This Sunday, I will be teaching a class on The Sovereignty of God at Campbell Road Chruch of Christ in Garland, TX. Here is an excerpt from my book, The Sovereignty of God regarding the Potter and the Clay:
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The Potter and the Clay: Over Nations
To illustrate His sovereignty as Creator, God spoke to the prophets and used the illustration of a potter and clay. He did this with both Isaiah and Jeremiah. Let’s look at what He said to Jeremiah because He walks us through the illustration using a real-life potter and not just imagery.
“The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: “Arise, and 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 at his wheel.” (Jeremiah 18:1-3 ESV).
Jeremiah gets a visual lesson of God’s sovereignty. He is instructed to go to the potter’s house and watch him create a vessel on his wheel. In this object lesson, Jeremiah observes that the clay vessel has some defect. So, what happens when the potter sees something he does not like with the clay vessel he is creating?
“And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.” (Jeremiah 18:4 ESV).
The potter had some choices to make, didn’t he? He could have destroyed the clay vessel and given up on his creation, or he could have left the defect or spoil in the vessel. But in this case, the potter chose to refashion the clay into the vessel he wanted it to be. This potter was sovereign over the lump of clay. Then God speaks to this object lesson:
“Then the word of the LORD came to me: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the LORD. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.” (Jeremiah 18:5-6 ESV).
God is saying to Israel that He is the Potter and Israel is the clay. As their creator, He can do with Israel whatever He chooses to do with them. He can mold or fashion them into anything He wants them to be. The potter didn’t have to consult with the clay to see if it was all right for him to fashion it into something else, did he? Neither does God have to consult and agree with Israel on what He will make of it.
“If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it.” (Jeremiah 18:7-8 ESV).
God even extends His sovereignty over Israel to all nations. We will look at this in more detail later in the book, but His point here is that just as He is sovereign over Israel, so is He sovereign as the potter over all nations. He has the power to break up and destroy anytime He chooses.
Put another peg in this verse that we will discuss later. As part of His sovereignty, God is free to devote a nation to destruction, and if that nation repents, God in His sovereignty can choose to relent and spare the nation from the harm He “intended to do to it.” There is so much about free will and the sovereignty of God that many can’t wrap their minds around. And with good reason. God’s sovereignty is so far above our finite ability to comprehend that we may never have all the answers. Spoiler Alert- I will not be able to explain all there is about God’s sovereignty in this book. But I will encourage us to be slow to build elaborate belief systems based on things we think might be true. More on this later. But God not only discusses His sovereignty over nations to break and destroy them, but He also tells Jeremiah that He has the sovereignty to build and plant:
“And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it.” (Jeremiah 18:9-10 ESV).
As the potter over nations, God can also choose to build up and plant any nation. We say nations rise and fall at God’s will, which is true. God establishes the governments (Romans 13:1). Just as repentance can change the decree of God against the ones He intends to destroy, so can evil from the nations cause God to relent from the good He had “intended to do to it.”
And so, the message of the potter and the clay to Jeremiah is that God is building/planting a nation to be His instrument of wrath against Israel, which he intends to break down and destroy:
“Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’” (Jeremiah 18:11 ESV).
God’s illustration here is that He is sovereign over even the nations. He can do what He intends to do to them because He is powerful enough to do it, He has the will to do it, and He can ensure that it turns out exactly as He intends. Things never get out of God’s control. He never has a miscalculation where He unleashes a monster that does more damage than He intends or inadvertently judges a nation more harshly than He intends. God is in perfect control over everything that He intends, and as we will see later, He will accomplish all of His purposes:
“remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’” (Isaiah 46:9-10 ESV).
In the book of Matthew, it’s interesting how Jesus and the religious leaders asked each other questions. The religious leaders did it to trap Jesus because they had preconceived ideas they wanted to defend. Jesus was a challenge to their belief, and they refused to submit to the truth. Instead, they sought to discredit Him by setting traps for Him.
“And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23 ESV).
“And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Matthew 22:16-17 ESV).
“In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” (Matthew 22:28 ESV).
In all of these instances, the religious leaders were not seeking knowledge; they were seeking to trick Jesus and prove He was a fraud. They didn’t have a good and honest heart, seeking truth. They were only concerned about defending their carefully crafted beliefs.
There is a lesson for us. Do we seek the truth, or do we seek to defend our carefully crafted beliefs? If our hearts refuse to consider truth, then we run the risk of standing condemned because we defend our beliefs rather than let His words fashion what our beliefs should be.
Truth is never concerned about an honest examination, but our own crafted beliefs will seek to silence examination.
Tomorrow, we will discuss the purpose of the questions that Jesus poses to the religious leaders in the book of Matthew.
I just saw a couple of old people on TV. Wrinkles, slow moving, and gray hair were the tell-tale signs.
Then I found out that they were my age.
Ecclesiastes 12 came to mind.
The good thing about growing old and seeing signs of aging in your body is that it gives you a greater appreciation for the promised new body that awaits us in heaven.
I just saw this on a T-shirt and I love it:
“The devil saw me with my head down and thought he had won...
Until I said ‘Amen.’”
Yesterday, we looked at some of the questions that the religious leaders asked Jesus in the book of Matthew. These questions were not asked to seek truth, but to trap Jesus because they wanted to defend their carefully crafted beliefs, and Jesus posed a threat to those beliefs.
Today, let’s look at some of the questions that Jesus asked the religious leaders. What can we learn from the questions He posed to them?
When Jesus was asked if we should pay taxes, Jesus responded by asking for a coin.
“And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” (Matthew 22:20 ESV).
When the religious leaders asked Him by what authority he was doing things,
“Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things.
The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” (Matthew 21:24-25b ESV).
And Jesus asked about their perception of who the Messiah was:
“Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said to him, “The son of David.” (Matthew 22:41-42 ESV).
Jesus went on to quote Scripture that talks about the Messiah and finished with:
“If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?” (Matthew 22:45 ESV).
Unlike the religious leaders, Jesus was not asking these questions to trap people, nor was he asking questions to avoid answering the hard questions. Jesus was asking questions to get to the heart of the religious leader.
His questions were designed to force them to address their heart. On paying taxes, Jesus saw through their attempt to trap Him rather than seek an answer to a genuine question, and He asked them a question that demonstrated they could obey God while obeying the powers God had instituted (Romans 13:1).
When asked by what authority He was doing things, Jesus responded with a question that demonstrated they were not really interested in the answer He would give. The religious leaders would have pounced on whatever answer He gave, so Jesus turned the question on them and put them in the position they sought to put Him in.
And when Jesus asked whose son David was and what it meant that David called Him Lord, Jesus was forcing the religious leaders to make a decision about who the Messiah was. They expected the Messiah to be a physical leader who would deliver Israel from Rome and from all enemies, yet in their minds, the Messiah would live neatly within the social structure they built for Him.
By asking these questions, Jesus challenged the carefully crafted beliefs and made them come face-to-face with their beliefs, and forced them to choose what to defend. Jesus didn’t ask these questions to trap people but to shine the light of truth into their hearts and to expose what they believed.
Jesus asks us questions throughout His word which are designed to shed light into our hearts. What do we do with His questions? Do we seek to ignore or explain away the questions we face or do we let them fashion the truth we hold fast to?
Jesus asks us:
Who am I?
Do you love Me? Do you love your neighbor?
Will you choose me or your fleshly appetites?
Am I worth sacrificing for, or will you choose your desires over serving me?
These questions go to our hearts, and Jesus forces us to answer. There is no middle ground, no mediocre path, and no room for compromise.
Jesus asks us questions that will draw a sharp distinction between what we will give to Him versus how we will live to ourselves.
These questions will shine light into our hearts. We can ignore these questions and refuse to answer, but this in and of itself is an answer that exposes our hearts.
Jesus asked the religious leaders some tough questions that required tough answers that they were not willing to give. Because of this, their place at His table was given to someone else.
That place at his table is reserved for you and me, provided we have a good and honest heart that listens to the questions He asks and seeks to bring our answers into subjection to the Messiah’s will.
Something to think about... On the Day of Judgment:
There will be no protests.
There will be no bribes.
There will be no bail, cashless or otherwise.
There will be no defense lawyers to speak on our behalf.
There will be no preponderance of the evidence.
There will be no false convictions.
There will be no appeals.
Judgment will be swift, perfect, just and merciful from an infallible Judge.
Judgment will be final.
Don’t confuse human judgment and justice with Divine judgment and justice.
While we watch TV,
Eat dinner with family and friends,
Plan for the Christmas holiday,
Prepare for the weekend,
And get ready for the New Year 2023,
Angels are singing around the throne,
While our King and High Priest is awaiting word from the Father to return for His people.
As we make plans, let’s not forget to prepare for the most important plans of all.
“You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Luke 12:40 ESV).
As I am reading the book of Mark, I see over and over how the Scribes and Pharisees have a problem they cannot get past; a problem that will ultimately damn them because it causes them to reject Jesus:
“And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts,
“Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:5-7 ESV).
From one standpoint, we understand this. Anyone who claims that which belongs to God alone should be condemned as a blasphemer. But in light of the promised prophesies that pointed to Jesus, they should have been open to testing His claims in light of prophecies.
But they would not. They didn’t give Jesus a chance to show that He was the promised Messiah. Instead, they rejected Him outright. Why did they do this?
They did this because they held Jesus to their standards. If Jesus were held to the standards of man, then they would be correct. But God can do what man cannot do. God can forgive sins; man cannot.
Once they held Jesus to their own standards, then nothing would allow His acceptance within their hearts.
This is a danger that we must all be careful of. God is not held to our standards. We must fight against holding him to our expectations. Instead, we must study to understand the expectations that the Scriptures give us about Him.
If we hold Him to the standard that He must forgive the way we expect Him to forgive, then we are guilty of the same closeminded sinfulness of the Scribes and Pharisees.
If we hold Him to the standard to teach what we think He should teach, then we are guilty of the same closeminded sinfulness of the Scribes and Pharisees.
If we hold Him to the standard to rule the way we expect Him to rule, then we are guilty of the same closeminded sinfulness of the Scribes and Pharisees.
If we bring our standards to Jesus without having a heart open to see Him for who He is, then we will only be happy by making Jesus into our image of Him.
We must have a heart that seeks to know Him and a heart ready to accept Him for who He is. These are the ones who will be invited to dine at His table with Him.
Questions I ask myself:
Am I a peacemaker or a troublemaker?
Am I encouraging or unsupportive?
Do I assume the best in others or do I assume the worst?
Am I a giver or a taker?
Do I demand or do I serve?
Do I spread hurtful things or do I protect others’ reputation?
Do I give grace or exact revenge?
I have a lot of work to be more like my Savior.
“For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” (Romans 8:29 ESV).
This is what you live for as a father...
My six-year-old and I went to a Bible study at the preacher’s house tonight. Ryder went upstairs to play with the other kids during the study.
When we got home, he mentioned that he told some other kids about Jesus.
I pray Emily and I can continue to cultivate this heart in him as he gets older.
There is a very interesting thing that Jesus says in the book of Mark. As He is eating with tax collectors and sinners, the disciples of John and the Pharisees ask Him this question:
“Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” (Mark 2:18 ESV).
The disciples of John and the Pharisees are guilty of what we are often guilty of doing. We have a preconceived idea of what Jesus should be like and when He doesn’t fit our idea of Him, we question Him.
Here is how Jesus explains it:
“And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.
The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.
No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the patch tears away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.
And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins--and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins.” (Mark 2:19-22 ESV) .
Jesus came to bring “different”. He came to fulfill the law, not to perpetuate the law. If Jesus merely conformed to the old ways of doing things, then He could not fulfill what He came to do.
Jesus would be different and teach differently. If He tried to conform, then it would be like putting a new patch on old wineskins.
For the Jews, it meant that Jesus didn’t come to simply be like all the other Rabbis. For us, it means that Jesus will not conform to our expectations. We must conform to His. When His expectations and our expectations clash, it’s like putting a new cloth on old wineskins. Something is going to tear.
The only way our life will find harmony is to see Jesus for Who He is and to conform our lives to His. Approaching Him any other way will simply not work.
We are interesting creatures.
We can see a moment of good in an evil person and forever see them as good afterward.
And we can see a moment of weakness in a righteous person and forever see them as evil afterward.
There is truth that we only get one chance to make a first impression,
But it’s important to be willing to let our first impressions of people change if it’s warranted.
How willing we are to change our first impressions of someone goes to our character and to the people God wants us to be.