“I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do.
“Then the word of the Lord came to me: ‘O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter has done? declares the Lord… Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’
“But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’
“‘Therefore thus says the Lord:
Ask among the nations,
Who has heard the like of this?
The virgin Israel
has done a very horrible thing.
Does the snow of Lebanon leave
the crags of Sirion?
Do the mountain waters run dry,
the cold flowing streams?
But my people have forgotten me;
they make offerings to false gods;
they made them stumble in their ways,
in the ancient roads,
and to walk into side roads,
not the highway,
making their land a horror,
a thing to be hissed at forever.
Everyone who passes by it is horrified
and shakes his head.
Like the east wind I will scatter them
before the enemy.
I will show them my back, not my face,
in the day of their calamity.’
“Then they said, ‘Come, let us make plots against Jeremiah, for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, let us strike him with the tongue, and let us not pay attention to any of his words.’” Jeremiah 18:3-6a,11b-18
Israel, inextricably tied to their God by love and promise, had turned her back. Though chosen, called, and named by Him, she had determined and stubbornly set out on her own ways, cloyingly toying with false gods, rejecting her true Lover’s worth and His plans for her blessing. So true to His word, He would turn His back on her.
There are varied seasons where it seems God has turned His back on us. We struggle to make sense of His silence during extended periods of heartbreak or prolonged physical pain or financial setback, wondering where He has gone. But God has good purposes in hard times, and we can trust He is working redemptively through them for our good and His glory. The legitimate turned back, serious and horrifying holy rejection, comes when we have first rejected Him. (Romans 8:28; Galatians 6:7)
Where am I spurning God’s good laws? With what strange idols of self-acceptance, peace-at-all-cost, or deception do I unfaithfully flirt? How are my actions, attitudes, and affections turning their back on the only true Lover of my soul?
Our Lord is never capricious in punishment, nor does He delight in judgment. He knows we are marred clay, spoiled beyond repair save for His grace, and graciously beckons His own in mercy and compassion. If we have turned away, will we today repent and turn back to Him? (Psalm 5:4; 103:6-14; Isaiah 28:21-22; Romans 3:23)
Father, keep me face to face with You in faithful love.
As the rain and snow 