Broken and Forsaken Vessels

Jeremiah 19:1-15 

1 Thus says the LORD: "Go and get a potter's earthen flask, and take some of the elders of the people and some of the elders of the priests. 2 And go out to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Potsherd Gate; and proclaim there the words that I will tell you, 3 and say, 'Hear the word of the LORD, O kings of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Behold, I will bring such a catastrophe on this place, that whoever hears of it, his ears will tingle.

4 "Because they have forsaken Me and made this an alien place, because they have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they, their fathers, nor the kings of Judah have known, and have filled this place with the blood of the innocents 5 (they have also built the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I did not command or speak, nor did it come into My mind), 6 therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "that this place shall no more be called Tophet or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter. 7 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hands of those who seek their lives; their corpses I will give as meat for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. 8 I will make this city desolate and a hissing; everyone who passes by it will be astonished and hiss because of all its plagues. 9 And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and everyone shall eat the flesh of his friend in the siege and in the desperation with which their enemies and those who seek their lives shall drive them to despair."'

10 "Then you shall break the flask in the sight of the men who go with you, 11 and say to them, 'Thus says the LORD of hosts: "Even so I will break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, which cannot be made whole again; and they shall bury them in Tophet till there is no place to bury. 12 Thus I will do to this place," says the LORD, "and to its inhabitants, and make this city like Tophet. 13 And the houses of Jerusalem and the houses of the kings of Judah shall be defiled like the place of Tophet, because of all the houses on whose roofs they have burned incense to all the host of heaven, and poured out drink offerings to other gods."'"

14 Then Jeremiah came from Tophet, where the LORD had sent him to prophesy; and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people, 15 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will bring on this city and on all her towns all the doom that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their necks that they might not hear My words.'"

Forsaken.  Broken.  Hardened hearts and stiffened necks refused to hear God’s word and they were judged accordingly as their rejection found its reflection in themselves.  They made God’s place a profane one by incense offered to lifeless idols instead of worship to the only LORD and God who called them.  They were given a message through Jeremiah as he carried a flask of earthen pottery out the gate of the city called pottery shard as if to show the destruction ahead on the way to the Valley of the Son of Hinnom on the southern slope of Jerusalem, a deep ravine whose name fittingly means “lamentation.”  There he loudly preached God’s word given him that the leaders of Judah and all the citizens of Jerusalem could hear concerning the righteous catastrophic judgment looming before them for rejecting and dishonoring Him.  The message was so strongly convicting that their ears would tingle, quivering with fear and reddened with shame when they heard it!  The charges of their judgment were clearly presented concerning their idolatry and treating the holy place as profane, much more so than the profane fire offered by Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron in Leviticus 10:1-3.  They also did not regard the LORD as holy or glorified His name, but much worse in replacing Him with lifeless bits and bobs of stone and wood to bow down to.  They even sacrificed innocent people made in God’s image as burnt offerings to Baal instead of the prescribed animals given Adam and needing to be given back to God whom he had sinned against.  Because of these egregious sins, the place he went to to give this judgment would be called the Valley of Slaughter as they would be defeated by their enemies there due to their continuing and blatantly rebellious sin.  Desolation would be the end state of that place, clearly seen by all who would pass by and recall what happened there to those rejecting their LORD God who alone is worthy of praise for His glory (1 Timothy 1:17, Romans 11:36).  The pottery flask was then broken as a visual picture of the fate of the these who had done all these things, showing them to be broken in sin and forsaken vessels of dishonor which should have been for God’s honor and glory (2 Timothy 2:20-21) as living temples of His habitation.  The potter’s vessel was broken beyond repair into many useless shards before their eyes to demonstrate the finality of God’s final judgment of their rejecting and forsaking Him for the works of their own hands according to the imaginations of their corrupt hearts.  This was pronounced because they stiffened their necks and refused in that pride to hear and heed God’s word.  The same fate awaits those who reject His work and worship in Jesus Christ, but life is forever promised to all who accept and receive Him and His words.  There are multitudes in the valley of decision (Joel 1:15, 3:14).  May all who read and hear this example from scripture consider who they worship and the consequences of rejecting the Son of God that they might receive Him by faith and be vessels made whole again against all reasoning and expectations in light of what we are all due (Romans 6:23).