Ask the Pastor – The Potter’s Power

Question:

What is the lesson to be drawn from the apostle Paul’s words in Romans 9:21, which say: “Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Answer:

Contained in the writings of the apostle Paul are some things which Peter says are “hard to understand.” 11 Peter 3:16. This, no doubt, is one of them. Because these words are easily misunderstood, many people have become discouraged and have given up, because they believe that God creates some to be saved and others to be lost. But this is not true.

To understand this verse calls for some background study. We need to go back to the days of Jeremiah when the nation of Israel was in rebellion against God and the people were determined to do what they wanted rather than what God required. (See Jeremiah 18.)

Jeremiah was directed to go to the potter’s house and observe the potter at work. This parable, of course, was illustrative of how God worked with Israel.

And then, by one of those flashes of insight, which the world calls genius, but which we recognize as inspiration, he was taught to read the meaning of the parable. “Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay [is] in the potter’s hand, so [are] ye in mine hand, O house of Israel.” Jeremiah 18:5, 6.

The great God of heaven, Who, in history, had determined the times and seasons of mankind, had, for example, called Israel to be the pattern of a righteous people, the witness of truth to the nations, a kingdom of priests, the first-fruits of humanity. But that purpose had been frustrated. Israel had refused that calling, had chosen to be as the nations around it, in its worship, its sensuality, and its greed of gain. It had, therefore, to be brought under another discipline, fitted for another work: “He made it again another vessel.” Jeremiah 18:4. The pressure of the Potter’s hand was to be harder, and the vessel was to be fashioned for less noble uses. Shame and suffering and exile—their land left desolate, and they themselves weeping by the waters of Babylon—these were the conditions to which they were now called to submit.

The age in which Paul lived was like that of Jeremiah. Once again the Potter was trying to fashion the clay into high and noble uses. Israel might have taken its place as the first fruits or the “honorable vessels” of the church of Christ, as the prophets and teachers of mankind. “To the Jew first,” was the rule invariably followed. But blindness, hardness, and unbelief marred the shape of the vessels made to honor. Now the gospel moved to the Gentiles—another vessel, which at first had been unto dishonor but now was used to do what Israel (the honored vessel) would not do. What Paul is teaching here is not predestination, but reward to whomsoever will respond to the gospel message.

Pastor Mike Baugher is a retired minister of the gospel. If you have a question you would like Pastor Mike to answer, e-mail it to: landmarks@stepstolife.org, or mail it to: LandMarks, Steps to Life, P. O. Box 782828, Wichita, KS 67278.