Does the Potter Predestine the Clay? (Part 1 of 2)

“Does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom 9:21-22)

A common analogy in rabbinic writings is to compare the relationship of God and man, to that of a potter and his clay.  After all, man was formed by God from the clay of the earth.  Paul draws on this analogy in the ninth chapter of his letter to the Romans, immediately following his discourse on the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart.  Many have interpreted the words of Paul to mean that God providentially determines the salvation of an individual at the time of his creation, but is this an interpretation consistent with the balance of scripture?

The Hebrew text contains a number of references to the potter and the clay.  One of the most notable examples comes from the eighteenth chapter of Jeremiah.

 
“Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, ‘Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?’ declares the LORD.  ‘Behold like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.  At one moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to uproot, to pull down, or to destroy it; if that nation against which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the calamity I planned to bring on it.  Or at another moment I might speak concerning a nation or concerning a kingdom to build it up or to plant it; if it does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice, then I will thing better of the good with which I had promised to bless it’…Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold I am fashioning calamity against you and devising a plan against you.  O turn back, each of you from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds.’” (Jer 18:5-11)

In Jeremiah’s example, the potter has the right to build up or tear down the clay.  Yet, the potter’s response is not arbitrary, but based on the actions of the clay.  If the clay “turns from its evil” (repents), then the potter “will relent concerning the calamity” he planned to perform.  On the other hand, if the clay “does evil in My sight by not obeying My voice,” then the potter will “fashion calamity” against the clay.  In either case, the actions of the clay are not predetermined.  For this reason, the LORD commands, "O turn back, each of your from his evil way, and reform your ways and your deeds."

In the Book of Romans, Paul may have been recalling the words of Jeremiah, or Isaiah who wrote, “Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, that what is made would say to its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isa 29:16).  Isaiah draws on the example of the potter to remind Israel that God has sovereignty over His Creation, and can judge His people according to their ways.  Even though their “deeds are done in a dark place, and they say, ‘Who sees us?’ or ‘Who knows us?’” (Isa 29:15), “All who are intent on doing evil will be cut off,” (Isa 29:20).  In Isaiah’s analogy, like that of Jeremiah, the clay is not preordained to destruction by the potter, but is judged by the potter based on the freewill actions of the clay.  Isaiah uses the “potter and the clay” analogy three additional times to teach the authority of God to judge His creation.

 
“He will come upon rulers as upon mortar, even as the potter treads clay,” (Isa 41:25)
“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker…Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands?’” (Isa 45:10)
“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand,” (Isa 64:8)

None of the prophetic examples teach that the clay is predestined to destruction, or that God acts arbitrarily within His creation.  This is the context in which Paul’s reference to the potter and the clay must be framed to be consistent with scripture. 

Rather than “vessels of wrath prepared (katartizo) for destruction,” (Rom 9:22), as most translations are written, the Greek word “katartizo” can also be rendered, “fully trained” or “equipped” for destruction.  In this rendering, the reader can understand that the destruction is not predetermined, but “wrath” brought on by the lifestyle of the clay, as in the words of Jesus, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained (katartizo), will be like his teacher,” (Luke 6:40).  It is the unrighteous actions of the clay, which set the clay on a road destined for destruction.

Like all analogies, the teaching point of the potter and the clay can only be carried so far.  Paul is consistent with the prophets in his rhetorical question.  The Potter (God) has power over the clay to make us into who we are and to build up or tear down.  But this power is not exercised randomly or arbitrarily.  Nor does the Potter predetermine the fate of His creation.  The response of the Potter, according to the prophets, is based on the actions of the clay, whether righteous or wicked.  After all, no rational potter predetermines to destroy his work prior to its completion, and “God is not a God of confusion, but of peace” (1 Cor 14:33). 

It is cold and wet in Austin - Scott

Who Hardened Pharaoh's Heart??

 

“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My Name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.’  So then He has mercy on whom He desires and He harden whom He desires.” (Rom 9:17-18)

 

The words of Paul have led most readers to conclude that Pharaoh’s heart was hardened providential, that is, beyond the power or control of Pharaoh.  The actual story is more extensive than Paul’s short narrative.  Seventeen times in Exodus, Pharaoh’s heart is said to be hardened, (Ex 4:21, 7:3, 7:13, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32, 9:7, 9:12, 9:34, 9:35, 10:1, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10, 14:4, and 14:8).  Three times we are told that Pharaoh hardened his own heart, “But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go,” (Ex 8:32, 8:15, & 9:34).  Five times we are told, “the heart of Pharaoh was hardened” (Ex 7:13, 7:22, 8:19, 9:7, & 9:35).  Although the source of the hardening is not specifically stated, the context implies that Pharaoh caused the hardening.  The nine remaining times we are told, “The LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the LORD had spoken to Moses,” (Ex 9:12, 4:21, 7:3, 10:1, 10:20, 11:10, 14:4, & 14:8). 

 

In the beginning Pharaoh hardened his own heart, a fact foreseen by the LORD Who told Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn; he refuses to let the people go,” (Ex 7:14).  Through the initial miracles, especially those that could be replicated by the magicians of Pharaoh, “Pharaoh…hardened his heart” (Ex 8:15), and “Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also,” (Ex 8:32).  Additional references during the initial plagues imply that the LORD foresaw the hardening of Pharaoh heart, but did not participate in the hardening, “Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he did not listen to them as the LORD had said,” (Ex 7:22).

 

In the last reference to Pharaoh hardening his heart, we are told, “When Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunder had ceased, he sinned again and hardened his heart,” (Ex 9:34).  At this point, scripture identifies “sin” as the source of Pharaoh’s hardening.  This statement is consistent with the words of the Hebrew writer and the warning to all believers against being “hardened by the deceitfulness of sin,” (Heb 3:13). 

 

Beginning with the fifth plague, and exclusively from the eight plague onward, scripture identifies God as the singular source that hardened Pharaoh’s heart, “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may perform these signs of Mine among them,” (Ex 10:1).  The believer might wonder why it became necessary for the LORD to harden Pharaoh’s heart since Pharaoh had been capable of hardening his own heart during the initial plagues.  The answer involves freewill, and the story indicates that the increasing revelation of God’s power in the final plagues was sufficient to turn even the unrepentant heart of Pharaoh toward repentance, in effect, subverting Pharaoh’s freewill.  To keep freewill in balance against an increasing revelation of God, it sometimes becomes necessary for God to give, “a thorn in the flesh,” (2 Cor 12:7).  In Pharaoh’s case, the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart.  

 

Although Paul’s statement that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart is correct (Rom 9:18), this hardening only occurred after Pharaoh first hardened his own heart through “stubbornness” (Ex 7:14), and “sin”, (Ex 9:34).  Pharaoh’s life becomes an example and a warning for every person whose heart will eventually become hardened through repeated unrepentant sin.  The hardening of an individual’s heart has not been providentially determined, as many interpret Paul’s words in Romans.  On the contrary, “Each one is carried away and enticed by his own sin,” (James 1:14).  God does not tempt an individual (James 1:13), and neither does God harden an individual’s heart apart from an individual’s own sin which precipitates the hardening.  For this reason, the writer of Hebrews repeatedly warns believers, “Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me” (Heb 3:8, 3:15, & 4:7).  For we know that “He who hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” (Prov 28:14). 

 

After repeated unrepentant sin, a person’s heart will be hardened to a place where, God will give “them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity,” (Rom 1:24).  The Rabbinic view is that God often supports a person in the direction that he/she wants to go, whether good or bad.  The Hebrew Talmud said it this way, "In the way that a person wants to go, he will led him.”[1]  David feared this after his sin with Bathsheba, leading him to pray, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me,” (Psa 51:10).  Therefore, believers must “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life” (Luke 21:34), and “Guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” (Phil 4:7). 

 

“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith,” (Heb 12:1-2)

 

Keep warm in Midland - Scott

---

[1] The Power of Teshuvah, Rabbi Heshy Kleinman, Published 2011, page 77.

JESUS HAD EARS

This is a revision of one sent earlier in the month...

“When He comes into the world, He says, ‘Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body you have prepared for me.” (Heb 10:5)

Hebrews 10:5 is an often quoted passage believers, and my pastor in Austin, like because it appears to allude to the coming of God in the flesh.  However, Dan Lancaster has pointed out that the passage is a quotation of Psalms 40:6, which reads somewhat differently, “Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears you have opened” (NASB), or “Ears Thou hast prepared for me” (YLT), or “But you have given me an open ear” (ESV).  Somehow, the “ear” of the Psalmist became the “body” in our New Testament translation of the Book of the Hebrews. 

 

It is not clear how the “ear” became the entire “body”.  Some have suggested translational difficulties as the word for ear and body are similar in the Greek Septuagint.  Others have speculated that the translators did not appreciate the Hebrew idiom used for ear and expanded the anatomy to include the body. 

In scripture, the ear often represents hearing that leads to obedience, as Moses wrote, “Give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes,” (Ex 15:26).  While on earth, Jesus frequently told His listeners, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear,” (Luke 11:31)(Matt 11:15).  To “hear” in scripture means to “do”, as in the prelude to the greatest commandments, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is One;” which is immediately followed by the commandment, “and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all you strength…” (Mark 12:29-31).  Stephen criticized members of the Sanhedrin using three phrases related to disobedience originating from unrepentant hearts,

“Stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…always resisting the Holy Spirit,”  (Acts 7:51).   

Zechariah prophesized against disobedient people saying, “They refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing,” (Zech 7:11).  In the book of Hebrews, the author used similar language warning against the people who “have become dull of hearing,” (Heb 5:11).  Among the many messages of Hebrews, the Book is a warning, “So that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience,” (Heb 4:11). 

When “ear” is substituted in Hebrews 10:5 for “body”, then the verses that follow are consistent with the context of obedience, “In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure.  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the Book it is written of Me) to do your will, O God’” (Heb 10:6-7).  Jesus came with body that was offered up on the cross.  Jesus also came with a hearing ear to do the complete will of the Father.  What God desires from His people is obedience, a hearing ear in place of sacrifice. 

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams,” (1 Sam 15:22).

 

In the coming year, maybe all of us can strive, empowered by the Spirit, to put on better ears than in the past, ears prepared for obedience and service.  The world certainly needs better examples than those being portrayed in the movies, the news, and on television.  If the LORD was capable of given Jesus, "an open ear," will He not surely do the same for those who want to be like Jesus?

 

As always, Scott