Clay and Glass
In my personal talk with God while reading Jeremiah 19, I "mistakenly" said shattered glass instead of jar. Then I realized that glass and clay come from the earth, in a simpler form glass as sand and clay as dirt. For to become a vessel they must go through a very transformative process. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. 3 And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
We are one of God's creations, from the very grounds that shape our world. Just as sand and dirt can be transformed into jars-vessels so are we. We are formless and empty without the spirit of God. God shapes us, and just like a shattered jar we are broken without our Father. However, Jesus came to save us, to lead us back to the spirit of the water, so our shattered pieces may become renewed-to become new jars-vessels. We're no longer formless or empty but now structured, firm, and full of new life.
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Jeremiah's Shattered Jar 19
Jeremiah was sent to warn the kings of Judah and people of Jerusalem to repent of their sins and step away from evil doings, from fleshy behavior, and begin to turn towards the Lord. Jeremiah was to buy a clay jar and ask leaders and priests to follow him into the valley of wickedness to warn them if they do not repent and turn towards God they will perish beyond all hope of repair. That their enemies will crush them, and their own wrongful behaviors will turn on them. They will be left out of God's grace as they themselves turned blatantly against the one they once knew.
God then told Jeremiah,
10 "As the men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought." 11 "Then say to them, "This is what the Lord of Heaven's Armies says: As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair.14 Then Jeremiah returned from Topeth, the garbage dump where he had delivered this message, and he stopped in front of the Temple of the Lord. He said to the people there, 15 "This is what the Lord of the Heaven's Armies, the God of Israel, says: ' I will bring disaster upon this city and its surrounding towns as I promised, because you have stubbornly refused to listen to me."
your shattered jar is fixed
Jeremiah was an Old Testament story, meaning Jesus was not yet fully in the picture but in every Old Testament story there is a foreshadowing of the coming of Jesus Christ.
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Jeremiah 19:1 Thus saith the LORD, Go and get a potter's earthen bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the ancients of the priests.
GO. God sent Jesus to go amongst the world, of false kingdoms, priest, and sinners to preach the word of God. Showing miracles and being the light of God's works.
Those who believe in Jesus as the son of God sent from Heaven shall turn away from wickedness and have mercy brought upon them.
John 8: 42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
1 Peter 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”
Jeremiah had a clay jar, in which he had to break in order to show the people that they too will be and remain broken. In this case-it is the Old Testament and Jesus Christ was later sent so to see our brokenness and guide us back to God and faithful behaviors. When we seek Jesus, learn from him, and begin to behave much as the fruit of the Spirit tells us too-we will no longer be broken. Our trials will not break us, the world's chaos and culture will not break us, nothing will separate us when our desire is fixed on God.
Acts 3:26 Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Our burden of sin or unfaithfulness is no equivalent to a shattered jar, as Jesus Christ died to release us from the chains of shatter jars. Through Jesus we may now receive new jars. Jars that are equipped for our newfound purpose. Give Jesus Your Shattered Jars. Allow the holy spirit to find you and fill you with the spirit of God during your darkened waters.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
