Like the clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, says the Lord. We continue with our reflection on the use of symbolism in the oracles of the prophet Jeremiah. However, unlike the one used in the thirteenth chapter, the one we encounter in today’s reading carries with it some good news for its intended recipients. Israel (and indirectly all of us) were fashioned and brought into existence by God. And even though God “rested” on the seventh day, God still continues to create. The created universe (specifically the human person) is not a finished product. After the “initial” act of creation (bringing forth into existence), God still has to hold/keep creation in being through God’s Word (cf. Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). After the “initial” creative act, the human person is still called by God into a relationship. It is in this relationship that the human person is perfected, for the relationship calls him to be more like his creator on a daily basis.
When God called Israel into a relationship, God wanted to perfect her, to make her sons and daughters into a special people. It was a call to holiness, a call to living with God. But Israel could not keep up with the requirements of the covenantal relationship to which they were called, and time and again, they failed in living out their call. However, in today’s reading, God sends Jeremiah to remind them that it is God who called them, and God will keep them in the relationship. Yes, there will be times when, because of their actions, the Lord will need to “re-mold” them, but ultimately the Lord will have them in the desired shapes. The different calamities that were befalling them would not crush them. They will ultimately emerge better molded and fit for a relationship with God.