Sermons / Jeremiah / Jeremiah 18:1–23
At the Potter’s House
Jeremiah 18 pictures God as a potter shaping clay on a wheel, with the right to remake what is marred according to his plan. God is not playing with people, and suffering is not cruelty; the Potter is purposeful, and his pierced hands and feet show love that can be trusted.
The recording, chapter markers and searchable transcript appear here once the Sunday video is available.
In this message
- God is not playing with people or experimenting; he has purpose in what he is doing.
- God shapes lives according to his plan, not according to the clay’s demands.
- Suffering is not proof of cruelty; God was molding and shaping with a purpose that will be seen in the end.
- God’s work is meant to be received with willingness rather than resisted with stubbornness and defiance.
- Jesus can be trusted with the pressure and heat of life because his hands and feet were pierced, and he paid the price for sin.
The passage
The verses Lee stops on. Read Jeremiah 18 in full.
Jeremiah 18:1–3
1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
John Courson - As Jeremiah entered the house of the potter, three things would initially grab his attention. First, he would see the potter – an intelligent, capable artisan, a skilled workman, one who knew exactly what he was doing. The second thing he would notice would be the wheel – the instrument upon which the potter would do his work. The third thing that Jeremiah would see would be the clay itself.
God is the Master Potter with a purpose, shaping willing clay through life’s circumstances and even suffering, and he can remake what is broken because Jesus paid for sin.
What we have seen
- This tells me that God is not playing with me today.
- God was not being cruel when he caused us to suffer.
What does Jeremiah 18 teach about God as the potter and people as the clay?
God is the capable, intelligent Workman who knows exactly what he is doing with the clay on the wheel. People are like clay: common in ourselves, but valuable and useful in the hands of the Master Potter. The wheel pictures the circumstances of daily life as life goes “round and round.” God has the right to shape and even reshape what is marred according to his purposes.
Does God shape my life according to my plans or his plan?
God shapes the vessel according to his plan, not according to the clay’s demands. Romans 9:20–21 is used to press the point that the Potter has the right to do what he wants with what belongs to him. That raises fear about outcomes, but the potter image is meant to show purposeful skill rather than randomness. God is sovereign in what he makes and how he makes it.
Is God just experimenting with me when life feels chaotic?
God is not playing with you today. The potter is not amusing himself; pottery is his vocation, and he is a professional shaper who has purpose. The repeated turns of the wheel are not a sign of God’s carelessness but part of his work. That purpose is personal and differs from one life to another.
How can suffering fit with a good God in Jeremiah 18?
God was not being cruel when he caused us to suffer. Losses like a job, a spouse, a friend, a house, a parent, or a child are described as part of the Potter molding and shaping the clay. Psalm 17:15 and 1 John 3:2 are cited to say there is a day coming when God’s people will see and understand what he was doing. The result will display what the Potter can do with lifeless clay, and he gets the glory.
What should I do instead of becoming passive if God is the potter?
Willingness and receptivity are the right response, not mindless passivity. Jeremiah 18:6 is used to say the potter can permit defects to remain or reshape the pot, and God has power to reshape to conform to his purposes. People can yield to God’s impact, and as they do, he reshapes them into valuable vessels. The warning is that unlike clay, people can resist.
Why does Jeremiah 18 warn about stubbornness and defiance?
Stubbornness is treated as a spiritual danger that grows out of admiring assertiveness, independence, and defiance of authority. In relationship with God, those become stubbornness, self-importance, and refusal to listen or change. Jeremiah 18:12 is used to say that left unchecked, stubbornness becomes a way of life hostile to God. The chapter’s potter image calls for yielding rather than digging in.
How should I respond when I’m criticised or opposed for following God?
Listening carefully is urged because God may be trying to tell you something through criticism. When persecution comes for the gospel’s sake, the instruction is to pour your heart out to the Lord and cast your care on him. Matthew 5:44 and Romans 12:14 are cited to call for loving enemies, praying for persecutors, and blessing rather than cursing. Jeremiah’s experience shows people may try to silence what they don’t want to hear.
How does the potter image in Jeremiah 18 point to Jesus?
Jesus is presented as the Potter whose feet and hands are pierced, showing love in the middle of shaping pressure. Romans 5:6–10 is cited to say God demonstrated his love when people were still sinners, with Christ dying for the ungodly. That is offered as the answer to the question, “Can I really trust you with my life—the circles I’m going in, the pressure I feel, the heat I’m experiencing?” The scars show the shaping is not detached from sacrifice.
What is the ‘potter’s field’ in Matthew 27 and why does it matter?
Matthew 27:3–10 is used to describe a parcel of property called the potter’s field, where pottery broken beyond repair was cast. The thirty pieces of silver connected to Judas were used to buy that field, and it became known as the field of blood. The point drawn is that people can feel broken and discarded like pieces thrown into that field. The good news presented is that the field was purchased with blood money, so the Potter can take broken pieces and remake them into something of beauty and worth again.
Where else scripture speaks
Every passage Lee reaches for. The ones he teaches from open here; the rest link out.
Passages picked up elsewhere in the series:
- Romans 8:28 — Called Before You Were Born, False Religion… Worthless, Why is Life Un-Fair?
- Joshua 24:15 — The Covenant is Broken, The Yoke of Babylon, God’s Yoke for Us, The Cost of Standing Firm
- Matthew 5:44 — False Religion… Worthless, God Keeps the Score
- Romans 12:14 — God Loves You Too Much To Settle
Take this with you
The Potter wants clay – He doesn’t want steel.
Keep going
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