November 1, 2026
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Today’s word of the Lord comes from Jeremiah 18, where the Lord spoke a word into Jeremiah’s spirit about His right to change His mind regarding blessing or bringing judgment against a nation. The Lord uses the potter’s wheel as an analogy to make His point.
Jeremiah 18:
1 ¶ The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying:
2 “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.”
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
6 “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!
7 “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it,
8 “if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.
9 “And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it,
10 “if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.
11 ¶ “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”‘” (NKJV)
God is saying, just like a potter and his clay, He has the right to change His mind to reform nations. Sometimes the potter must start over. If God has decided to bless a nation, but that nation decides to do evil, God will withhold good things which He said would benefit that nation. On the other hand, a nation that turns away from evil, God will relent and not bring the disaster or destruction that He planned.
But understand God’s heart – He wants to reform nations to comply with His will. When He pulls down a nation to destroy it, it is because He wants to reform that nation. When He blesses, He wants to reinforce that nation’s good behavior, so that the people would see the correlation between obedience and God’s blessings.
That is what a potter does – he reforms what he has in his hands, but sometimes he must start over. God gets a “do over” with nations whenever He wants.
Verse 11 makes God’s heart clear –
Jeremiah 18:
11 ¶ “Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD: “Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”‘”
Key Takeaways from the Potter’s Wheel
- God is still forming Israel. By my calculation, Jeremiah prophesied during the years 627 B.C through 587 B.C. Israel had already fallen to the Assyrians in 722 B.C., but Judah and Jerusalem were still at risk. God’s warning in verse 11 was to avoid the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. God was still forming His nation of Israel during Jeremiah’s ministry, and He is still forming her today. He will continue to pursue and form Israel to accept Jesus Christ as Messiah.
- God is still forming the U.S. and all the nations. It is not too late for a nation to do something about its fate. We can affect the decision of the Potter based on His word to Jeremiah.
- God looks at a nation’s behavior, in terms of obedience or disobedience to His word, in making the Potter’s decision. When a nation disobeys, God does what He must do, just like a potter would. He arranges the circumstances of that nation by putting it back on the Potter’s wheel. He removes promised blessings, and ultimately, He may choose to bring that nation down. On the other hand, when a nation turns away from evil, and decides to obey, God will relent from planned consequences and bless instead.
- God’s treatment of the nations applies to us as individuals. We are still being formed by Him. Will we obey His word, or turn toward other gods? It is not too late for us to change our behavior, to turn from evil, and to highly esteem the word of God. When we accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to counsel us and convict us of sin. He keeps us on the Potter’s wheel to perfect us.
- Our voting matters. The U.S. is holding important elections this week, and we the people have the right to voice our opinion on how the nation behaves going forward. Whether our preferred candidates win or not, we speak to God in a tangible way when we vote. We tell Him what kind of nation we want the U.S. to be. Will we seek the Lord for guidance on who to vote for? Let the Holy Spirit guide you.
- Will we elect Israel’s enemies to Congress and to state government? God told Abram He would make him a great nation and then He said this in Genesis 12:3: “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Again, we have no control over how others vote, but our vote is a message to God that we love the people that are the apple of His eye.
- Will we elect abortion zealots or those opposed to spilling innocent blood? We talked last week about how innocent blood speaks to God and moves Him. There were an estimated 1.1 million abortions provided by clinicians in the U.S. last year. That number is about the same as 2024 but is 21% higher than 2020. Jeremiah 19:4 teaches that shedding the blood of innocents will bring God’s judgment against a people.
- Will we elect candidates who believe in Jesus and want to follow His word? To the extent you know a candidate’s faith, will that affect your vote?
Closing
In closing, we see in God’s prophetic word to Jeremiah, that our Lord is continuing to form us, and continuing to watch our behavior to see if we will follow His ways or serve other gods. Likewise, nations are still in the Potter’s hands, and He is forming them, blessing obedience, and judging disobedience and evil ways.
This week we have an opportunity to tell God what kind of nation we want to be. I encourage you all to properly exercise your rights by praying, doing some research, and voting for candidates that would move our government closer to God’s will. Our nation, the nation of Israel, and all the nations are still on the Potter’s wheel, and He reserves the right to change His mind based on our obedience to His word.
Let us pray.
Father God, we thank You that we live in a nation that gives us the right to vote. Lord, we ask for the wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit as we exercise that right. Show us who to vote for as we seek You in prayer over this important matter. We pray that the U.S. would remain in the center of Your will in these important days. And we cry out for Israel. We not only support her, but we also bless her and her people. We pray, in Jesus’ name, that all would come into submission to Messiah. Amen.
If anyone has not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ in their heart, and desires to do so, please repeat this prayer after me:
Father God, I repent of my sin and ask for forgiveness today. I confess and declare with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe with all my heart that You raised Him from the dead for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus, please come into my heart and change me. Send the Holy Spirit to guide and direct me in wisdom and to enable me to overcome temptation from this day forth. Thank You for my salvation. I look forward to the day of the Rapture when I can be with You forever. Amen.
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