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"As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand"

Text: Jeremiah 18:5

A SIGNIFICANT WORD FROM GOD

An important word from the Lord came to Jeremiah. He was to communicate this significant word from the Lord to the children of Israel.

“Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the LORD.
‘Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand,
so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!
The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom,
to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,
if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil,
I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.
And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom,
to build and to plant it,
if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice,
then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.'”
Jeremiah 18:5-10

1. “Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ says the LORD”

a) This word came from the LORD.

b) Israel

i) It may be called “The children of Israel”.

ii) It may also be called “The house of Israel”.

c) The LORD is compared to “the potter”.

2. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel”

a) The clay is in the hand of the potter.

b) So is the house of Israel in the Lord’s hand.

3. “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it”

a) “The instant I speak”

i) Such is the Power of God.

ii) His very words would be fulfilled.

b) If God were to speak concerning any nation:

i) To pluck up

ii) To pull down

iii) To destroy

c) That word would be fulfilled.

4. “If that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it”

a) But if that nation turns from evil

b) God will relent of the disaster that He had thought of.

5. “And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it”

a) On the other hand, God may speak of a good and positive plan.

b) He may express that He wants to build and to plant a kingdom.

6. “If it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it”

a) But if that nation does evil

b) And it does not wish to obey the Lord’s voice

c) Then God will relent from doing good to the nation.

d) That nation would not benefit from God’s blessings.

7. These two approaches have been consistently applied!

a) When the Ninevites repented, God relented from destroying Nineveh (Jonah 3).

b) When Israel sinned, God allowed Israel to be captured (2 Kings 17).