September 10, 2020: Day 19 – Jeremiah 19

We find ourselves once again with another image that is pretty powerful.  Jeremiah is told to take the religious leaders with him and go out into a valley that had been used to worship other gods through human sacrifices.  He was told to bring a jar with him and use that jar as an object lesson.  Now, keep in mind that the people that he brought with him to that valley were the very same people who in the previous chapter had said: “Let us not heed any of his words.”  So he basically was bringing with him those who were looking to discredit him and were looking to bring him down.  But he did it.

The object lesson that he was to take part in was to break that jar and to give the message that once that jar is broken it can not be replaced and put back together again.  There is a difference between the clay not taking the shape that the potter wants it to take so he uses the same clay and reshapes it to his purposes.  This is very different from taking a jar that is already shaped, already fired in the oven, and then breaking it.  It then has absolutely no use.  You can’t take those pieces to create anything of use.

That broken jar was Israel and Judah.  Once that jar is broken, and God saw that it was already broken, as nations had come and conquered His people, He realizes it is time now to raise up a new branch.  This image will come a little later, but the jar serves as almost the final indication that God has turned His back on his people because His people have been so unfaithful.  It is a good understanding for us to recognize that our unfaithfulness has eternal and earthly consequences.