LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for April 10: Conform to Divine Potter’s will for your life_40405
Posted: 3/29/05
LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for April 10
Conform to Divine Potter's will for your life
Jeremiah 16:1-20; 18
By Dennis Tucker
Truett Seminary, Waco
Symbolic acts were a central feature found in most prophetic texts in both Israel and Judah. Typically, these acts were carried out by the prophet, or they were an act performed by others but observed by the prophet.
Yet in the prophetic literature, a symbolic act was much more than merely an “illustration” of what the prophet was saying. In some ways, the symbolic acts carried more weight than the words themselves–the intent of God became manifest before the eyes of the observer.
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There are numerous symbolic acts in the book of Jeremiah. The larger background text for this week reminds us of two important symbolic acts in Jeremiah–one to be performed by Jeremiah himself, the other an act to be observed by Jeremiah.
The celibacy of Jeremiah as a symbolic act
In Jeremiah 16, Jeremiah is asked to perform a symbolic act–but this act differs in important ways from other acts. We are told in verse 1 that “the word of the Lord” came to Jeremiah, and he is told “You must not marry and have sons or daughters in this place” (v. 2).
This symbolic act differs greatly from most other acts, including the act in Jeremiah 18 (discussed below). Rarely are prophets asked to perform symbolic acts that would permanently and radically alter the life of the prophet. More often than not, as seen in Ezekiel, these acts are performed once in an effort to announce a “word from the Lord.” But Jeremiah is asked to refrain from marrying or having children.
The rationale offered for Jeremiah's celibacy is complex and somewhat disturbing. The lines that immediately follow this “word of the Lord” discuss the judgment that is to fall upon the people–upon the sons and daughters, mothers and fathers. The impending scene of doom is ominous: “They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth” (v. 4). The implication is clear: Jeremiah, the prophet who is to announce this hard of word of judgment, must also bear the pain and loss of this stubborn and stiff-necked people.
This example may prove challenging today to many who want to announce “hard words of judgment” against others. Jeremiah invites such prophets to enter into the pain and loss of those who may appear stubborn to the ways of God. Those who self-righteously disassociate themselves from others in the name of religious fidelity should reconsider the symbolic act of Jeremiah 16.
The potter's house as a symbolic act
In chapter 18, Jeremiah is instructed to go down to the potter's house where God says, “I will give you my message” (the Hebrew literally reads, “my words”). The symbolic act is rather simple. While the potter is making a vessel, he discovers the vessel is malformed. To remedy this, the potter begins anew, forming it into another pot. This image of making and remaking becomes integral to the message of judgment received by Jeremiah in the remainder of the chapter.
Although the connections between the action of the potter and the potential future of Judah are easy enough to identify, there are deeper issues in this text worth considering. The text offers fertile ground for reflection on the relationship between divine sovereignty and human freedom. Often interpreters feel the need to side with one notion or the other, either the text expresses divine sovereignty or human freedom. Yet chapter 18 suggests such ideas are not easily disentangled from one another.
The text does give evidence of a strong sense of divine sovereignty–but such sovereignty should not be construed as a form of determinism incapable of change or adaptation. The opening lines assert the freedom of God to act out of his sovereignty, “Can I not do with them as this potter does?” The rhetorical answer is unequivocally “yes.” Yet the speech of God reminds Jeremiah, and us, that the plan of God and his sovereignty is always open to human responsiveness.
God announces in verse 7 that if he should choose, he could have a kingdom “uprooted, torn down or destroyed” (Jeremiah 1:10). But this proclamation of divine sovereignty is balanced by the reference to human freedom in verse 8. God suggests that if a nation “repents” or “turns back” from its evil, then God will “relent” or “change (his) mind.” God's first plan of destruction can be altered based upon human responsiveness, based on human freedom.
In verses 11-12, the tension between divine sovereignty and human freedom is heightened. God announces, “I am preparing a disaster for you.” The word for “preparing” comes from the same root as the word for potter (yasar). God, in effect, announces he is the Divine Potter and his people have become malformed. Yet, unlike the lifeless clay mentioned earlier in the chapter, the people of God can alter the outcome. Jeremiah announces they should “turn from (their) evil ways.”
Verse 13, however, suggests human freedom does not imply people always will respond appropriately. Even in the face of divine sovereignty, and even in the face of impending disaster, humans may (and frequently do) choose “to continue with (their) own plans” (v. 12). The failure of people to “turn from their evil ways” does not diminish the role of human freedom, nor does it heighten the role of divine sovereignty. Rather their failure, and the subsequent exile, suggests matters of human freedom and divine sovereignty are matters of great significance.
The give and take between the Divine Potter and his “vessel-in-the-making” is predicated upon a relationship–one the takes seriously the role of the other in achieving the intended end. To choose one (human freedom or divine sovereignty) at the expense of the other is to misread the story of Jeremiah–and, perhaps more tragically, it is to misunderstand the biblical witness of God's mysterious way with his beloved people.
Discussion questions
Do the words of the people in verse 12–“It's no use. We will continue with our own plans”–sound familiar to you? When have you chosen to exercise your human freedom by turning aside from God's plan?
Does the notion of God as the Divine Potter resonate with the images of God presented in the remainder of the biblical canon?