Jeremiah 18:7–8

Having seen what the potter did, the Lord spoke to His servant as He had promised. He addressed His words to the house of Israel. God was instructing His servant about His sovereignty, saying, "Can I not do with you as this potter has done? ... Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel" (Jer. 18:5-6). The nation of Israel was not free to do exactly as it pleased, for it was in God's hand and He could do with it just as He pleased.

The circle of civilization is to Him what the workshop is to the potter. As the potter holds the clay and shapes it into vessels of different forms, so the Lord holds the nations in His hands. He fashions and forms them as He thinks good... Can the Lord not speak about a sinful nation, or an unrighteous kingdom, and say: let it be plucked up, broken, and destroyed? Who can tell Him no?... Where is proud Assyria, and corrupt Babylonia? How low He has brought Persia and Greece and Rome for their sins!... Broken and rejected kingdoms lie scattered over the ground, like the potter's useless pots... Yet You are righteous in all Your ways. And You are long-suffering and merciful also. In one way You are unlike the potter. You have said: "If that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it" (v. 8).

Men's threats are sometimes just idle words or empty boasting. God's predicted judgments are not like that. The Creator has never once threatened a judgment He did not intend to carry out. At times the repentance of the people has turned His hand aside. The sparing of Nineveh in the time of Jonah is an example of this. It is part of the declared ways of God to withdraw sentence when men humble themselves before Him. Jer. 18:7-8 shows this plainly. He is also "slow to anger," leaving the door open for repentance until the last. But even the patience of God has limits.

The message was clear: there was still time for Judah to repent. If they did, God would "repent." Otherwise, He would have to chasten and discipline them. God "is not a man ... that he should repent" (Num. 23:19, older wording; the ESV reads "change His mind"), but He does repent when man changes, especially when man repents.

The people came to see that they had sinned deeply against their Maker. They trembled at the mention of His judgment. They humbled themselves before Him. Jer. 18:7-10, as we have already seen, lays down the principles of God's dealing with nations. His eye sees their doings, and He visits them from time to time in His wrath, but is always prepared to show mercy. God's government must not be confused with His grace. The relief the Ninevites received is not the same as the eternal forgiveness of sins. God proclaims that forgiveness to people everywhere in the gospel message (Acts 13:38-39).

In Jeremiah 18 we have seen God's ways with the nations. In Romans 9 we learn something of God's ways with people... Every person, like every nation, is a marred vessel in the hand of the Potter. We have all become marred by sin and by taking our own evil way. There are those who, like Israel, will not listen to the word of God through His servants... and God has the power to make these marred vessels into vessels of wrath. And there are those who, like the Ninevites, listen to the message of God and turn from their evil ways. God makes them vessels of mercy.

The circle of civilization is to Him just what the workshop is to the potter. The potter holds the clay and shapes it into vessels of different kinds. In the same way, the Lord holds the nations in His hands. He forms and shapes them as He thinks good. … Where is haughty Assyria, and corrupt Babylonia? How low He has brought Persia and Greece and Rome for their sins! … Broken and rejected kingdoms lie scattered over the ground like the potter's useless earthenware. "O Lord, what desolation You have made in the earth! Yet You are righteous in all Your ways. And You are patient and merciful also. You are unlike the potter in this. You have said: If that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it."

It does not mean a change of mind on God's part, but a change of action caused by a change of mind on man's part. God sends warnings to man so that man may change his mind and repent. Then God may change His action from judgment to mercy. God has not changed His mind. His mind has always been toward mercy … but man's sin must bring down the righteous judgment of God, even though He is slow to anger.

This change of mind on God's part … does not mean any regret about His first decision. Instead it shows His grace and righteousness. He suspends the sentence when He sees the least sign of repentance in the guilty one.

Men's threats are sometimes just idle words or empty boasting. God's predicted judgments are not like that. The Creator has never once threatened judgments He did not intend to carry out. Yet sometimes the repentance of the people has held back His hand. … It is part of the declared ways of God to withdraw sentence when men humble themselves before Him. Jer. 18:7-8 shows this. He is also "slow to anger," leaving an open door for repentance until the last. But even the patience of God has its limits.

God's government must not be confused with His grace. The Ninevites were spared, but that is not the same as the eternal forgiveness of sins. That forgiveness is proclaimed to men everywhere in the gospel message (Acts 13:38-39). The repentance described in Jonah 3:10 does not mean we shall meet the whole population of Nineveh in Heaven. Still, some people — possibly many — may well have found eternal blessing as a result of the great alarm.

Suppose God threatens a nation with destruction, and that nation turns to the Lord. He will relent of the evil pronounced on them. … But suppose the Lord has promised a nation good, and that nation does evil in His sight. He will relent of the good He had promised them. … If Israel had then admitted the sin and guilt and turned to the Lord, He would have acted in sovereign grace towards them. Their answer was: "There is no hope; but we will follow our own plans" … They pushed aside the hand that would snatch them out of the fire.

Things had gone wrong with Israel. Idolatry had become common. The vessel had been marred. But the clay was still soft. There was still time to turn to God.

What then is to be done — what should be done? "If that nation," says God, "turns from their evil I will relent of the evil that I had thought to do to them." That is as plain as it is gracious.