Jeremiah 18:1-11; Thou Shall Break Them

"The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 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. 5 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 6 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. 7 At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 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. 9 And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10 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. 11 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."

Introduction

Two contradictory images or thoughts course through my mind when reading this passage. The first that rushes in is the tenor aria from Handel's Messiah, "Thou Shalt Break Them," which celebrates God's final judgment against unbelievers, where God dashes them in pieces like a potter's vessel. The Scripture Handel was thinking about for that aria was not Jer. 18 but Ps. 2:9. No matter. I think of Jeremiah observing the potter, who destroys and then refashions his work, and I hear Handel.

The second thought that comes to mind relates to the phenomenon of the Biblical prophets in general. They spoke the word of the Lord to the people. I think that when I was 20 years-old I not only reveled in that observation but I wanted to learn their language, discover their passion, master their message. But what I didn't realize at that time were things that only dawned on me later: (1) How do you/did the people at that time "know" that a prophet had a word from God? and (2) What use are the prophets today when they primarily speak of the fate of nations, nations that have long-perished? Does God work according to internationally-recognized boundaries of human societies? What about according to tribal units or ethnic groups?

So, the combination of these two questions cooled my ardor for the prophets. With respect to the first, I said to myself that if I had been present when Jeremiah lived, I might or might not have heeded his words. I probably would have been critical of him, since my general approach to life is to weigh what various people are saying, accept some of it and then discard (usually) more of what they say. That is what I expect people will do to my words. If someone responded, "Bill, this guy actually had the Spirit of God in him," I would wonder exactly how that worked, how they knew, what authority that gave him, whether you could oppose him and still preserve your life (cf. the story in Jer. 28), etc. In other words, I might be sympathetic to the general orientation of a prophetic individual; I might look for catchy turns of phrases or images he might suggest; but I don't think I would be following closely in his train. There are just too many things to discover on my own in life.

But the, on the other hand, all people who study the Bible should agree that it was the prophets who anchored Israel's history in a theological explanation, an explanation that has so entered the bloodstream of Judaism and Christianity that it is impossible now to speak of the history of Israel without mentioning the interpretive role of the prophets.

Thus, my current life with the prophets, whom I am "forced" to deal with because of the lectionary readings, recognizes their passion, insight, beautiful language and ideas, but tends to still have a bit of skepticism about their value in understanding the world of 2007. Yet, on the other hand, their passionate commitment to God, their cries for justice and righteousness, their lyric poetic language, still allures.

With this rather "mixed" endorsement of Jeremiah, let's turn to the memorable passage in Jer. 18.

I. Speaking in Pictures

The most useful teaching item I pick up from this passage is that the Word of God is communicated through pictures--through the common occupations of life. Jeremiah goes down to the potter to watch him at work. This will be the instrument through which the Word of God comes to him. Life provides illustrations of the divine Word. The reason we don't see more of the divine Word in practical living is that we probably don't look closely enough at life. We are in too much of a hurry, too much of a frenzy to establish our own meaning in life to let life itself speak to us on its own terms. But there are messages about life from all of life, if we will just stop and listen.

Let me give you an example. For the past three months I have been studying trees closely. I want to learn how to identify them, to appreciate their color, their shade, the life that flows within them. I also am aware that many trees aren't very pretty and some are real pests (I used to have a spreading sycamore on my front lawn in Kansas; cleaning up after the tree was a constant pain), but in general I am now enthralled with trees. I have been calling them "stationary dogs," because they bring joy into my life of the same kind that my former dogs, Murphy and Molly (golden retriever and West Highland terrier) used to bring. What I have learned from trees is that if I stop and learn their names, then they will urge me to stop next time I go by them, and they will give me a gift that I didn't have previously. This sounds pretty squishy, I am sure, but what I mean is that if I really stop and listen and watch the trees, they teach me about life. The major lesson that they taught me is that I have to learn names in order for meaning to come to me in rich ways. That is, once I know something's (or someone's) name, I tend to pause, and recognize the person/thing much more frequently. Trees have taught me the value of slowing down and realizing the meaning, the divine Presence, that pullulates all around me. Just as Jeremiah derived a lesson from life from the potter's work, so I learn lessons from the trees all around. How about you?

II. Waiting for the Word of God

What is significant about this passage is that Jeremiah received not one, but two words from God. At first he was told just to go down to the potter's house to watch him at work. So, Jeremiah went, and saw the potter's work spoiled and reworked. Only when he saw the result of his trip did a second word come from God. This second word interpreted the potter's rebuilding action as symbolic of God's ability and interest in destroying (and rebuilding) the people of God. All of life, all of a people's history, was caught up in that one little image of a potter working his clay.

If Jeremiah had just listened once for God he no doubt would have received a message but he wouldn't have received all the words from God. We may feel at times that we have received the Word of God, that we have been led to see a Biblical passage in a certain way, that we feel that we should act in a certain way. But what about if God really wants to speak a second word to us? Are we open to it? Listening for it? Willing to suspend judgment on the first word that came to us until we heard the second word? Jeremiah teaches us that even when we receive the Word of God, we ought to keep watching life, to see whether a subsequent word comes to us.

III. The Content of the Message

The content of Jeremiah's message is pretty straightforward--God can, like the potter, destroy and reform the clay. But there is some subtlety to the messsage, too--that whether the clay is re-shaped or destroyed depends on the will and commitment of the people to God. God can "change the divine mind" if the people, whom God said would be established, rebel against the Word of God. Exhibit one for this happening will be the people of Israel, who would end up going into exile within 20 years of Jeremiah's prophecy. He could see the "writing on the wall:" what he did was to put the flurry of late 6th century BCE events in the context of the sacred dealing of God with the people.

The words used in this passage are wonderful "Jeremiah" words. Like the Oregon oak which appears all over my beautiful state, the words of 18: 7-10 appear throughout Jeremiah. These are the words of God to Jeremiah in 1:4-10, and they remain the words of Jeremiah when he is a grown man. Building and planting, cutting down and destroying. These are the work of God as we live our lives.

Conclusion

Jeremiah urges me to look for divine lessons from the common activities of life, to listen for a second word from God, to try to discern meaning in the historical course of events before us. I feel with the prophet today, even if I don't know whether I would have completely felt with him 2600 years ago.

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