The Potter’s Vessel
Jehovah’s Command, vv. 1-3
A. “Get a Cured, Potter’s Vessel”
- A clay vessel is moldable until it is cured in the fire-kiln.
- A cured vessel is no longer moldable, but is breakable.
B. “Take Witnesses,” Deuteronomy 19:15, Isaiah 8:2, Isaiah 44:9
- Ancients of the people
- Ancients of the priests
- Isa_43:9 Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be assembled: who among them can declare this, and shew us former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, that they may be justified: or let them hear, and say, It is truth.
C. “Go to the Valley of Ben-Hinnom”
- The Valley runs from West to Southwest to South of Jerusalem.
- Ben = Hebrew for Son
- Ge = Aramaic for Son, Ge=Hinnom
- Ge-Hinnom was transliterated in Greek to Gehenna, an illustration of Hell.
D. Potter’s Gate or Potsherd Gate, later named “Dung Gate.”
- In Jesus’s day, this was the gate through which all garbage was cast and burned continually.
- The smoldering fires and festering worms made it a graphic illustration of Hell.
E. Proclaim to King’s dynasty and inhabitants of Jerusalem My Word: Evil is coming.
Jehovah’s Condemnation, vv. 4-5
A. The Forsook the Lord.
B. They Made the Place Estranged / Rejected
C. They Burned Incense to Other Gods
D. They Filled the Place with Blood of Innocents = Child Sacrifice
E. They Burned Human Sacrifices, Lev 20:2-5; 2 Kings 23:10
Jehovah’s Conclusion, vv. 6-9
A. The Valley of Slaughter
- Topheth, fire-pit, Isaiah 30:33.
- Topheth rhymes with “Bosheth” = “Shame”
- “For the body to remain unburied, thereby, providing food for carrion birds and rodents, was a thing of unspeakable horror for the ancient Hebrews. Ironically, their sanctuary would become their cemetery as the treasured homeland was ravaged.” (Harrison)
B. I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters: The city would be reduced to cannibalism, even as Samaria (the former capital of Israel) under siege from the Assyrians (2Ki_6:26-29) and promised as a curse upon disobedient Israel (Deu_28:53-57). All this would drive the people of Jerusalem to despair.
Jeremiah Crashing the Cured Vessel, vv. 10-15
A. Judah Broke the Covenant; Jehovah Breaks the Country
B. The Broken Vessel Is Irreparable; Judah Is Irreparable.
Conclusion
Although God did not make a national covenant with America as He had with Israel, we can see parallel warnings for America in this passage.
A. American Popular Christianity has forsaken Biblical Christianity.
B. America has sacrificed the blood of innocents into the millions.
C. America often burns incense to other gods.
D. Have we become irreparable?