And the potter looks up, with a half-smile, as he answers: "I am going
to make a lovely jar," and then his feet twist the wheel round and
round, and the visitor stands by watching.
The potter puts his thumb into the place where the neck of the jar will
be, and as he twists and moulds, the visitor sees before his eyes the
ugly bit of clay coming into an elegant shape.
At length the jar is done, and the visitor asks another question. "What
will you do, now?" he says.
"I shall paint it with beautiful colours—"
"And then?"
"Then I shall put it into the oven and bake it, so that the shape and
the colours will stand fast."
The visitor hesitates. At length, he asks, "You do not make them all
alike? Some are plain and homely; some are beautiful, and I suppose
costly?"
The potter smiles, as he rises and places his jar on a shelf out of
harm's way.
"Well, sir," he says, "it's just as I choose to make them! Some are
so precious in my eyes that I love to look at them; some turn out so
badly, that I have to mould the clay over again. Just as I like, sir;
just as I like! It is my clay, and my work; but I want the pieces that
I make, to come out beautiful and lovely."
[Illustration: I shall paint it with beautiful colours.]
So the potter takes another lump of clay, and goes to his wheel again;
and the visitor, thanking him very much for his kindness, turns away
thoughtfully.
Had he not read somewhere in his Bible about the Clay and the Potter?
"Yes," he said to himself at length. "It was in Jeremiah, and when I
get back to my Hotel, I will look it up."
And he found what he wanted, in the 18th Chapter of Jeremiah, where the
Lord told the Prophet to go down to the potter's house, that He might
tell him there, what he was to say to the Jewish people, who at that
time were sadly disobedient, and had turned away from God.
So Jeremiah went down to the Potter's house; and behold, he was making
something on his wheel.
But as he made it, the vessel which he was moulding was marred, or
spoilt, under his hand; so he turned, and made the piece of clay into
another shape, as it seemed good to the potter to make it.
And the Prophet stood and watched him.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, and the Lord told him he
was to go to the people of Israel and tell them His message. That if
they continued in their evil ways, He would take them out of their own
land, and from their beloved City, Jerusalem, and He would send them to
be Captives in a distant land.
And God said, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you, as this potter
has done with his clay?"
For God loved the Children of Israel, and He wanted to make them good
and beautiful, like the potter wanted to make his jars.
But the Children of Israel rebelled against God; and though He had
sent great deliverances many times, and brought them right out of the
bondage of Egypt, and into the beautiful land of Canaan, they very
quickly forgot Him again.
They forgot all His love towards them, and began to serve other gods,
which they made with their own hands; and they even sacrificed and
burned their own sons on their altars.
So God sent Jeremiah with His message to them—that if they would turn
away from their evil ways and come back to Him, He would forgive them
and give them every blessing; but if they refused, then Jerusalem
should be destroyed, and God would send those who were left after the
battles into a far country where they should be Captives for seventy
years.
Yet even with all these solemn warnings, the Children of Israel—the
Jews—refused to obey God; and very shortly those things came to pass
which Jeremiah had told them.
But God has given great promises to the Jews, and He is very patient
and longsuffering.
By and by after seventy years, He brought them back in a wonderful way
to their own Land, which they again inhabited, and built cities and
lived in them.
But it was not very long before they again began to depart from God's
laws; they ceased to obey those things which were plainly written in
the Old Testament Scriptures; and at last, when Jesus Christ came to
earth to be their Messiah and King, they did not remember all God
had said in the Bible about Him, and they rose up against Him, and
crucified the Lord of Glory!
And so, again the Heavenly Father, who calls Himself the Potter, has
had to send the Jews out of their Land, and He is moulding them now by
trials and sorrows, so that by and by they may be purified and restored
to His favour.
For when Jesus comes back to Earth, as He surely will, "they will look
on Him whom they have pierced," and will turn to Him, and be saved.
[Illustration]