Pottery(earthenware)
Summary
Pottery was an essential craft in ancient Israel, frequently used in Scripture as an image of God's sovereign power over His creation.
☩The Potter's Craft
Pottery was made by shaping clay on a wheel, then firing it in a kiln. The potter's field near Jerusalem contained clay suitable for the craft. Potters could rework spoiled clay into new vessels. Broken pottery (potsherds) was used for scraping, carrying coals, and writing. The fragility and commonness of earthenware made it a symbol of human frailty.
☩Divine Sovereignty
Scripture's most powerful use of pottery imagery depicts God as the potter and humans as clay. God has the sovereign right to make vessels for honor or dishonor from the same lump. Isaiah asks, 'Shall the clay say to the potter, What are you making?' Paul applies this to God's choice in salvation, asserting divine freedom to show mercy or harden as He wills.
