Biblical Pottery

Scripture has two passages about God as a potter. (More than two, but two I'm highlighting.) In Isaiah we read, "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'?" (Isa 45:9). "Woe" is a significant term in biblical terms. It refers not to "sad," but to judgment. That makes this text ominous. What category of people are under judgment? The clay that decries the potter's work. "What are you doing?" Understand we're not talking about a question for information. We're talking about a judgment on God's work. "You don't know what you're doing!" Or "He has no hands!" Those people, in this text, are under judgment.

There is a similar text in Romans.

You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? Or 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 9:19-22)

Paul is answering objections here to the notion that God chooses whom He will save. He chose Jacob over Esau (Rom 9:10-13). "That's not fair!" (Rom 9:14) Paul answers with "So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy" (Rom 9:15-18). Then this objection. "If God chooses, how can He hold us responsible?" Without a logical argument explaining it, Paul answers, "Are you really going to answer back to God?" And he uses this pottery metaphor. God has the right to make what He wants. The first difficulty is the apparent claim that He makes some for honorable use and others for common use. God ... makes them ... for that use. Is that okay with you? He explains the two uses in the text. Common use: vessels of wrath prepared for destruction (Rom 9:22). Honorable use: vessels of mercy "which He prepared beforehand for glory" (Rom 9:23). Does God have that right? Paul assumes it outright. "Who are you, O man, who answers back to God?"

My point here isn't the doctrine of election. My point here is the notion of being clay in God's hands. My point is whether or not we will challenge God -- "What are you doing?", or "Why did you make me like this?" -- or will we allow the potter His right to do what He wants with what is clearly His? Will you let Him act as He will, or will you challenge His choice? The latter is ... dangerous. It causes ... woe.