The Potter's House
Comments for Study 15
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I. Keep the Sabbath Holy (17:19-27)
>1. Why did the Lord tell Jeremiah to deliver his message? (19)
* Jeremiah 17:19 "This is what the LORD said to me: "Go and stand at the gate of the people, through which the kings of Judah go in and out; stand also at all the other gates of Jerusalem."
* The time frame is sometime from the start in Jeremiah's ministry (627 B.C.) and Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem (606 B.C.; Daniel 1:1) and its fall the next year (605 B.C.). Egypt defeated Judah and Josiah, King of Judah in 605 B.C. with Josiah dieing during the battle. It is possible that Jeremiah received this message shortly after Josiah's death.
* Chapters 1 to 20 are for the most part in chronological order, the rest of the book is arranged by subject matter.
* "This is what the LORD said to me" -A new break in time and message from the previous chapter.
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>Why? (20)
* Jeremiah 17:20 "Say to them, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and all people of Judah and everyone living in Jerusalem who come through these gates."
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>What was he to proclaim? (21-22)
* Jeremiah 17:21-22 "This is what the LORD says: Be careful not to carry a load on the Sabbath day or bring it through the gates of Jerusalem. Do not bring a load out of your houses or do any work on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your forefathers."
* "carry a load on the Sabbath day" -To conduct business.
* "bring it through the gates of Jerusalem" -To sell something or with something that was bought; thus conducting business.
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>What did Jesus and Paul teach about the Sabbath, the last day of the week? (Matthew 12:5-8, 12:11-12; John 5:9-15; Romans 14:5-8)
* Matthew 12:5-8 "Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."
* Matthew 12:11-12 "He said to them, "If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath."
* John 5:9-15 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well."
* Romans 14:5-8 "One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord."
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>2. Did they listen? (23)
* Jeremiah 17:23 "Yet they did not listen or pay attention; they were stiff-necked and would not listen or respond to discipline."
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>What was promised if they carried no load on the Sabbath? (24-26)
* Jeremiah 17:24-26 "But if you are careful to obey me, declares the LORD, and bring no load through the gates of this city on the Sabbath, but keep the Sabbath day holy by not doing any work on it, then kings who sit on David's throne will come through the gates of this city with their officials. They and their officials will come riding in chariots and on horses, accompanied by the men of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, and this city will be inhabited forever. People will come from the towns of Judah and the villages around Jerusalem, from the territory of Benjamin and the western foothills, from the hill country and the Negev, bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings, incense and thank offerings to the house of the LORD."
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>And if they did? (27)
* Jeremiah 17:27 "But if you do not obey me to keep the Sabbath day holy by not carrying any load as you come through the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle an unquenchable fire in the gates of Jerusalem that will consume her fortresses.'"
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II. The Potter's House (18:1-17)
>3. Where was Jeremiah told to go to? (1-2)
* Jeremiah 18:1-2 "This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message."
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>Who did he see working there? (3)
* Jeremiah 18:3 "So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel."
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>What did the potter do to a marred piece of clay he was working with? (4)
* Jeremiah 18:4 "But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him."
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>4. What was the clay like? (5-6)
* Jeremiah 18:5-6 "Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel."
* Genesis 2:7 "the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
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>Had any nation ever repented and thus was spared from God's judgement? (7-8; Jonah 3:4-5, 10)
* Jeremiah 18:7-8 "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned."
* Jonah 3:4-5 "On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: "Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned." The Ninevites believed God. They declared a fast, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth."
* Jonah 3:10 "When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened."
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>What nation was the Lord thinking of in verses 9 and 10?
* Jeremiah 18:9-10 "And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it."
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>5. Which of the two examples given was Judah? (11-12)
* Jeremiah 18:11-12 "Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in Jerusalem, 'This is what the LORD says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.' But they will reply, 'It's no use. We will continue with our own plans; each of us will follow the stubbornness of his evil heart.'"
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>Had any other nation switched gods like Israel did? (13-15)
* Jeremiah 18:13-15 "Therefore this is what the LORD says: "Inquire among the nations: Who has ever heard anything like this? A most horrible thing has been done by Virgin Israel. Does the snow of Lebanon ever vanish from its rocky slopes? Do its cool waters from distant sources ever cease to flow? Yet my people have forgotten me; they burn incense to worthless idols, which made them stumble in their ways and in the ancient paths. They made them walk in bypaths and on roads not built up."
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>When God brings destruction to such people will he rescue them? (16-17)
* Jeremiah 18:16-17 "Their land will be laid waste, an object of lasting scorn; all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads. Like a wind from the east, I will scatter them before their enemies; I will show them my back and not my face in the day of their disaster."
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III. Defile and Ignore Jeremiah (18:18-23)
>6. What did Judah say about Jeremiah? (18)
* Jeremiah 18:18 "They said, "Come, let's make plans against Jeremiah; for the teaching of the law by the priest will not be lost, nor will counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophets. So come, let's attack him with our tongues and pay no attention to anything he says."
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>Did Jeremiah have ill intent for Judah? (19-20)
* Jeremiah 18:19-20 "Listen to me, O LORD; hear what my accusers are saying! Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember that I stood before you and spoke in their behalf to turn your wrath away from them."
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>How is preaching the gospel similar?
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>7. Did Jeremiah take any actions against his accusers?
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>Instead what did he do? (21-22)
* Jeremiah 18:21-22 "So give their children over to famine; hand them over to the power of the sword. Let their wives be made childless and widows; let their men be put to death, their young men slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses when you suddenly bring invaders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet."
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>Why did he pray this way? (16:3-4)
* Jeremiah 16:3-4 "For this is what the LORD says about the sons and daughters born in this land and about the women who are their mothers and the men who are their fathers: "They will die of deadly diseases. They will not be mourned or buried but will be like refuse lying on the ground. They will perish by sword and famine, and their dead bodies will become food for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth."
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>8. What did Jesus teach us to do when people reject the gospel we preach? (Matthew 5:43-45; Luke 9:52-56, 10:10-11)
* Matthew 5:43-45 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."
* Luke 9:52-56 "And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" But Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they went to another village."
* Luke 10:10-11 "But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, 'Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.'"
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>9. What did he pray for those who tried to kill him? (23)
* Jeremiah 18:23 "But you know, O LORD, all their plots to kill me. Do not forgive their crimes or blot out their sins from your sight. Let them be overthrown before you; deal with them in the time of your anger."
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>Why? (7:16, 11:14, 14:11-12)
* Jeremiah 7:16 "So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you."
* Jeremiah 11:14 "Do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress."
* Jeremiah 14:11-12 "Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people. Although they fast, I will not listen to their cry; though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Instead, I will destroy them with the sword, famine and plague."
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