And thou shalt break the flagon in the sight of the men that go with thee,
God tells Jeremiah to smash a clay jar in front of the men who came with him — a message acted out, not just spoken. Why does God move from moulding soft clay in the previous chapter to shattering fired pottery here, and can anything mend such a break?
Jeremiah is holding a picture of his own city. The break is public on purpose: others will hear of it and shudder.
The earthen bottle of chapter 19 is figurative of Jerusalem and the people. The previous sign showed God's right to handle any nation or kingdom as He saw fit, and His ability to do so. This one is the solemn sign that God will punish the city, its surroundings and its people in public for their sin and idolatry. When others hear of it, their ears will tingle. It becomes an eloquent witness of how awful sin is. The vile names of Tophet and Hinnom were not strong enough to describe the place of their punishment; it should be called "The valley of slaughter" (v. 6).
The previous sign used clay that could still be shaped. This jar has already been through the fire.
This time it is not clay that can still be formed but an earthen vessel that has been hardened in the fire. It can only be broken. The message is a clear but solemn one: there is a time when discipline can be accepted for profit and there is a time when it is too late. The warning not to harden the heart (Heb. 4:7) applies.
Jeremiah broke the jar in a valley with a name and a history. One writer reads the judgment tied to that place as pointing further ahead than any judgment men carry out.
In Jeremiah 19 we have the sign of the potter's earthen vessel further developed. Now the valley of the son of Hinnom is brought forward, which always signifies judgment. Tophet points to the great judgment the Lord will carry out when He Himself comes. It is not just the place of execution by man. The judgment of Jerusalem is clearly the topic.
Jeremiah did not break the jar alone or in private. He took witnesses to the valley, and what he acted out there later came true in detail.
He was to take a potter's earthen bottle, go with elders and priests to the valley of the son of Hinnom, and there proclaim the words the Lord gave him. In Tophet, the valley of Hinnom, they had done their abominable things and burned their sons with fire. Now it should become the valley of slaughter, so that birds and wild beasts would eat their bodies. He would make them eat the flesh of their loved ones. This came true during the siege of Jerusalem (Lam. 4:10). Then he broke the bottle as a sign that the people and the city would be broken in the same way.
The broken jar carries a warning for more than one city. One writer turns it on a church that boasts of being God's own city, safe while others fear:
It is a favourite thought with her that while other churches tremble for their safety, she is above such fears — she is God's city, and has His walls around her. This is impressive. But when weighed by the teaching of the Word, it only declares more plainly what she is. It shows her all the more ripe for the judgment of God. This is because the boast is defiance. It is not faith in God, but a denial of His rights and authority.
The breaking is not the end of the story. Judgment on the vessel leaves room for what God will make next.
In prophecy God announces two things in this way. He will judge Israel (the earthen vessel). He will also form a people whom He will "build" and "plant" again (the Jewish remnant: see Isa. 10:20–22; Jer. 23:3; 31:7; Rom. 9:27).
- Vessel. The jar pictures Jerusalem and its people, and Jeremiah breaks it in front of elders and priests. The verdict is public.
- Hardened. Chapter 18 had soft clay that could be reshaped; this vessel has been through the fire, so it can only be broken.
- Place. He acts in Tophet, where they had burned their sons. The scene of the sin becomes the valley of slaughter.
- Fulfilled. The siege of Jerusalem carried out to the letter what the smashing announced.
- Rebuilt. Judgment on the vessel is not God's final word: He goes on to form a people He will build and plant again.
and shalt say unto them, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again. And they shall bury in Topheth, till there be no place to bury.
God sends Jeremiah out of the city with a clay jar and tells him to smash it. The place chosen is the valley where children had been burned in sacrifice. One chapter earlier, the potter reshaped spoiled clay into a new vessel. So why can this jar never be mended?
Commentators read the jar as a picture of one city and one people. They set it against the sign that came before it.
The earthen bottle of chapter 19 is a picture of Jerusalem and the people. In the previous sign the meaning was God's right to handle any nation or kingdom as He saw fit, and also His ability to do so. Here it is the solemn sign that God will punish the city, its surroundings and its people in public for their sin and idolatry. All who hear of it will feel their ears tingle. So it becomes a powerful witness to how awful sin is. Even the vile names of Topheth and Hinnom were not enough to describe the place of their punishment. It was to be called "the Valley of Slaughter."
Chapter 18 and chapter 19 differ in the material itself. Clay on the wheel is still workable. A jar that has been through the kiln is not.
This time it is not clay that can still be shaped, but an earthen vessel that has been hardened in the fire. It can only be broken. The message is clear but solemn. There is a time when a person can take discipline and profit from it. There is also a time when it is too late. The warning not to harden the heart applies.
God does not break without stating His case. The charges read out in that valley name what had been done there:
"Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods... and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, and have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or decree, nor did it come into my mind."
The same writer points on to a further word from that chapter. It names one more reason:
"Behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words."
The verse names Topheth as the burial ground. That place already had a history.
This is often called "the valley of the son of Hinnom." The valley south of Jerusalem, running from east to west, now bears that name. In some part of it, thought to be the east end, children were passed through the fire to false gods. To stop this, Josiah defiled Topheth in this valley. In God's judgements the valley shall become the "valley of slaughter."
One writer sees more in Topheth than a judgment carried out by men:
Topheth points to the great judgment which the Lord will carry out when He Himself comes. It is not only the place where man carries out a sentence.
A shattered jar cannot be put back together. Yet the breaking is not God's last word.
This is prophecy. God announces that He will judge Israel (the earthen vessel). But He will also form a people that He will "build" and "plant" again.
One writer turns the sign on a church that boasts she can never fall:
It is a favourite thought with her that while other churches tremble for their safety, she is above such fears — she is God's city, and has His walls around her. This is impressive. But weigh it by the teaching of the Word, and it only declares more clearly what she is. It shows her more fully ripe for the judgment of God. Because this boast is defiance. It is not faith in God, but a denial of His rights and authority.
- Clay — chapter 18 showed soft clay on the wheel, ready to be remade. Chapter 19 shows a fired jar, which can only be smashed.
- Cause — God Himself gives the reasons — idolatry, innocent blood, and a stiffened neck that refused to hear.
- Place — God staged the sign in the valley where children were burned. That valley becomes the graveyard, so the sin and the sentence share one address.
- Reach — the jar warns every people and every system that boasts it cannot fall. That boast is defiance, not faith.
- Remnant — God breaks the vessel, yet says He will build and plant a people again. The breaking ends the old thing, not His purpose.