Adult Bible Study GuideOct • Nov • Dec 2015

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JeremiahOur Goal

To read the book of Jeremiah, is to take a journey, a spiritual journey that goes back and forth from the

lowest depths of human depravity to the heights and grandeur and

majesty of the Lord—the Lord who, from those heights, cries out to all of us: Mi-yittan that

such a heart would be in you!

JeremiahContents

1 The Prophetic Calling of Jeremiah 2 The Crisis Within and Without 3 The Last Five Kings of Judah 4 Rebuke and Retribution 5 More Woes for the Prophet 6 Symbolic Acts 7 The Crisis Continues 8 Josiah’s Reform 9 Jeremiah’s Yoke10 The Destruction of Jerusalem11 The Covenant12 Back to Egypt13 Lessons From Jeremiah

JeremiahLesson 6, November 7

Symbolic Acts

Symbolic ActsKey Text

Romans 9:21

“Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make

one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?”

Symbolic ActsQuick Look

1. The Potter’s Clay (Jeremiah 18:1-6)2. Smashing the Jar (Jeremiah 19:1-11)3. The Linen Belt (Jeremiah 13:1-7)

Symbolic ActsInitial Words

Through the symbolism of the earthly sanctuary, or the symbols of prophetic

books and in many other ways, the Lord has used symbols to convey

truth. Jesus Himself, with His parables and object lessons, used symbols to

explain deep truths. The book of Jeremiah itself is rich with

symbolism and imagery.

Symbolic Acts1. The Potter’s Clay

Jeremiah 18:1-6 NKJV

“ ‘Go down to the potter’s house....’ ... There he was making something at the wheel. And the

vessel...was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into

another vessel.... Then the word of the Lord came...:

‘O House of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?’ ”

1. The Potter’s ClayThe Lord is In Control

As he watched the potter’s hand, he was given an image, a symbol, of how

the Lord worked with human clay. It does teach the ultimate sovereignty

of God.That is, however hopeless the

situation might have seemed from Jeremiah’s perspective, the symbolism

of the potter and the clay showed

1. The Potter’s ClayThe Lord is In Control

him that ultimately, despite the wrong or even willfully wrong

decisions that people make, the Lord is in control of the world.

He is the absolute source of power and authority, and in the end He will triumph, regardless of appearancesnow.

1. The Potter’s ClayThe Lord is In Control

Paul picks up on this Old Testament image in Romans 9. We can rest

assured that, despite the reality of human free will and free choices, in

the end, we can hope in the absolute sovereignty of our self-sacrificing

God, whose love is revealed on the cross.

Evil won’t triumph; God and His love will. What a hope we have!

Symbolic Acts2. The Smashing of the Jar

Jeremiah 19:1-11 NKJV

“ ‘Go and get a potter’s earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the

people and...of the priests. And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom. ...

Then you shall break the flask...and say...: “Thus says the Lord...‘Even soI will break the people and this city...

which cannot be made whole again....’ ”

2. The Smashing of the JarThe Degeneration of a Nation

“Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this place, and have burned incense in it unto other gods...and have filled this place with the blood of innocents” (Jer. 19:4).

“They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire...”

(vs. 5).

2. The Smashing of the JarThe Degeneration of a Nation

The nation was to be holy, special to the Lord (see Exod. 19:5, 6),

something different and distinct from the nations around them. But that’s

not what happened.They lost their unique character, the

distinctiveness that would have made them a witness to the world.

They became just like everyone else.

2. The Smashing of the JarThe Degeneration of a Nation

What a lesson it should be to us all about how easily we can become so blinded by the prevailing culture that

we accept, or even take part in, practices that—were we connected

to the Lord and in tune with His Word as we should be—we would

never accept. We would, instead, be horrified by them (see Heb. 5:14).

2. The Smashing of the JarThe Degeneration of a Nation

What good is a smashed clay jar? If the jar were cracked, some use might

be found for it, even if not for the original intent of the jar. But Jeremiah was to break it, essentially rendering

it useless.What’s even more frightening is the apparent finality of the act. Who can

repair a smashed jar?

Symbolic Acts3. The Linen Belt

Jeremiah 13:1-7 NKJV

“ ‘Go and get yourself a linen sash, and put it around your waist.... Take the sash...and go to the Euphrates, and hide it.... Go to the Euphrates

and take...the sash...which you hide there.’ ... And I took the sash...

and there was the sash, ruined. It was profitable for nothing.”

3. The Linen BeltGod’s Belt

The belt symbolizes both the houses of Israel and Judah, pure and unstained

at the time of God’s request.The man wearing the belt is God

Himself. This shows, just how closely tied God Himself was to His people.

The belt was made of linen, the same material as the priestly garments; Judah was to be a priestly nation.

3. The Linen BeltGod’s Belt

Just as the belt had been ruined, the pride of the nation would be too.As a belt clings to a man’s waist,

these people had once clung to the Lord and were His source of praise

and glory. But they had become tarnished and spoiled by contactwith the surrounding cultures.

Symbolic ActsFinal Words

The image of the potter and the clay brings up the important question of how we seek to understand God’s

actions. The fact is, of we often don’t.That shouldn’t be surprising, should

it? Read Isaiah 55:8. As human beings, we simply are very limited in what we can know about anything, much less

about all the ways of God.