Well, I saw a sermon in that clay. God is the potter. He takes his clay, that is us, his people Israel, and he tries to mold us into a beautiful nation. But it doesn’t work; we insist on living ugly and sinful lives; so he takes us and punches us down and starts over.

So I had another sermon for the people. If you do not repent, I said, God is going to take us like a lump of clay and knead us down. He will send the Babylonians to do it for him. And then after a while he will start over, making us the nation he wants us to be.

People, do not despise the Lord, I shouted. We are in God's hands as a lump of clay, and he is shaping us into a beautiful piece of pottery. But we are spoiling it. We are turning to other gods. We are doing wicked things that make God horrified. People, stop this defiance of God. Else we will be like a lump of clay that God squashes down to make way for a new start.

Some time later I went down to this potter’s shop again. This time I had another object lesson in mind. I bought one of his pots, the finest and most beautiful one he had. I carried it back into the city, holding it out in front of me very prominently, so everyone could see it.

Then I went to the temple with that lovely ceramic jar. I invited a few priests to go with me to watch what I was going to do. I led them outside the city, through the gate on the south that leads to the city dump. It was here where people worshiped their useless deities by sacrificing their children -- abominable!

Then I said to the priests who were with me, including Pashhur the High Priest, See that dump there? That is what the city of Jerusalem will look like when the Lord sends the armies of Babylon. They will break down the walls of Jerusalem. They will level the great buildings -- Solomon’s temple, the king’s palace, all your fine stone mansions, the twelve-foot thick wall. It will become a pile of rubbish just like this dump here.

Then I lifted that beautiful ceramic jar, raised it over my head, slammed it down, and smashed it into a hundred pieces. Just like this, I cried, the Lord will take his beautiful city and smash it as I smash this clay pot. Just as surely as I have destroyed this jar, so surely God will destroy his city. Believe it. It will happen.