Thursday, June 2, 2016

Jeremiah 18: Changing God's Mind?

Jeremiah's visit to a potter's house sparks a fascinating question: Do we really have the power to change God's mind?

God directs Jeremiah to go to the potter's house where He promises the prophet will receive a word from the Lord.  As Jeremiah watches the potter working a lump of clay on his wheel, he notices that the potter responds to what the raw material is doing.  If the design begins to get marred or spoiled, the potter has the freedom to change his intention and re-work the clay into something else entirely.

God then reveals to Jeremiah that, just like the potter, He has the freedom to alter His intention.  "Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord.  Just like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel" (vs. 6).  Like the old hymn "Have Thine Own Way" tells us, He is the potter; we are the clay.

And just as the potter responds to what the clay is doing, God says the same is true for Him in relation to nations and peoples.  "At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it.  And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build up and plant it, but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it" (vs. 7-10).

Does this mean God changes His mind?  Certainly it appears so - from our angle.  But that angle may not take into account that God is eliciting our responses to His plans and work.  Perhaps God is telling us what we need to hear so that we will obey and act righteously?  It's not that God changes His mind - it's that His Word has the power to change us!  When we change, God's plan toward us may change.  He responds to repentance!

And that is exactly what God is fishing for on the part of Judah.  He wants to be able to re-work His intention from one of destruction to one of prosperity for the nation.  He speaks through Jeremiah, "Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the Lord: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you.  Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings" (vs. 11).

Our God is the One who holds out hope for our repentance and a change in our ways so that He may bless us rather than curse us.

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