The document discusses a parable in pottery from Jeremiah 18:3-4. It uses this parable to draw comparisons between God as the potter and humans as clay vessels. As the potter, God has power and will either heal or destroy based on the clay's response. The prophet Jeremiah is called to be obedient, observant and helpful. However, the people respond with indignance, inventing their own paths and acting irrationally. In the end, God will destroy those who harden their hearts like a potter destroys a flawed vessel.

1. A Parable in Pottery
Jer 18:3-4
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he
wrought a work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the
hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as
seemed good to the potter to make it.
2Tim 2:20
…there are … vessels of …honour, and some to
dishonour.
Isa 52:11- Holy Vessels
Isa 66:20- Clean Vessels
Rom 9:22- Vessels of Wrath
Rom 9:23- Vessels of Mercy

2. I. The Potter
Consistently throughout scripture we see God portrayed as the
Potter.
Gen 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust
of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Man is mud and in the mirror “dum”.
Isa 29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down
shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the
work say of him that made it, He made me not? or
shall the thing framed say of him that framed it,
He had no understanding?
Isa 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker!
Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the

3. earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it,
What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?
Isa 64:8 But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we
are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are
the work of thy hand.
Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest
against God? Shall the thing formed say to him
that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
A. Profileof thePotter
1. “I can”
Jer 18:6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as
this potter?saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in
the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house
of Israel.

4. 2. “I will”repent forhealing orkilling
Jer 18:7-8 7 At what instant I shall speak
concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to
pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;
8 If that nation, against whom I have pronounced,
turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I
thought to do unto them.
Jer 18:10 If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my
voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I
said I would benefit them.
3. “Willyou?”
Jer 18:14 Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon
which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the
cold flowing waters that come from another place
be forsaken?

5. God offered himself to Israel in every way, and
presented his blessing and guidance to them. It is a
case of extreme insanity to reject flowing waters
and the fountain itself; Not only is this absurdity, it
is inexcusable.
The potter in the passage is the picture of
God. The Almighty is telling Jeremiah
“come see me and then I’ll tell you what’s
next”
Jer 18:1-2
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD,
saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and
there I will cause thee to hear my words.
If you will not obey the simple commands
of God he’ll never give you any more
sophisticated instructions.

6. Jer 13:1-3 1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go
and get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy
loins, and put it not in water.
2 So I got a girdle according to the word of the
LORD, and put it on my loins.
3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the
second time, saying,
Jer 19:2 And go forth unto the valley of the son
of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east
gate, and proclaim there the words that I shall
tell thee,
Acts 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said,
Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the
Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city,
and it shall be told thee what thou must do.

7. II. The Prophet
A. Obedient
Jer 18:3
3 Then I went down to the potter's house…
B. Observant
Jer 18:3
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and,
behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
C. Obliging
Obliging: willing to do a service or kindness; helpful.
Jer 18:20
20 Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they
have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I

8. stood before thee to speak good for them, and to
turn away thy wrath from them.
III. The Prophecy
Jer 18:11
11 Now therefore go to, speak to the men of Judah,
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus
saith the LORD; Behold, I frame evil against you,
and devise a device against you: return ye now
every one from his evil way, and make your ways
and your doings good.
God’s vengeance is now prepared and is
suspended over your heads, except you
turn now and repent; God’s vengeance will
fall.

9. Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his
voice, harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation.
2Chr 30:8 Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers
were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter
into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever:
and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of
his wrath may turn away from you.
Repentance is more than agreeing with God; it is
agreeing and submitting to God.
2Chr 36:11-13 11 Zedekiah was one and twenty
years old when he began to reign, and reigned
eleven years in Jerusalem.
12 And he did that which was evil in the sight of the
LORD his God, and humbled not himself before
Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of
the LORD.
13 And he also rebelled against king
Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God:

10. but he stiffened his neck, and hardened his heart
from turning unto the LORD God of Israel.
IV. The People
A. Indignant
Jer 18:12 And they said, There is no hope…
B. Inventive
Jer 18:12 …but we will walk after our own devices,
and we will every one do the imaginationof his evil
heart.
C. Irrational
Jer 18:18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise
devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish
from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the
word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him

11. with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of
his words.
V. Conclusion
Jer 19
1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen
bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the
ancients of the priests;
2 And go forth unto the valley of the son of Hinnom,
which is by the entry of the east gate, and proclaim there
the words that I shall tell thee,
4 Because they have forsaken me
5 They have built also the high places of Baal,
6 Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that
this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley
of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter.
7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah …and I will
cause them to fall by the sword
8 And I will make this city desolate

12. 9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and
the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one
the flesh of his friend in the siege and straitness, …
10 Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the
men that go with thee,
11 And shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD of
hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as
one breaketh a potter's vessel,that cannot be made
whole again: and they shall bury them in Tophet, till
there be no place to bury.
15 …because they have hardened their necks, that they
might not hear my words.
It all ends right where it began.
Jer 18:2
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I
will cause thee to hear my words.
Every man is a lump of clay that will be
worked by the Potters hands.

13. A rebellious heathen, or an obedient prophet-
all will be a demonstration of the unalterable
laws of the Potter’s House.
A Parable in Pottery (Jer 18:3-4)
I. The Potter
A. Profile of the Potter
1. “I can”
2. “I will” repent for healing or killing
3. “Will you?”
II. The Prophet
A. Obedient
B. Observant
C. Obliging
III. The Prophecy
IV. The People
A. Indignant
B. Inventive
C. Irrational
V. Conclusion