The theme of earthen vessels made by the potter is to be found in both the Old and New Testaments, and has important lessons for us to consider, for it is a vivid way of teaching us about the relationship between the Creator and His creation.
These days few potters prepare their own clay. In old time they had to dig the clay and then prepare it. Isaiah writes of the potter treading the clay (41:25). This was to mix it with water until it was of a consistency that could be shaped on a wheel. It had to be completely smooth and flexible, neither too dry nor too wet, and free of pebbles and gravel.
Jeremiah writes: “I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel” (18:3, RSV). It was a familiar sight in those days, for all pots were made by hand. If you have ever tried your hand at making a pot on a wheel you will know that what looks easy in the hands of a skilled potter can play strange tricks in the hands of a novice of the art.
Vessels
Jeremiah gives to us a vivid picture of the skills of the potter at work: first suitable clay, then its preparation, then the potter’s skilled hands, then the vessel slowly taking shape—or maybe it is spoiled so that the work has to begin again. The lump of clay is gradually formed into a vessel for use or for beauty.
Jesus spoke of one of his disciples as a “vessel”. When he spoke to the faithful disciple Ananias of Damascus about the blinded fanatic Saul, he said: “Go . . . for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles” (Acts 9:15). How appropriate!—for a vessel is for carrying something. Later, Saul, now named Paul, wrote to the ecclesia at Corinth and used the same word: “we have this treasure in earthen vessels”, that is, in vessels that can be broken easily (2 Cor. 4:7). When writing to Timothy he used the same simile: “a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house” (2 Tim. 2:21, RSV).
Paul evidently had in mind the truth that Adam was formed of the dust of the earth. The Hebrew word translated ‘dust’ can equally be translated ‘clay’. The very name Adam is a reminder of this fact, for it is derived from the Hebrew word adamah, meaning ‘dust’ or ‘clay’. That righteous man Job was aware of his origin when he said to God: “Remember that Thou hast made me of clay; and wilt Thou turn me to dust again?” (10:9, RSV). He was very conscious that he was in God’s hands. This consciousness was heightened by the terrible sickness that he was suffering.
Do we need to suffer pain and sickness to make us realise that we also are in God’s hands? He is the Divine Potter and we are the clay. The clay is of the.earth, earthy. So are we all to begin with. We begin as unformed characters, unable to receive and contain the precious things that the Potter wants to place in His vessels.
Not all clay can be used for making vessels. The potter, first of all, has to choose his clay. Jeremiah continued this theme: “0 house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done?” (18:6, RSV). Israel had been prepared from Abrahamic clay. Abraham was of Semitic clay, and Shem was of the same clay as Noah. Hence it was basically good clay to work upon, but it had been mixed with poorer clay by intermarriage. It was not so much a matter of physical inheritance as of character, and a willingness to accept and believe God and to have faith in His Word.
Pliable clay
What is it that makes clay pliable in the potter’s hands? The prophet Jeremiah has the answer:
“O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who forsake Thee shall be put to shame; those who turn away from Thee shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living water” (17:13, RSV).
Without the essential water the clay is unusable. As the potter turns the wheel with his feet and shapes the clay with his hands, he constantly dips his fingers in water. Without the water the clay cannot be shaped. “Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters” (Isa. 55:1, RSV).
If we are wise we will echo these words of Isaiah: “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” (64:8).
Our potter could see the potential of the clay before He dug it from the earth, for “The Lord knoweth them that are His . . . who are the called according to His purpose” (2 Tim. 2:19; Rom. 8:28).
Today, His loving fingers are upon us and we are upon His wheel. He is trying to shape us for His purpose. The precious water is available in order to keep us moist and receptive to His moulding. Are we allowing Him to shape us without our resisting? Is He finding bits of grit that must be removed?
There is no doubting the skill of the potter, nor the artistry of His fingers or the purpose of His labour. What are His pots for? Remember the unusual sight of “a man carrying a jar of water” (Lk. 22:10, RSV) who was to guide the disciples of Jesus to the upper room for them to keep the Passover.
Water, oil and wine
If we have thirsted for the water of life, can we be containers to carry it to others? Can we, like Rebekah of old, draw water for the wanderers who are seeking it? Can we join with Isaiah and “draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day . . . say, Praise the LORD, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted” (12:3,4)?
Let us be containers for this precious water and dispense it to those who thirst for it. Yet we must never forget that “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us (2 Cor. 4:7). Yes, earthen vessels we are, and if earthen vessels get cracked and broken, what happens to the precious water?
Some vessels are made to contain oil. We may remember the jar of oil that Elisha miraculously increased for the faithful widow, who filled all the vessels that she could find with the oil. According to Ezekiel 27:17, at one time Israel supplied all the Middle Eastern lands with oil. This was olive oil, of course, which was used for both food and lighting. Israel’s oil lit the ancient world, but Israel failed to enlighten the world to a knowledge of God.
Our Divine Potter is even now making vessels to contain the spiritual oil which will enlighten the world to come in the Kingdom of God. The future King of Israel will export his oil to all the nations so that everyone will know the Lord in that day.
Paul wrote to Timothy: “If any one purifies himself from what is ignoble, then he will be a vessel for noble use, consecrated and useful to the master of the house, ready for any good work” (2 Tim. 2:21, RSV). Some jars were used to contain wine, for not all wine was contained in skins in Bible times; Jeremiah writes of “pitchers full of wine” (35:5, RSV). Wine is to “gladden the heart of man”, as the psalmist expressed it (104:15, RSV), but Paul warned against being “addicted to much wine” (1 Tim. 3:8, RSV).
Useful and useless
Other vessels, of quite different shapes, were made and used for preparing food and for cooking. The potter designed each vessel for its specific purpose. So it is with us, for we are all different. Yet there is a common likeness, we are all earthen vessels, and are intended to serve the Lord in various ways. Let us always remember that the Divine Potter has made us for a specific purpose, and try to be conscious of His fingers upon us, so that we may eventually be “conformed to the image of His Son, in order that he [Jesus] might be the first-born among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29, RSV).
However, we must not forget the fate of most vessels of clay. When archaeologists dig up the past they find very few whole vessels, but millions of potsherds, broken pieces of what had once been vessels. This is a sobering thought that reminds us of the words of Jesus: “many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 22:14). The Almighty speaks of the ungodly as the potsherds of the earth, quite unable to hold water, oil or wine. That great image of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream rested on feet made partly of iron and partly of clay. The word translated ‘clay’ in Daniel is also the word for potsherd. What a foundation!
There is nothing that our Father, the Divine Potter, desires more of us than that we should each be vessels unto honour, fit for His use, to contain and to carry the riches of His love and grace to others, taking to them the water of life, the oil of enlightenment, the wine of joy and the spiritual food that will nourish unto eternal life. Nothing less than this is His desire for us, His vessels.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One