"... says the Lord. Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand ..."

God wanted the so-called weeping prophet, Jeremiah, to see a parable, so he sent Jeremiah to a potter’s house. There the prophet observed a powerful message which he proclaimed in his oracle of doom to Israel. It is well worth our study also.

If the clay were in the proper condition to be molded, the potter was successful in what he was making. But, if it did not work out well after being molded by the potter, it could be broken into sherds and cast out. If it had a flaw and was still in condition to be reworked or remolded, then the potter could take it in hand and, before it hardened, make it right.

The town of Scio, Ohio, is the only town I know where the broken sherds of pots and plates, cups …