And Jeremiah came from Topheth, whither Jehovah had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of Jehovah's house, and said to all the people,
Jeremiah has just smashed a clay bottle in the valley outside Jerusalem. Now he walks back through the city gate, stands in the temple courtyard, and says it all again in public. The question this verse raises is why the sign needed a second delivery — and what it cost the man who delivered it.
The valley he came back from already had a history.
This valley is often called "the valley of the son of Hinnom." It runs from east to west, on the south of Jerusalem, and still bears that name. In some part of it, supposed to be the east end, children were passed through the fire to false gods. To prevent this, Josiah defiled Topheth in this valley. In God's judgments the valley shall become the "valley of slaughter."
The chapter uses that valley for a reason:
In Jeremiah 19 we have the sign of the potter's earthen vessel developed further. Now the valley of the son of Hinnom is brought forward, which is always a sign of judgment. Tophet points to the great judgment which the Lord will carry out when He Himself comes. It is not merely the place where men carry out executions. Clearly, the judgment of Jerusalem is the subject.
The words he spoke there named the reason for what was coming:
That was not all. On his return from Tophet the prophet stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 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."
He kept delivering such warnings for years. Where did that come from?
Boldness was not natural to Jeremiah. Quite the opposite. It was the power of God and of His Spirit alone, at work in the prophet, that moved him to deliver the warnings the Lord gave him for his people and their rulers. He did this over the course of so many years.
The message he carried back turned on the material of the sign.
This time it is not clay that can still be shaped, but an earthen vessel hardened in the fire. It can only be broken. The message is clear but solemn. 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 applies.
Another writer compares this sign with the earlier one:
The earthen bottle of chapter 19 pictures Jerusalem and the people. In the earlier sign the point 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. He will do it in a way that makes the ears of those who hear of it tingle.
This verse opens a section about what the priests did to him next — and what it cost him inside.
Then we have a historical passage (Jer. 19:14 — Jer. 20:18), dealing with the persecution of the prophet by the priests. This attack by Pashur leads Jeremiah to open up his deepest inward feeling. There was no steeling of his heart against the persecution. His mouth was like steel, no doubt, but his heart was very soft indeed. He went through deep agony because of what he had to say against his adversary. So the very man who seemed as if nothing could bend him was in truth held in the greatest grief before God. At last he pours it out to the Lord.
One writer draws the lesson forward to our own day:
But all this has a lesson for us today. Christendom, or Babylon, has now taken the place that Israel of old once held. Babylon trusts in her security, despite her moral condition. She says, "I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see." But Revelation 18 is another action like the prophet's in the potter's house, or in the valley of the son of Hinnom. It teaches the unfaithful steward that the doom of the shattered vessel awaits him.
- Hardened. A potter can still reshape soft clay. A fired vessel can only break. Hardness changes the outcome.
- Hardened necks. God names the reason for the coming disaster: they stiffened their neck and refused to hear His words.
- Hardened place. Tophet, where children passed through the fire, becomes the valley of slaughter. The place of the sin becomes the place of the sentence.
- Unhardened messenger. Jeremiah's mouth was steel, his heart soft; boldness was not his nature but the Spirit's power in him.
- Still speaking. The shattered vessel still warns every unfaithful steward who says, "I sit as a queen."
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all her cities all the evil that I have spoken against it; for they have hardened their necks, not to hear my words.
Jeremiah has just smashed a clay jar in front of the elders and priests in the valley of Hinnom. Now he repeats the message in the city's most public place: all the disaster God has spoken is coming, because they would not listen.
The prophet did not speak these words just anywhere.
When the prophet returned from the valley of Hinnom he took his place in the court of the LORD's house and declared the fate of the city.
He spoke it in the courtyard of the temple, where the people came to worship.
The verse is the spoken half of an acted sign. A writer explains what the clay bottle stood for and why it had to be smashed in public.
The earthen bottle of chapter 19 is a figure of Jerusalem and the people. In the previous sign the point 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 publicly punish the city, its surroundings and its people for their sin and idolatry. He will do it in such a way that when others hear of it, their ears will tingle.
Nothing new is threatened here. God gathers up everything He has already said and announces that it is now coming. Earlier signs in this book had already come true.
Striking signs such as the belt were fulfilled exactly… The same is true of the potter's vessel of Jeremiah 18 and the earthen vessel of Jeremiah 19… We know how all this came to pass. It happened in a way that leaves no room to question either the divine prediction or the divine fulfilment.
God names one reason for all of this: they stiffened their neck and would not hear. One writer explains that picture:
He tells them to circumcise the foreskin of their heart. That is, they must cut off the selfish, fleshly desires of their heart and "be stiff-necked no longer." Being stiff-necked refers to the stubbornness of wanting our own way.
So the charge is not weakness. It is a will set on having its own way.
Why does God treat a refusal to listen so seriously? Because of who is speaking. One writer draws the line:
This was cold rebellion, not just failure. They would not pay any attention to God's Word. They refused God Himself, not only His Word. In fact, to refuse His Word is to refuse Him. What could they expect as a result? God gave them over to their own stubborn heart. They would have to learn by hard experience the utter folly of walking in their own ways.
The crowd hearing this stood in God's own house. They were His covenant people, in the city He had chosen. The sign struck at exactly that confidence.
The parable of the potter in Jeremiah 18 was meant to teach Israel one thing. Though they had been brought into covenant, they were still within reach of the Lord's judgments and visitations. So in Jeremiah 19 the judgment is acted out. In John the Baptist's time Israel shows the same spirit of self-confidence. They said in that spirit, "We have Abraham as our father"… But these boasts were empty, as both John and the Lord tell them.
One writer applies the scene beyond Jerusalem, to any religious system that assumes it is safe.
But all this has a lesson for us today. Christendom, or Babylon, has now taken this place of Israel of old. Babylon trusts in her security, despite her moral condition. She says, "I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see." But Revelation 18 is another acted sign, like the prophet in the potter's house or in the valley of the son of Hinnom. It teaches the unfaithful steward that the doom of the shattered vessel awaits him.
- Hearing. God names one charge: they would not hear His words. Everything else grows out of that refusal.
- Hardening. A stiff neck is stubbornness that insists on its own way — a chosen posture, not a weakness.
- Refusing. To turn down His Word is to turn down Him. God then gives you over to your own stubborn heart.
- Breaking. The earlier sign showed God's right to judge. The smashed jar announced that He would — and it came to pass, just as He said.
- Presuming. Covenant, temple and family name shelter no one. The shattered vessel warns every confident but unfaithful steward.