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Before I get into the core message of this entry, I must share the following incident.
A while back someone, meaning well I'm sure, offered up the potter and the clay, as a means of "correcting me in my ministry." He said to me, in his angry, argumentative, Baptist preacher voice, "God told ###, '### I'll put you back on the potter’s wheel.'" This was a means to shift the blame, for my situation, from man to God. BUT GOD, knows who's truly to blame:
Isaiah 66:5 (AMP)
Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: Your brethren who hate you, who cast you out for My name 's sake, have said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy! But it is they who shall be put to shame.
Though I attempted to correct him at the time, he flew off into a dismissive rage about how women aren't supposed to teach men. That was The Apostle ###'s preference; not God's. But, because the the Word of God is good for encouraging, rebuke, and correction, I write this correction on this tablet for those who have ears to hear.
God never told ### that He would put him back on His Potter’s wheel. God told ### to go and tell the nation of ### that He would put the nation of ### back on His Potter’s wheel. Meaning that whenever He's not please with the way the nation (any nation) is taking shape, especially where there's idolatry, oppression, or injustice of any kind, He, Himself will destroy and reshape her, according to His will.
Now, the intended entry...
A Plot against ###
¹⁸Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop ###. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.” ### 18:18
[###'s Prayer Against His Enemies]
¹⁹LORD, hear me and help me! Listen to what my enemies are saying. ²⁰Should they repay evil for good? They have dug a pit to kill me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your anger. ²¹So let their children starve! Let them die by the sword! Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle! ²²Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me and have hidden traps along my path. ²³LORD, you know all about their murderous plots against me. Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die before you. Deal with them in your anger." ### 18:19-23
The first time I read this prayer, many years ago, I thought ### was being callous and unforgiving. Therefore, when God told him to repent, so that he could be retored to his ministry, I had assumed that it was because of this dialog. But, God even back then, God opened my understanding. God told ### to repent because, not only had ### doubted his calling, but, even more so, in saying that God had deceived him, he had questioned God's faithfulness to His Word. Which is essentially to call God a liar.
### 7:16 (NIV)
"So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you."
### 11:14 (NIV)
"Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress."
### 14:11 (NIV)
Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people."
God in fact answered ###'s prayer, according to His purpose. For, He himself, at least three times prior, had told ### not to pray for the people for their good. So, no, ### was not being callous or hateful; he was simply responding to his dire situation in his humaness.
### neither chose the Potter (God), nor did he choose the clay (###, God's people). ### was chosen by the Potter to test the clay.
### 1:5 (NIV)
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
God not only chooses whom He will exalt (###); He likewise chooses whom He shall reprove (###, His chosen people). God doesn't just pick us out, at random; like ###, He predestines us.
Like race, creed, and color; I did not choose whom would be my hometown, nor did my hometown choose me. It was the Potter’s Choice.
A while back someone, meaning well I'm sure, offered up the potter and the clay, as a means of "correcting me in my ministry." He said to me, in his angry, argumentative, Baptist preacher voice, "God told ###, '### I'll put you back on the potter’s wheel.'" This was a means to shift the blame, for my situation, from man to God. BUT GOD, knows who's truly to blame:
Isaiah 66:5 (AMP)
Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word: Your brethren who hate you, who cast you out for My name 's sake, have said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy! But it is they who shall be put to shame.
Though I attempted to correct him at the time, he flew off into a dismissive rage about how women aren't supposed to teach men. That was The Apostle ###'s preference; not God's. But, because the the Word of God is good for encouraging, rebuke, and correction, I write this correction on this tablet for those who have ears to hear.
God never told ### that He would put him back on His Potter’s wheel. God told ### to go and tell the nation of ### that He would put the nation of ### back on His Potter’s wheel. Meaning that whenever He's not please with the way the nation (any nation) is taking shape, especially where there's idolatry, oppression, or injustice of any kind, He, Himself will destroy and reshape her, according to His will.
Now, the intended entry...
A Plot against ###
¹⁸Then the people said, “Come on, let’s plot a way to stop ###. We have plenty of priests and wise men and prophets. We don’t need him to teach the word and give us advice and prophecies. Let’s spread rumors about him and ignore what he says.” ### 18:18
[###'s Prayer Against His Enemies]
¹⁹LORD, hear me and help me! Listen to what my enemies are saying. ²⁰Should they repay evil for good? They have dug a pit to kill me, though I pleaded for them and tried to protect them from your anger. ²¹So let their children starve! Let them die by the sword! Let their wives become childless widows. Let their old men die in a plague, and let their young men be killed in battle! ²²Let screaming be heard from their homes as warriors come suddenly upon them. For they have dug a pit for me and have hidden traps along my path. ²³LORD, you know all about their murderous plots against me. Don’t forgive their crimes and blot out their sins. Let them die before you. Deal with them in your anger." ### 18:19-23
The first time I read this prayer, many years ago, I thought ### was being callous and unforgiving. Therefore, when God told him to repent, so that he could be retored to his ministry, I had assumed that it was because of this dialog. But, God even back then, God opened my understanding. God told ### to repent because, not only had ### doubted his calling, but, even more so, in saying that God had deceived him, he had questioned God's faithfulness to His Word. Which is essentially to call God a liar.
### 7:16 (NIV)
"So do not pray for this people nor offer any plea or petition for them; do not plead with me, for I will not listen to you."
### 11:14 (NIV)
"Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress."
### 14:11 (NIV)
Then the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the well-being of this people."
God in fact answered ###'s prayer, according to His purpose. For, He himself, at least three times prior, had told ### not to pray for the people for their good. So, no, ### was not being callous or hateful; he was simply responding to his dire situation in his humaness.
### neither chose the Potter (God), nor did he choose the clay (###, God's people). ### was chosen by the Potter to test the clay.
### 1:5 (NIV)
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
God not only chooses whom He will exalt (###); He likewise chooses whom He shall reprove (###, His chosen people). God doesn't just pick us out, at random; like ###, He predestines us.
Like race, creed, and color; I did not choose whom would be my hometown, nor did my hometown choose me. It was the Potter’s Choice.
Recommended Reading Below
### 18:1-17 (NLT)
### 18:1-17 (NLT)
The Potter and the Clay
¹The LORD gave another message to ###. He said, ²“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” ³So I did as" he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. ⁴But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
⁵Then the LORD gave me this message: ⁶“O ###, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. ⁷If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, ⁸but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. ⁹And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, ¹⁰but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
¹¹“Therefore, ###, go and warn all ### and ###. Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”
¹²But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.” ¹³So this is what the LORD says: “Has anyone ever heard of such a thing, even among the pagan nations? My virgin daughter ### has done something terrible!
¹⁴Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of ###? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry? ¹⁵But My people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths. ¹⁶Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement. ¹⁷I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress.”
```
¹The LORD gave another message to ###. He said, ²“Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.” ³So I did as" he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. ⁴But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
⁵Then the LORD gave me this message: ⁶“O ###, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand. ⁷If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, ⁸but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. ⁹And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom, ¹⁰but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
¹¹“Therefore, ###, go and warn all ### and ###. Say to them, ‘This is what the LORD says: I am planning disaster for you instead of good. So turn from your evil ways, each of you, and do what is right.’”
¹²But the people replied, “Don’t waste your breath. We will continue to live as we want to, stubbornly following our own evil desires.” ¹³So this is what the LORD says: “Has anyone ever heard of such a thing, even among the pagan nations? My virgin daughter ### has done something terrible!
¹⁴Does the snow ever disappear from the mountaintops of ###? Do the cold streams flowing from those distant mountains ever run dry? ¹⁵But My people are not so reliable, for they have deserted me; they burn incense to worthless idols. They have stumbled off the ancient highways and walk in muddy paths. ¹⁶Therefore, their land will become desolate, a monument to their stupidity. All who pass by will be astonished and will shake their heads in amazement. ¹⁷I will scatter my people before their enemies as the east wind scatters dust. And in all their trouble I will turn my back on them and refuse to notice their distress.”
```
