Jeremiah Chapter 18 – The Heart of Our Potter

We are the clay, and the Lord is our potter. We are all the work of His hand. (Isaiah 64:8)

Imagine the potter’s hand aggressively kneading down onto the clay. It’s daunting to then think of ourselves as helpless clay, almost oppressed, unable to speak or possess any free will at all.

But that’s not the heart of our potter, who gives us free will and wants very much for us to pour our heart to Him.

The heart of our potter is the heart of mercy.

The purpose of the difficulties and even disasters that our potter might send our way is not to condescend us just because He can. He allows these challenges neither out of bitter pettiness nor the sake of punishment.

The Lord tells Jeremiah, “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.” (Jeremiah 18:9)

He forgives. His heart’s biggest purpose is to lead us all to repentance. God wants to bring you and me back to Heaven to be safe, joyful, and deeply at peace (Acts 17:30; 1 Timothy 2:4; Revelation 21:4).

Another prophet who calls God our potter is Isaiah.

“But now, O LORD,

You are our Father;

We are the clay, and You our potter;

And all we are the work of Your hand.

Do not be furious, O LORD,

Nor remember iniquity forever;

Indeed, please look—we all are Your people!” (Isaiah 64:8-9)

The heart of our potter is the heart of a father.

God is no imperfect human father. He plays the role of the most ideal dad that anyone could ever be, that anyone could ever have. Patient, kind, ever-loving, generous, righteous, forgiving, wanting the best and only the best for his child…

His heart is the heart of the perfect parental love. He adores His children perfectly, and He teaches them how to become good and righteous people.

The heart of our potter is the heart of true righteousness and justice.

If you have seen in the news how some parents defend their grown children’s crimes, however perverse, you might have been shocked. How could their love be so blinded to what’s utterly wrong?

Our God’s fatherly love is not like this, for it is inseparable from justice and righteousness.

God spoke severely of punishing Israel and sending disaster to mold His clay because they were terribly evil.

Other than committing idolatry (Jeremiah 18:15), they did not care for the needy and fatherless (Jeremiah 5:28). They murdered innocent people (Jeremiah 2:30, 34). Nobody could be trusted, for lying was a persistent and ubiquitous habit (Jeremiah 5:27). Not only did they visit prostitutes often, every one desired their neighbour’s spouse (Jeremiah 5:7-8). Above all, and very sadly, they believed that they were innocent (Jeremiah 2:35).

This is a reminder for us not to take the potter’s heart of fatherly love and kindness for granted. Anyone who follows the Lord but does evil in His sight, not obeying His voice, stands to lose the good that God wants to give him (Jeremiah 18:9).

But God’s punishment should not be the only thing we set our eyes on, lest we forget His love and forgiveness we receive when we turn to Him.

Through whatever God allows us to go through, we can humbly surrender ourselves to be molded by Him. Remember our potter’s heart of mercy, fatherly love, and righteousness.

Our potter holds us close. We can praise Him, for by His hands, we are fearfully and wonderfully made into better children of God.

•