Reflections on Jeremiah 18

Jeremiah 18 (Contemporary English Version)
1. The LORD told me,
   
2. "Go to the pottery shop, and when you get there, I will tell you what to say to the people."
   
3. I went there and saw the potter making clay pots on his pottery wheel.
   
4. And whenever the clay would not take the shape he wanted, he would change his mind and form it into some other shape.
   
5. Then the LORD told me to say:
   
6. People of Israel, I, the LORD, have power over you, just as a potter has power over clay.
   
7. If I threaten to uproot and shatter an evil nation
   
8. and that nation turns from its evil, I will change my mind.
   
9. If I promise to make a nation strong,
   
10. but its people start disobeying me and doing evil, then I will change my mind and not help them at all.
    
11. So listen to me, people of Judah and Jerusalem! I have decided to strike you with disaster, and I won't change my mind unless you stop sinning and start living right.
    
12. But I know you won't listen. You might as well answer, "We don't care what you say. We have made plans to sin, and we are going to be stubborn and do what we want!"
    
13. So I, the LORD, command you to ask the nations, and find out if they have ever heard of such a horrible sin as what you have done.
    
14. The snow on Lebanon's mountains never melts away, and the streams there never run dry.
    
15. But you, my people, have turned from me to burn incense to worthless idols. You have left the ancient road to follow an unknown path where you stumble over idols.
    
16. Your land will be ruined, and every passerby will look at it with horror and make insulting remarks.
    
17. When your enemies attack, I will scatter you like dust blown by an eastern wind. Then, on that day of disaster, I will turn my back on you.
    
18. Some of the people said, "Let's get rid of Jeremiah! We will always have priests to teach us God's laws, as well as wise people to give us advice, and prophets to speak the LORD's messages. So, instead of listening to Jeremiah any longer, let's accuse him of a crime."
    
19. Please, LORD, answer my prayer. Make my enemies stop accusing me of evil.
    
20. I tried to help them, but they are paying me back by digging a pit to trap me. I even begged you not to punish them.
    
21. But now I am asking you to let their children starve or be killed in war. Let women lose their husbands and sons to disease and violence.
    
22. These people have dug pits and set traps for me, LORD. Make them scream in fear when you send enemy troops to attack their homes.
    
23. You know they plan to kill me. So get angry and punish them! Don't ever forgive their terrible crimes.

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What activity comes to mind when one thinks of evil? Does failing to listen to God and be obedient to His Word come to mind? It would probably not be among the more common thoughts that come to mind. But this is God's reference to evil in this passage - "However, if it (a nation) does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice." (18:10) Judah had a long list of other activities that might be considered evil, but failure to listen to God is the root evil that leads to other evil acts. Although failure to listen to God may not seem like such a terrible thing, we should put it in the context of a child not listening to or responding in any way to their parents. What would we think of such a child? We would fear that something was terribly wrong with such a child. Maybe even something sinister. Only something sinister would cause a child to respond in such a way to those who gave him life and sustenance. It is no different between us and God. Though one may think of God as a being unrelated to mankind, a being that man might objectively choose to worship or not, this is not the case at all. God is our Creator who has made us and everything that exists. Would it not be something sinister that keeps us from acknowledging Him and listening to Him and following His instructions? If nothing else, at least a sinister heart.

This is Judah's status as a people who turned away from God and would not listen to His voice. God illustrated the situation by sending Jeremiah to the house of a potter where he watched the potter working on a clay jar. When the design became flawed, the potter pressed the clay back into a ball and started over to make a different jar. This is the true situation between man and his Creator. God shapes us as He chooses and is free to change his mind and make us into something else. However, we play a role in what He chooses to make of us. In the application of this illustration to Judah God said, "At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. However, if that nation I have made an announcement about, turns from its evil, I will not bring the disaster on it I had planned." On the other hand, God said, "At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will not bring the good I had said I would do to it. (18:7-10) God makes of us what He will, but we play a part in what He does. We have a choice in the matter to either acknowledge God and be obedient to Him or to do otherwise. This choice establishes what our lives will be and what God chooses to make of us.

Earlier Jeremiah had asked God not to bring judgment on Judah, but he now finds himself the object of Judah's wrath, striking out at him as God's messenger of His judgment. Jeremiah realizes Judah will not be turned from her evil ways and now asks God to go ahead with His judgment.