Jeremiah 18.a. The Potter's House (not Harry Potter).
Jeremiah 18: 1-4. The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” So, I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working on his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him.
Have you ever watched a potter working at his or her wheel? The potter begins the way God began at creation, with a lump of clay. In fact, the Hebrew word used in this verse for ‘make’ is the same word used at creation when God ‘makes’ things, animals, and people (Genesis 1: 7, 16, 25, 26, etc.).
The wheel spins and the potter's hands give shape to the wet clay. So far, so good. But, in the process, it is possible for something to go wrong; perhaps the creation does not suit the potter, or there is too little clay for the project. The potter is human, you know.
The Hebrew word used for this event means the project gets ‘ruined’, ‘spoiled’ or even ‘corrupt’. This word might remind the reader about the Genesis story where that same word is used to charge that the earth/world has become ‘corrupt’ (Genesis 6: 11, 12, 14) and God is not happy about it. The word can also mean ‘destroy’ and is used that way to talk about the flood (Genesis 6: 17; 9: 11, 15) and the destruction of Sodom (Genesis 13: 10).
The lesson for Jeremiah is that the potter is in charge of the process, and if the project is ruined, the potter is free to destroy it, start over, and build again. The bad news is destruction; the good news is that God begins again.
Jeremiah 18: 5-11. Then the word of the LORD came to me: Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you, from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings.
Long have I been fascinated by the phrase, “I will change my mind.” Back in the 1970s when I was teaching Adult Sunday School at Central Evangelical Free Church in downtown Minneapolis, I was invited to give the talk for a Wednesday evening service. I explored a number of these phrases in the Old Testament, but several of the older members were disturbed by the notion that God might change his mind.
I don’t blame them, and I didn’t argue with them, because it is a scary notion that goes against the idea that God’s promises are always secure and true. They are, if you pay attention to what God is saying. People often miss that some promises are ‘if-then’ statements, consequently people often ignore the consequences of disobedience. Some promises are conditional.
There are two words involved. In Jeremiah 18: 4, the Hebrew verb has a range of meanings: ‘to turn’, ‘to change one’s mind’, ‘to relent’, or even ‘to repent’. So the potter saw something he did not like and he changed his mind, reshaping what he had constructed.
The verb used by God in his comparison with the potter has a similar range of meanings: ‘to pity’, ‘to change one’s mind’, ‘to repent’. This verb shows up in Jeremiah 18: 8 and 10; and further along in 26: 3 and 13. Let me show you just one example where both verbs are used.
“...speak to them all the words that I command you; do not hold back a word. It may be that they will listen, all of them, and will turn from their evil way, so that I may change my mind about the disaster that I intend to bring on them because of their evil doings” (Jeremiah 26: 3).
Outside of our text, the second verb is used in II Samuel 24: 16; I Chronicles 21: 15; Amos 7: 3 and 6; and Jonah 3: 10. In all cases, God is making an ‘if-then’ statement. What does it mean then that God will “change his mind” or even “repent of the evil he intended” as the King James Version has it?
First, God can do whatever he wants to do since he is sovereign. Second, God has told us that he is reliable and true to his word. The problem may be that we often take random verses out of context and turn them into unconditional promises.
Third, is not God’s flexibility the reason that we pray? In the Jewish world view, God is in charge of everything. If evil happens, then God allowed it to happen. As in the case of Job, we often have no idea why bad things happen to good people. Yet, we continue to have faith, as we are told, and continue to pray that God will change the things that are. If we agree with the Jews about God’s sovereignty, then we are praying that God will change his mind about the things that he caused as well as the things that he allowed (if that distinction makes any sense).
The prophet Amos, long before Jeremiah’s time, was shown a vision of what God intended to do to Israel. First, the cause.
“Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, because they sell the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals—they who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and push the afflicted out of the way…” (Amos 2: 6-7).
As is clear from many other passages in the Old Testament, God is concerned with how the rich and powerful treat the poor and weak. After this, God showed Amos a couple of visions of the punishment that was coming.
“This is what the Lord GOD showed me: he was forming locusts at the time the latter growth began to sprout (it was the latter growth after the king’s mowings). When they had finished eating the grass of the land, I said,
‘O Lord GOD, forgive, I beg you!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!’
The LORD relented concerning this;
‘It shall not be’, said the LORD.
”This is what the Lord GOD showed me: the Lord GOD was calling for judgment by fire, and it devoured the great deep and was eating up the land. Then I said,
‘O Lord GOD, cease, I beg you!
How can Jacob stand?
He is so small!’
The LORD relented concerning this;
‘This also shall not be’, said the Lord GOD” (Amos 7: 1-6).
In both cases, God showed Amos a vision of what God was preparing for the future for Israel. But Amos prayed, and God relented. God is sovereign, but God is also interactive. God has the freedom of sovereignty.
Does God change his mind? I have faith that God keeps his conditional promise to relent and forgive when people actually repent of their sins; otherwise, we are all lost since we are all so small.
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