August 11, 2012 … Potter and the Clay

Chronological Bible Reading Plan - Day 224 

Passage of the Day: Reference of Today’s Chronological Bible Study: Jeremiah 18-22 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -

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 Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 18: 1-4: 5-6; 11-12; 18; 23 :[NIV] … 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:2 "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message."3 So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel.4 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. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me.6 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 …. 11 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.'12 But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; we will all follow the stubbornness of our evil hearts.'" … 18 They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not cease, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says." … 23 But you, Lord, know all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger.
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Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 19: 1-3 :[NIV] … 1 This is what the Lord says: "Go and buy a clay jar from a potter. Take along some of the elders of the people and of the priests2 and go out to the Valley of Ben Hinnom, near the entrance of the Potsherd Gate. There proclaim the words I tell you, 3 and say, 'Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem. This is what theLord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Listen! I am going to bring a disaster on this place that will make the ears of everyone who hears of it tingle. … 10 "Then break the jar while those who go with you are watching, 11 and say to them, 'This is what the Lord Almighty says: I will smash this nation and this city just as this potter's jar is smashed and cannot be repaired. They will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.
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Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 20: 18 :[NIV] … 18 Why did I ever come out of the womb to see trouble and sorrow and to end my days in shame?
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Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 21: 11-12 :[NIV] … 11 "Moreover, say to the royal house of Judah, 'Hear the word of the Lord.12 This is what the Lord says to you, house of David: "'Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done — burn with no one to quench it.
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Highlight Passage: Jeremiah 22: 1-5; :[NIV] … 1 This is what the Lord says: "Go down to the palace of the king of Judah and proclaim this message there: 2 'Hear the word of the Lord to you, king of Judah, you who sit on David's throne—you, your officials and your people who come through these gates. 3 This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. 4 For if you are careful to carry out these commands, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this palace, riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by their officials and their people. 5 But if you do not obey these commands, declares the Lord, I swear by myself that this palace will become a ruin.'" 
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Reference Study Passage : Romans 9 16-21 [NIV] To study these chapters, go to this link -

My Journal for Today: Okay, another big chunk out of the Book of Jeremiah today; and today’s passages, highlighted/copied above, use a parable (mostly in Chapter 19-20 in today’s reading segment) to tell of God’s sovereignty and His desire that His chosen ones be shaped into His image. In this story, God has Jeremiah usinv a word picture which New Testament Bible students will recognize. It is the parable of the Potter and the clay, … God, of course, being THE POTTER; and we broken, imperfect humans pictured as broken pots of clay.

The Apostle Paul used this imagery when he was writing about the all-consuming sovereignty of God to the Roman Christians in Romans 9: 16-21 to which I’ve linked any followers here today. And the point of God’s use of this imagery, first through Jeremiah and then Paul, was to have His believer-beloved to recognize that He, … God, … can shape His created ones just the way He, The Potter, desires; and he can spare any of those broken pots to be reshaped and reformed by His loving hands … if HE so desires.

And if you study and meditate through the five chapters of today’s chronological reading segment, one has to come away with the clear impression that God could have destroyed all of Zion, i.e., Judah; but for those – His remnant of followers – who continued to pursue His will, holding on to the truth of His promises to David, God, the Master Potter would see fit to protect these followers, even until He would send His Son as their Messiah – Redeemer.

So, for those of us – broken pots – who’ve been created by God, the Father and redeemed by God’s Spirit through His Son and are now predestined to be reshaped into the image of our Lord, Jesus, … let us declare a loud and hearty HALLELUJAH!!! 

My Prayer Today: … And I say again, my Lord, God, … You are the Master Potter. I am Your clay being reshaped from my brokenness into Your image. For this I declare a resounding ... HALLELUJAH!!! Amen