Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries |
The principle of the shattered or the broken vessels relating to the potter.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The principle of the shattered or the broken vessel.
ROM 9:20 On the contrary, who are you [the entire soul of man identified as the clay and authority over the soul]
In ISA 29:16, clay is used as a reference to the soul of man since the soul is made in the image of the invisible God, not the physical body.
ISA 29:16 You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made should say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?
The same is true in ISA 45:9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker– An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
In ISA 64:8, the clay is identified as being the son of the Father, “O Lord, Thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand.”
The Lord shuts our eyes effectually to the things of this earth that He may open them to see His face and rejoice in His presence, and enjoy spiritual realities.
The clay represents that part of man which is made in the image of God and therefore the soul and not the vessel is in view.
ROM 9:20, On the contrary, who are you [the entire soul of man identified as the clay and authority over the soul] O man [soul of man], who [man as a soul – the real you, not the physical body ] answers back to God? [the Potter as the divine authority] The thing [man’s free will] molded [the free will’s response to divine authority which is what molds the real you] will not say to the molder [the divine authority of God], “Why did you [the authority and rules of God] make me [free will of man] like this,” will it?
ROM 9:21, Or does not the potter [God as the sovereign One in authority] have a right [divine authority] over the clay [the free will of man] to make from the same lump [the soul of man] one vessel [man’s entire being – body, soul, and for the believer – human spirit] for honorable use, and another [man’s entire being] for dishonorable use?
The Potter’s wheel is the plan of God for the human race and it runs upon the axle of the justice, righteousness, and the faithfulness of God.
ISA 64:8, But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; And all of us are the work of Thy hand.
The wheel is God’s plan or God’s decree which has existed from eternity past. Under the concept of the wheel, God’s plan keeps rolling on no matter what. The wheel must turn on an axle and the axle is based upon the justice and the righteousness of God.
Because of the angelic conflict, God has designed His plan so that the wheel of the Christian life must turn or spin on the axle of the individual’s choice.
In JER 18:3, that Jeremiah uses the analogy of the wheel as a type that represents the workings of God as He molds and shapes either a person or a nation into the kind of vessel He desires.
Here, the wheel represents the training He gives, and sometimes the discipline necessary in order that He may obtain the results He desires to have.
In EZE 1:15 Wheels always represent progress, motion, purpose, accomplishment.
EZE 1:15-17, Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for {each of} the four of them. The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship {was} like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship {being} as if one wheel were within another. Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions, without turning as they moved.
In this Scripture the wheels represent the power of God in action.
The wheel within a wheel in EZE 1:16, their appearance and workmanship {being} as if one wheel were within another. It represents the inner motions, purposes and desires of our Lord within Himself.
EZE 1:18 As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about.
The rims of these wheels reach unto Heaven to inform us that the purposes and works of GOD are higher than ours, too
high for our comprehension.
The eyes on the wheels represent the omniscience of the Spirit of God, who knows full well what He is doing, and understands all the purposes of GOD.
When it comes to His wheels, you must decide which axle you will use – the one that God has provided or invent your own which is some form of self-righteousness.
Therefore in perfect righteousness the justice of God provided man with a free will, so that man is a free agent in determining his own destiny.
Therefore man cannot blame the mistakes and errors of his own decisions on perfect and incorruptible God.
PSA 9:17, The wicked will return to Sheol [grave, abode of death], {Even} all the nations who forget God.
JER 18:4, But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; is because Israel as a nation had forgotten God.
In JER 2:32, They had lost there attachment to God that they once had as young females have to their dress and ornaments.
EPH 2:10, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.