John Calvin Commentary Jeremiah 18:1-6

"The word which came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, saying, Arise, and go down to the potter`s house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter`s house, and, behold, he was making a work on the wheels. And when the vessel that he made of the clay was marred in the hand of the potter, he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith Jehovah. Behold, as the clay in the potter`s hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel." — Jeremiah 18:1-6 (ASV)

The sum of what is taught here is that, as the Jews gloried in God’s singular favor—which, however, had been conferred on them for a different purpose, namely, that they might be His sacred heritage—it was necessary to take this kind of confidence from them. For at the same time, they heedlessly despised God and the whole of His law. We indeed know that in God’s covenant there was a mutual stipulation: that the descendants of Abraham were faithfully to serve God, just as God was prepared to perform whatever He had promised, for it was the perpetual law of the covenant, namely:

“Walk before me and be perfect” (Genesis 17:1).

This was once for all imposed on Abraham and extended to all his posterity. So, since the Jews thought that God was bound to them by an inviolable compact, while they nevertheless proudly rejected all His prophets, and polluted, and even, as far as they could, abolished His true worship, it was necessary to deprive them of that foolish boasting with which they deluded themselves. Therefore, the Prophet was commanded to go down to the potter’s house, so that he might relate to the people what he saw there: namely, that the potter, according to his own will and pleasure, made and remade vessels.

It seems indeed at first view a simple way of speaking; but if we examine ourselves, we shall all find that pride, which is innate in us, cannot be corrected unless the Lord draws us, as it were, by force to see clearly what it is, and unless He shows us plainly what we are. The Prophet could have listened to God speaking to him at his own house, but he was commanded to go down to the house of the potter—not indeed for his own sake, for he was willing to be taught—but so that he might teach the people by adding this sign as a confirmation to his doctrine.

He then relates what had been commanded him: that he went down into the potter’s house. Then he relates what he saw there: that when the potter formed a vessel, it was marred, and that he then made another vessel from the same clay, and, as it seems, one of a different form, for there is a peculiar emphasis in these words, as it seemed right in his eyes. The application is afterwards added: Cannot I, as the potter, change you, O house of Israel? Doubtless, you are in my hand as the clay in the hand of the potter. That is, I have no less power over you than the potter has over his work and his earthen vessels.

We now see what this doctrine contains: that men are very foolish when they are proud of their present prosperous condition and think that they are, as it were, fixed in a state of safety. For in a single moment, God can cast down those whom He has raised up, and also raise up on high those whom He has previously brought down to the ground.

This is even well known to pagans, for moderation is commended by them, which they describe thus: “That no one ought to be inflated in prosperity, nor succumb in adversity.” But no one is really influenced by this thought, except one who acknowledges that we are ruled by the hand of God. For those who dream that fortune rules in the world rely on their own wisdom, their own wealth, and their own strongholds.

Consequently, they must always delude themselves with some vain hope or another. Until men are brought to know that they are so subject to God’s power that their condition can be changed in a single moment, according to His will, they will never be humble as they ought to be. This doctrine, therefore, deserved special notice, especially when we consider how foolishly the Jews had abused the privilege with which God had favored Abraham and all his posterity; it was therefore an altogether necessary admonition. Besides, if we reflect on ourselves, we shall find that it requires a great effort to learn to humble ourselves, as Peter reminds us, under the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6).

With regard to the words, we must observe that האבנים eabenim is a word in the dual number. The Prophet no doubt meant the moulds, des moules; for those who render it “wheel” seem not to understand the subject. The Prophet evidently refers to the moulds, made either of stone, wood, or white clay; and this the dual number sufficiently proves. He then saw the potter with his moulds, avec ses moules, so that when he had formed one vessel it was marred; then he took the same clay and formed another vessel, and that according to his own will. I have already stated why it was necessary for the Prophet to go down to the potter’s house: he did so in order that he might afterwards lead the Jews to see their own case in a more vivid manner. For we know what a powerful effect a representation of this kind produces when a scene like this is set before our eyes. Naked doctrine would have been cold and ineffective to slothful and careless men; but when a symbol was added, it had a much greater effect. This, then, was the reason why God ordered the Prophet to see what the potter was doing.

Now, in the application, we must notice how things correspond: Just as the clay is at the will and under the power of the potter, so men are at the will of God. God, then, is compared to the potter. Indeed, there is no comparison here between things that are equal, but the Prophet argues from the less to the greater.

So God, with respect to men, is said to be the potter, for we are the clay before Him. We must also notice the variety in what was formed: from the same clay one vessel is made, then another different from the first. These three things that are compared should be specially observed.

It is then said, Cannot I, as the potter, do with you, O house of Israel? God includes here two of these comparisons: He compares Himself to the potter, and He compares the people to clay. We know that God has much greater power over men than a mortal man has over the clay; for however a mortal man may form it into vessels, he is still not the creator of the clay.

Thus, God has much greater authority over men than the potter has over the clay. But the comparison, as I have said, is of the greater with the less, as though He had said, “The potter can form the clay at his will; am I inferior to him? Or, is not My power at least equal to the power of the artisan, who is a mortal and of a humble condition?” Then He adds, with you, or to you, O house of Israel? as though He had said, “Trust in your own excellency as you please, yet you are not better than the clay, when you consider what I am and what I can do to you.”

We have now seen two of the comparisons; the third follows: that God can turn us here and there and change us at His will. How foolishly, then, do men trust in their present good fortune! For in a single moment their condition can be altered, as there is nothing certain on the earth.

But we must bear in mind what I have already stated: that the confidence with which the Jews deluded themselves was vain. For they thought that God was bound to them, and so they promised themselves a state of perpetuity, and, as though they could despise the whole law with impunity, they always boasted that the covenant by which God had adopted the seed of Abraham was hereditary.

Now the Prophet shows that the covenant was hereditary in such a way that the Jews nevertheless ought to have regarded it as an adventitious benefit, as it were. It is as though He had said, “What God gave you, He can take away at any time. There is, then, nothing certain for you, except insofar as God will be propitious to you.”

In short, He reminds them that the whole of their safety depended on God’s gratuitous favor. It is as though He had said, “You have nothing as your own, but what God has conferred on you is at His will and pleasure. He can today take away even what He had yesterday given you. What then does this foolish boasting mean, when you say that you are exempted from the common lot of men?”

The Jews might indeed have rightly disregarded all the dangers of the world, for God had gathered them under His own protection. They would indeed have been safe under His guardianship, had they observed mutual faithfulness, so as to be really His people as He had promised to be their God. But as they esteemed His whole law as nothing and made void the covenant in which they foolishly gloried, the Prophet, as we see, did not without reason shake off that confidence with which they deceived themselves.

Hence, we may gather a useful doctrine: With regard to the whole human race, there is nothing certain or permanent in this life. For God can change our condition at any time, so as to cast down the rich and the eminent from their high position, and also to raise up the most despised of men, according to what is said in Psalm 113:7.

And we know this to be true, not only concerning individuals but also concerning nations and kingdoms. Many kings have so increased their power as to think themselves beyond the reach of harm; and yet we have seen that God laid them prostrate as if by a sudden whirlwind. So also it has happened to powerful nations.

With regard, then, to the condition of mankind, God shows here, as in a mirror or by a vivid spectacle, that sudden changes often occur in the world. This ought to awaken us from our torpor, so that no one of us may dare to promise himself another day, or even another hour, or another moment.

This is one thing. But this doctrine has a special application to us; for as God has by a special favor separated us from the rest of the world, so He would have us depend wholly on His mere good will. Faith indeed ought to be tranquil; indeed, it ought to disregard whatever may bring on us any terror or anxiety. But faith—where is its seat?

In heaven. Therefore, courage is required in all the children of God, so that they may with a quiet mind disregard all the changes of the world. But we must ensure that the tranquility of faith is well founded, that is, in humility.

For as we cast our anchor in heaven, so also, with regard to ourselves, we ought always to be low and be humble. Whoever then flies with vain confidence boasts in vain of faith and falsely pretends that he trusts in God. Let it then always come to our minds, and constantly recur to us, that our condition is not safe and secure through ourselves, but through the gratuitous goodness of God. We now see the application of this doctrine. The Prophet proceeds—