Jeremiah 18:1-12 English Standard Version

The Potter and the Clay

¹ The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ² “Arise, and 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 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.

⁵ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁶ “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. ⁷ If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, ⁸ 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. ⁹ And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ 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.’

¹² “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’

We who believe understand. No further comments about His precept are required.

We are not the ones that need to heed the lessons of history.

Isaiah 54:11-12 English Standard Version

¹¹ “O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires.^{[lapis lazuli]
12} I will make your pinnacles of agate,^{[jasper or ruby]} your gates of carbuncles,^[crytals] and all your wall of precious stones.

Today as I confessed a condition of being easily distracted, it came to me that my soul felt storm tossed, reacting to every wave that came against my ship. In this I saw myself at the wheel, in control of my course.

In doing a bible search for storm tossed, I was led to Isaiah 54.

Immediately I wondered why sapphire, agate and carbuncle all had footnotes ^{[footnotes included]} but antimony did not.

The Hebrew word for antimony is pûḵ which is, in modern terms, eye candy. The KJV uses the words various colors. What the ESV translators had in mind when they used the word antimony is beyond me.

Suddenly I became aware of why God has made me the man that I am. I will never be satisfied with what man is thinking. I want to know what God has to say.

That is me and I have no right to tell anyone they need to be like me. I am not a model posing for a statue to be put on a pedestal. What came before Isaiah 54:11-12 was the real message.

Isaiah 54:10 English Standard Version (ESV) For the mountains may depart  and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

His covenant of peace is the abiding love in our hearts. He is not to be found in the high places, nor on a pedestal. His steadfast love abides in our hearts and will never be moved.

Who am I to deny how He has made anyone?