Coachlight Bible Study

The Greatest Faith Builder Is God’s Word – Romans 10:17

Learning Something Much More Important – The Personality of the Potter

Romans 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

Romans 9:14 ¶ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.

Romans 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

Romans 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.

Romans 9:19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Romans 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?

Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay…

Jeremiah Chapters 18-19 – Learning Something Much More Important

Book of Jeremiah – God’s Word Over Conventional Wisdom – Chapters 1-19
Reference	Chapter 1	Chapters 2-6	Chapters 7-11	Chapters 12-19
Focus	Commission	Prophesies To Judah
Division	Jeremiah’s Call	Messages During Josiah’s Reformation	Messages During Revival - After The Temple Remodeled And The Book Found	Messages After Josiah’s Death And Before Zedekiah’s Reign
Message	People Are Stiff-Necked	People Have Substitutes For God	Damning Religion - Demonstrating Only Outward Worship of God	Too Late For The Nation – Judgment On It’s Way
Direction	Jeremiah To Speak Only God’s Words	REPENT - “Break up fallow ground” – “Circumcision of the Heart”	REPENT – “Return to God”	Sovereignty of the Creator - Do Not Place Your Trust In Man
Personality of the Potter	Jeremiah 18:8 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.
Time	640 B.C. to 597 B.C.

Judah’s problem, and our problem today, is allegiance to the conventional wisdom of the day, thus rejecting the Word of God. Judah’s conventional wisdom came from three main voices:

1.) Voice of the False Prophets: Ezekiel 13:3, 10; Jeremiah 27:15

False Prophets deny God’s Word with their message: Jerusalem will not be destroyed

This we would call today a “positive message” But God’s Word stated that Jerusalem would be destroyed, unless the people “returned” to God. (Repentance or agreeing with God’s Word.)

2.) Voice of Contemporary Psychology: Jeremiah 29:29-30; Ezekiel 18:10

Excuses - “Fathers have eaten sour grapes and their children’s teeth are set on edge” – In other words, “Our fathers were idolaters, and that is the reason we practice idolatry.” Today, it is also a denial of individual responsibility. (Example: Blame it on parents, culture, Christians, etc.)

3.) Voice of the Danger of Idolatry – Attribute God’s Power and Majesty to idols.

In Judah’s time they tried to appease the moon god, etc., thinking they would have peace. Today, it is appeasing the “living and breathing mother earth.” Evolution is the demonstration of attributing God’s power in Creation to the elements of earth. Somehow it created itself, and eventually evolved into living things. There is no real scientific proof that any Biblical “kind” ever changed into another “kind”; so they just allow millions of years for the impossible to occur. The result, is the denying of God’s Word.

In chapters 18-19, God has Jeremiah go down to the potter’s to illustrate God’s Answer to Jeremiah’s trials and Judah’s Future.

I. Jeremiah’s Question When Threatened By Anathoth

Jeremiah 12:1 ¶ Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?

God gave Jeremiah an answer, but Jeremiah’s question was not answered. Jeremiah evidently was not in the proper frame of mind to receive the answer from God, so God answered Jeremiah’s question by effectively saying, you aint seen nothing yet. In other words, things are going to get worse. Jeremiah did not see the ‘big picture’ and was not asking the correct question.

God then directed Jeremiah through the next trials preparing Jeremiah to learn something much more important than the ‘here and now’ problem he faced. We will see that not only was the trial and subsequent answer worth the journey through the trials, but the answer surpassed any anticipated results, but was preparing Jeremiah for the next message and next trial. The Righteous Judge is concerned both with people and Jeremiah.

God will do the same today for us.

II. Jeremiah’s First Intercession:– What Will Gentiles Think

Jeremiah 14:7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

Jeremiah 14:8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?

Jeremiah 14:9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.

III. God’s 1^st Response – Judgment - religious but God’s Word Rejected

Jeremiah 14:10 ¶ Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.

Jeremiah 14:11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.

Jeremiah 14:12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.

Notice that Jeremiah acknowledges God as the Savior. This was also known to the Gentile world around them. Jeremiah undoubtedly thought that the people would have repented by now and Jeremiah was concerned about God’s image in the minds of the Gentiles if Jerusalem was destroyed. Notice that God answered by inferring that they are religious, but have no change of heart. Therefore God will not hear them even when they fast and go through their religious services. This question reveals that:

(1) Jeremiah doesn’t see the big picture of this situation, and Therefore

(2) Jeremiah is not asking the correct question.

I have a question for you. What is it about God that makes Him have the ability to be the Savior of Judah or anybody else?

IV. Jeremiah’s 2nd Intercession – It is the fault of the false prophets

Jeremiah 14:13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place.

V. God’s 2^nd Response – I did not send the false prophets

Jeremiah 14:14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.

Jeremiah 14:15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.

Jeremiah 14:16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.

I was surprised the first time I read this. Jeremiah must have been very depressed as further chapters will reveal. While Jeremiah acknowledges God as Lord, he only gave an excuse to God defending the people. The excuse was basically, they hear the voices of their false prophets denying what God is telling them.

God’s answer was that He did not send the false prophets, and God will judge them as well. Jeremiah’s third question reveals that Jeremiah still did not understand why the people were suffering so much in the drought. It also reveals that Jeremiah is still not asking the correct question.

Again another question: “What gives God the ability to be Lord?” Could someone else be Lord over Judah?

VI. God’s Message To The People – The heart of the Righteous Judge

Jeremiah 14:17 ¶ Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.

Jeremiah 14:18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.

VII. Jeremiah’s 3^rd Intercession – Remember Your Covenant

A. Remember Your Covenant

Jeremiah 14:19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!

Jeremiah 14:20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.

Jeremiah 14: Do not abhor us, for thy name’s sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.

Now Jeremiah is beginning in the right direction. He is getting at the “Heart of the Matter”. He is acknowledging God’s throne – thus God’s sovereignty, and and coming before the Lord when he has confusion about God’s Word. This is the right condition of the heart to receive an answer from God.

B. Acknowledgement that the Creator has complete Power

Jeremiah 14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.

Now Jeremiah is beginning to but not completely seeing the ‘big picture’. Jeremiah acknowledges God having complete power over creation because He is the Creator. All others are powerless in creation and therefore powerless to affect the events concerning the people. Notice the way that God responds to Jeremiah after this acknowledgment of the Creator’s sovereignty. Yes, God is able to be Lord and Savior, as well as King because He is the Creator of all things. Many have attempted to be Lord throughout the ages, and many with the help of the great deceiver, Satan. All these have failed and will fail because there is only one Creator.

IX. God’s 3^rd Response

Jeremiah 15:1 ¶ Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.

X. God’s Word to the Rebellious People

Jeremiah 15:2 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.

Jeremiah 15:3 And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the LORD: the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to devour and destroy.

Jeremiah 15:4 And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.

Jeremiah 15:5 For who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go aside to ask how thou doest?

Jeremiah 15:6 Thou hast forsaken me, saith the LORD, thou art gone backward: therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee; I am weary with repenting.

Jeremiah 15:7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

God tells Jeremiah to answer the people when they ask that the false prophets are wrong, and God’s Words through Jeremiah are correct. Since there is no repentance, God will send judgment, many will die, and the residue will be scattered throughout the globe.

Jeremiah understands partially, but does not understand:

(1) His original question, “Why do the wicked prosper?”

(2) What about the eternal covenant made with His people?

In other words, God because He is Creator He has the authority to pronounce righteous judgment. But can God rescind His eternal covenant with His people? What about the Gentiles? What will they think?

In short, Jeremiah is closer to the answer, but is still confused. Is the Creator God just keeping Jeremiah in the dark? No, of course not. God is heating up Jeremiah’s trial, bringing him closer to the position to receive the answer.

XI. Jeremiah’s Trial Worsens – Why Me?

Jeremiah 15: 10 ¶ Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.

XII. God Responds To Jeremiah – I will be your shield

Jeremiah 15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

XIII. Jeremiah Asks God For Understanding

Jeremiah 15: 15 ¶ O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke.

Jeremiah 15:16 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.

Jeremiah 15:17 I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation.

Jeremiah 15:18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail?

Now it looks like Jeremiah isn’t concerned with his first question, “Why do the wicked prosper?”, From this Jeremiah realizes that:

(1) God because He is Creator has complete Control over the events of the world.

(2) Jeremiah also realizes that God, as Righteous Judge will protect Jeremiah agaist those that want to kill him

But what about the Eternal Covenant? This reminds me of Abraham’s question to God when God was judging Sodom: “Will the Judge of the world do right?” You see, Jeremiah realizes that the Righteous Creator has the authority and power to wipe out the deserving population of Judah, but can the Righteous Creator break His covenant with them?

Jeremiah lacks understanding to go through his trial, but Jeremiah took this misunderstanding to the right person. In effect Jeremiah said Lord I acknowledge who You are and what You are doing, but I do not see how you can break your covenant.

XIV. Jeremiah Is Now Ready To Receive God’s Answer

Jeremiah 16:14 ¶ Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that it shall no more be said, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt;

Jeremiah 16:15 But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers….

But First:

Jeremiah 16:18 And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double; because they have defiled my land, they have filled mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and abominable things.

Jeremiah’s lack of knowledge came from the tendency of many of God’s people to only view the “here and Now”. God views the ‘Big Picture’. God always has His remnant. Right now, today, Israel and Judah are still in judgment. They are scattered all over the earth as God predicted through Jeremiah. But one day God will hunt everyone of them and bring them back to the land.

XV. Now Jeremiah Understands

Jeremiah 16:19 O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit.

Jeremiah 16:20 Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?

Jeremiah 16:21 Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know mine hand and my might; and they shall know that my name is The LORD.

Can we see that Jeremiah, although he does not understand all, and does not have the answer to his original question, has learned something much more important than that answer. The more important knowledge that Jeremiah has been lead to learn is that God has a Plan. God’s plan is the only Truth, because only the Creator sees the ‘Big Picture’ and God is the Creator. God is the Righteous Judge, because only the Creator sees the “heart”. This revelation helped Jeremiah to continue on and enabled him to acknowledge the following verses:

Jeremiah 17:5 ¶ Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

Jeremiah 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

Jeremiah 17:7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

Jeremiah 17:8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Jeremiah 17:11 As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

Jeremiah 17:12 ¶ A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

You see, the Righteous Creator is the Judge, because only the Creator has the ability to judge the heart. Here is a comparison of the two types of people.

(1) One whose trust and hope is completely in the Lord

(2) One who trusts in his own heart and creation – Even if he is outwardly religious

XVI. God’s Illustration: Jeremiah Goes Down To The Potter’s House

Jeremiah 18:1 ¶ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Jeremiah 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jeremiah 18:4 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.

Jeremiah 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 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.

A. God’s illustration consists of two main symbols and what they stand for:

(1) The Potter – Symbol of the Sovereign Creator

(2) The Clay – Symbol of Judah in particular, all mankind in the ‘Big Picture’

B. God’s illustration points out two main characteristics of both symbols

1.) Power of the Potter – Absolute Power Over The Clay

a. Like a great Potter, God Created man out of dust:

Genesis 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.

b. The Potter’s Will Can Not Be Resisted – The Clay Can Not Get Up From The Potter’s Wheel To Protest

Romans 9: 19 Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?

Romans 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?

Romans 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?

c. This Would Be Scary If It Were Not For The Personality of the Potter

2. Personality of the Clay – Unable to form itself or protest – In itself, Hopeless:

Isaiah 45:9 Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands?

Ephesians 2:2…. ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Ephesians 2:12 …. without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

3. Power of the Clay – “Clay has some limited power over the outcome”

1. Consistency needs to be correct – Maybe too dry?

Jeremiah 18:4 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.

2. How can the vessel be marred in the hand of the Potter?

Jeremiah 6: Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it.

Jeremiah 17:5 ¶ Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.

Jeremiah 17:6 For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

4. Personality of the Potter

a. Let’s read again God’s illustration:

Jeremiah 18:1 ¶ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,

Jeremiah 18:2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words.

Jeremiah 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jeremiah 18:4 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.

Jeremiah 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 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.

b. The Ultimate Outcome, Because of the Power of the Clay, Can Only Be Achieved By The Personality of the Potter

Ephesians 2:1¶And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:

Ephesians 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Ephesians 2:4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:11 ¶ Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;

Ephesians 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:14 ¶ For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

Ephesians 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;

Ephesians 2:16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:

Jeremiah 18:7 At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it;

Jeremiah 18:8 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.

Jeremiah 18:9 And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it;

Jeremiah 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.

Jeremiah 18:11 ¶ 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.

Jeremiah 18:12 And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one do the imagination of his evil heart.

Jeremiah 18:13 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible thing.

XVII. Therefore, God Has A Plan

Jeremiah 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;

Jeremiah 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,

Jeremiah 19:3 And say, Hear ye the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem; Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle.

Jeremiah 19:4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents;

Jeremiah 19:5 They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind:

Jeremiah 19:6 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.

Jeremiah 19:7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place; and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek their lives: and their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth.

Jeremiah 19:8 And I will make this city desolate, and an hissing; every one that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because of all the plagues thereof.

Jeremiah 19:9 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, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek their lives, shall straiten them.

Jeremiah 19:10 ¶ Then shalt thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee,

Jeremiah 19:11 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.

Jeremiah 19:12 Thus will I do unto this place, saith the LORD, and to the inhabitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet:

Jeremiah 19:13 And the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of all the houses upon whose roofs they have burned incense unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink offerings unto other gods.

Jeremiah 19:14 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the LORD’S house; and said to all the people,

Jeremiah 19:15 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it, because they have hardened their necks, that they might not hear my words.

XVIII. Picking Up The Pieces From The Potter’s Field

A. Blood Money Purchases The Potter’s Field

Matthew 27:3Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,

Matthew 27:4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.

Matthew 27:5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Matthew 27:6 And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood.

Matthew 27:7 And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in.

Matthew 27:8 Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day.

B. Matthew Quotes Both Jeremiah and Zechariah

Matthew 27:9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;

Matthew 27:10 And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

C. Why only Jeremiah Mentioned?

1.) Matthew was stating that Jeremiah introduced the Potter’s Field and Zechariah prophesied about it:

Zechariah 11:13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

2.) From Clarke’s Commentary:

“…. Matthew often omits the name of the prophet in his quotations. (See Matthew 1:22; 2:5, 15; 13:35; 21:4.) ….

It was an ancient custom among the Jews, says Dr. Lightfoot, to divide the Old Testament into three parts: the first beginning with the law was called THE LAW; the second beginning with the Psalms was called THE PSALMS; the third beginning with the prophet in question was called JEREMIAH: thus, then, the writings of Zechariah and the other prophets being included in that division that began with Jeremiah, all quotations from it would go under the name of this prophet. If this be admitted, it solves the difficulty at once.”

D. But Do Not Let The Above Cloud The Message of the Personality of the Potter

1.) Can we see that this Potter has a very different Personality than any other potter? Any other potter would throw away clay that that had the wrong consistency and would not waste his time on this particular clay, but get better clay

2.) This Potter shed His Blood, so that He could go pick up the pieces cast down at the Potter’s Field, Place these broken pieces back on the wheel, and form them into another vessel:

Jeremiah 18:3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.

Jeremiah 18:4 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.

Jeremiah 18:5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Jeremiah 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.

Just as Jeremiah learned something more important than today’s trial, so can we learn something more important. The more important thing we can know with assurance is:

The Creator Has A Plan