Jeremiah has spoken the word...
Illustration
Jeremiah has spoken the word of the Lord. He has had to speak a very difficult message, a hard message from the Lord to the people. And the people don't like it! In fact, they have threatened Jeremiah. The prophet wants to see God's vengeance against them. Is this a character flaw in Jeremiah?
In his youth Jeremiah saw a vision of the potter working on the wheels --the vessel he was forming was marred; but, because it was still soft, the potter was able to make another vessel out of it --not the one originally designed, but still one of use and honor. Later on, the prophet was commanded to take a potter's bottle --completely formed and hardened, not capable of being worked over --and break it in the valley of Hinnom. The clay had been made into the bottle, and the bottle had been hardened in the fire. Its quality was fixed; since it did not suit the owner's purpose, it was good for nothing and was shivered into fragments.
Youth is a picture of the first vision. Its clay is soft. The mistakes made may be remedied. But middle life and age is a picture of the second vision. The vessel has been completely formed, hardened in the fire of experience, and no improvement usually can be made. All the mistakes and mars must remain.
In his youth Jeremiah saw a vision of the potter working on the wheels --the vessel he was forming was marred; but, because it was still soft, the potter was able to make another vessel out of it --not the one originally designed, but still one of use and honor. Later on, the prophet was commanded to take a potter's bottle --completely formed and hardened, not capable of being worked over --and break it in the valley of Hinnom. The clay had been made into the bottle, and the bottle had been hardened in the fire. Its quality was fixed; since it did not suit the owner's purpose, it was good for nothing and was shivered into fragments.
Youth is a picture of the first vision. Its clay is soft. The mistakes made may be remedied. But middle life and age is a picture of the second vision. The vessel has been completely formed, hardened in the fire of experience, and no improvement usually can be made. All the mistakes and mars must remain.
