways. If they will not do this, then He will exercise the potter’s prerogative. God is shaping a disaster against them. They must repent.

This is a call to submission, but His people have already determined that it would be useless for them to follow the Almighty God. Their own ways are better, they think. When conflict arises between them and the Lord, they will follow their own hearts, and ignore God’s Word.

What a strange thing the people of God have done! It is not common for people to reject their gods, even when they worship only lifeless idols according to the most unappealing and foolish religious system. Yet Israel has forsaken her God, the Lord God Almighty, the only true and living God. His Law is perfect. The history of His dealings with His people reveals His love, His power, and His holy character. His wisdom is like the finest gold. Nonetheless, Israel has rejected Her God, and the result of this bizarre and resolute rebellion is that God has finally rejected Israel. Any other people who may be passing by the land would have to note what the God of Israel has done. He has removed His people from the home that He gave to them centuries before.

This conclusion is something that foreign observers will see, but God’s people will largely miss. They have come to a different thesis: Jeremiah, the Lord’s prophet, is the problem. They simply will not listen to His words, and they have made plans to do him great harm.

What Jeremiah had been bringing to the people was actually the good gift of the sure Word of the Lord, yet they cannot receive this gift as good. Not only was the Word that Jeremiah brought them from God both true and good, He has also pleaded with God for their lives. Without him they would have been closer to the destruction that is coming against them. He has been like a preserving salt that slows down the decay of aging food. Take away the salt and the food will become useless even more quickly. But the people do not want the Salt of the earth. They have rejected the Light of the world.

What can we expect from such a great God when we persistently reject Him and His holy speech? What will happen to those who kill the prophets? What is due to the people who reject the merciful Son of God when He comes to save? A foretaste of a horrific final destruction will come to Judah in the exile of the people of God from the land. Their children will die of hunger and face the sword of an enemy. Their women will lose not only children, but also husbands. Their men will face disease and death. They have dug a pit for God’s prophet in the day of divine warning. They will be overthrown by the Lord.

This, of course, is what they deserve. It is an instructive illustration for us who have received the mercy of the Lord through the cross of Christ. How can we measure the horror of the cross? The cross represents what multitudes of rebellious sinners have deserved. The horrors of loss and pain that we experience in this life are only a small taste of death and hell, but they are a very bitter taste nonetheless. How did the cross taste for the sinless Son of Man who faced the wrath of His Father that was against us? It was a bloody cross that brought us eternal life, but now we who believe boast in that cross, knowing that through this one propitiatory sacrifice, the anger of the Lord has been turned away from us.

This was all the work of our God, the divine potter. It was His eternal plan to build the best of all vessels in forming His glorious plan of salvation. Because of this eternal decree, the Lord of Glory came as a man and suffered for us, yet without sin. He then died our judicial death and won for us a judicial life. Yet God’s free gift to us is more than a writ of justification. We have more than a piece of paper useful among human authorities. This powerful redemption means real life for us. We are the vessels of the Lord’s mercy. Others have been made for the purpose of His final wrath, and we have no right to argue about that. He is the Potter. It must be enough for us to be the vessels of His mercy that He has made us to be. It is a wonder that we have eternal life according to the great purpose of our heavenly Father’s plan. It is ours to give Him eternal thanks. This is why we have been created.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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