Precious Clay Pots

Lamentations 4:1-11

1 How the gold has become dim!
How changed the fine gold!
The stones of the sanctuary are scattered
At the head of every street.

2 The precious sons of Zion,
Valuable as fine gold,
How they are regarded as clay pots,
The work of the hands of the potter!

3 Even the jackals present their breasts
To nurse their young;
But the daughter of my people is cruel,
Like ostriches in the wilderness.

4 The tongue of the infant clings
To the roof of its mouth for thirst;
The young children ask for bread,
But no one breaks it for them.
5 Those who ate delicacies
Are desolate in the streets;
Those who were brought up in scarlet
Embrace ash heaps.

6 The punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people
Is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom,
Which was overthrown in a moment,
With no hand to help her!

7 Her Nazirites were brighter than snow
And whiter than milk;
They were more ruddy in body than rubies,
Like sapphire in their appearance.
8 Now their appearance is blacker than soot;
They go unrecognized in the streets;
Their skin clings to their bones,
It has become as dry as wood.

9 Those slain by the sword are better off
Than those who die of hunger;
For these pine away,
Stricken for lack of the fruits of the field.
10 The hands of the compassionate women
Have cooked their own children;
They became food for them
In the destruction of the daughter of my people.

11 The LORD has fulfilled His fury,
He has poured out His fierce anger.
He kindled a fire in Zion,
And it has devoured its foundations.

The precious children of God were brought low to appear as clay pots to Jeremiah in seeking their fall from great value according to their possessions and conditions before their sin allowed Babylon in for their humiliation and destruction of pride.  The degradation of Zion was seen all around in the destruction of the holy city Jerusalem.  The fine gold lining the temple had been stripped away and its rubble scattered in the streets outside the holy of holies and the altar of sacrificial offerings for atonement of sins.  The sight made the holy of God appear ordinary as if the vessels of the precious sons and daughters were remade on the potter’s wheel using the dust of Adam’s constitution instead of gold and precious gems.  They needed to learn the lesson of 2 Corinthians 4:7 regarding how these earthen vessels of clay should hold the excellence of God in us and not our own power or value apart from what He puts in us.  We are not the potter to turn the wheel and make ourselves, but are made and formed and reformed according to His word and purpose.  Judah had to see the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple to begin to understand that it was not the possessions or glory of the outward temple that was important to God, but they themselves.  Their delicacies and shelter were removed and desolation given to open their eyes with clear vision to see God’s judgment and corrective discipline in their overthrow and captivity in a land of idols to cause them to cast off their own idolatry and immortality.  This was an extended punishment in comparison with the price of Sodom’s sin which was overthrown in a moment of flaming annihilation.  The sin of homosexuality of Sodom was less severely punished than the idolatry of serving gods which were not on top of the sexual immorality of Judah, though it was stopped instantly for its abominable character compared to the prolonged punishment in Babylonian captivity for the deep betrayal of breaking the first commandment.  The outward appearance of righteousness seen in the Nazirites was darkened as sin of the heart within was brought to the surface in this judgment.  It was seen as better to die by the sword than suffer such starvation and deprivation of life and the living according to the prophet.  The LORD judged righteously in distributing His deserved wrath on their sin and devoured the corrupt foundations which His children had built on.  This points us to consider the wrath of God on all our sin and to see the captivity of its enslavement on us all which needs to be either judged and sentenced or atoned for in the grace of forgiveness.  Our trust in His work on the cross to atone and redeem His people is the only way out of certain judgment and eternal desolation as our end.  Our bondage to sin destroys us and holds us imprisoned until He sets us free and these humble vessels of clay then hold the precious righteousness of Christ in whose hands we are reformed for His glory.  We are clay pots made precious for His use (2 Timothy 2:20-21) in our obedience based on His transformative work.  Thanks be to God for His deliverance and indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)!