A Potter’s Perspective on the Biblical Analogy of
God as the Potter and People as the Clay
By Gwen Weatherbie © 2006, Update © 2023
The Bible mentions potters and pottery in several passages. These are often analogies for the relationship we have with God. Generally, God is the potter and we are the clay (Isa. 64:8), which is sometimes stubbornly willful and works against God’s best plan for us (Isa. 26:16).
As a potter, I enjoy these passages because I have felt the clay striving against me as I worked (Isa.45:9). I have also spoiled many a pot on the wheel and had to rework the clay into something new (Jer. 18:1-4). Over the years I have found more ways that clay behaves like stubborn people so that the analogy could be carried further.
I have organized these examples based on the flow of the processes of pottery making. Some of these ideas come from a very human perspective of struggling to really take a leap of faith in believing that Jesus is the son of the one and only creator God who loves us. Others of these examples may be better understood as a believer’s struggle to yield our lives to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. I can see analogies for our sin and redemption throughout the process of making pottery.
Perhaps my description of the pottery process will help you to picture the references to pottery that are found in the Bible. I think ancient peoples would have been more aware of how pottery is made than we are today because they were likely to have to visit the potter’s workshop to purchase the pottery they needed.
Bible references mentioned are written in full on pages 4 & 5. I have also made a short glossary of pottery terms on page 6.
Here are some of the aspects of pottery making, some of which are mentioned in the Bible, that also remind me of our similarity to clay in the hands of a potter:
Clay is mined and purified in order to be used by the potter. When the clay is dug from the ground, it may be full of unwanted stuff that would mar the pottery made from it. The twigs and rocks are removed so that the clay can move smoothly and evenly in the potter’s hands. Without modern machinery, this job can be tedious and time consuming.
Similarly, because of the fall, we are also full of rubbish that makes our lives tougher and makes it harder for God to shape us. As we Christians struggle through life, we try to conform more to the image of Jesus. Each bit of garbage we can willingly remove from our lives with God’s help, makes us better able to serve Him.
Water must be added to the clay until it reaches the best consistency for use on a wheel. In the past, this was done by treading on the clay and mixing in the water with the strength of leg muscles and feet. (See Isa. 41:25) Water is absorbed by the clay until it is plastic and ready to take any shape the potter desires.
People need to soak up the Living Water that Jesus gives us. We must ask him to come into our hearts and lives when we finally believe, before God can take charge of shaping us to do His will through the influence of the Holy Spirit.
Clay must be “wedged” before it is put on the wheel and made into something useful. This process looks a lot like kneading bread dough but is a lot rougher. The purpose of wedging is to even out the moisture in the clay and to drive out pockets of air. Once this is done, the throwing will go much more smoothly.
It seems that sometimes when God gets hold of us, we believers may feel like we are being squished and squeezed into a shape we are not ready to take. We may feel like God is a bully to make us give up our favorite sins. The truth is, that once this painful process is over, we may be really useful to Him. Of course, in our case, a rough time of painful change may happen again as we tackle other issues.
Clay must be “centered” on the wheel before the process of shaping a vessel begins. A potter must press the lump of clay into the center of the wheel so that it is spinning evenly before attempting to make a pot -- no matter what shape is desired. If this is done poorly, the rest of the process will be difficult at best.
And we must put God at the center of our lives if we want to allow Him to shape us according to His plans for us. (Rom. 9:21)
The centrifugal force of the spinning potter’s wheel tends to “throw” the clay away from the center of the wheel. The potter’s efforts continue to bring it back in, to keep it centered, as the pot takes shape.
Our lives can spiral out of control if we move away from God as the center. If we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, He will turn our hearts to Jesus and call us back to Him.
Clay has “plastic memory”. Clay particles are shaped like tiny platelets. The spinning of the wheel and the force of the potter’s hands cause these platelets to align with each other and fit together like bricks in a thick wall. This gives the pot strength and helps it retain its shape. If a pot is bent out of shape while still on the wheel, the platelets are moved out of alignment. The potter may continue to work on the pot and reshape it as he wishes. But if the platelets are still misaligned, even though the shape may look like it is fixed, the pot may warp somewhat back into a bent shape as it dries or when it is fired. It “remembers” the undesired shape that it had at one time.
Like clay, when we resist God’s efforts to shape our lives, we develop tendencies that go against His will. At the very least we may be left with scars in our lives that prevent God’s best wishes for us even when we do finally come to faith. At worst this disobedience may draw us away into sinful behavior that will destroy us and expose our lack of faith despite a veneer of godliness we may wear in public. True faith urges us to yield willingly.
A pot that is ruined on the wheel can be removed and made new. The clay is crushed back into a ball and is wedged again. It may be reused immediately on the wheel. (Jer. 18:4-6)
Even if we resist God so strenuously that we completely ruin our lives, He can take the crumpled mess we’ve made and start over again. Once we repent of our evil ways, and put our faith in Jesus, we can be a new creation in the name of Christ.
Once a pot is shaped, it is cut from the wheel and set aside to dry. While drying, plastic memory might bring back those warps or uneven drying may cause cracks. At this point the potter can still redeem the clay. The dried clay is thrown into a bucket with water, and when it is soft, the whole process starts again with wedging.
Some people have become hardened in their sin. But repentance can still bring renewal. Even a dried out and hardened sinner who comes to faith, can be reshaped into a new creation in God’s hands.
If a dry pot looks o.k. it is put into the kiln to be “bisque” fired. The bisque firing is the first firing (of two) which hardens the clay enough that it can no longer be softened again in water. The bisque makes the pot strong enough to withstand glazing and a second and usually hotter firing. Many pots come through this firing ready to go further in the process. But while in the kiln, some pots may be affected by plastic memory and an annoying warp may return or a crack may develop. Surely now this ruined pot is ready for the trash because the clay can no longer be reworked. Actually, it’s not! Remember those clay platelets? They are not held together with mortar like a brick wall but instead they have water between them. As water evaporates and is pulled from between the platelets, the entire pot shrinks. Uneven shrinking is what can cause cracking. Ruined bisque fired pottery may be crushed into a coarse powder called “grog” to be reused. To reduce shrinkage and make a pot -- especially a large one -- better able to withstand the rigors of drying and firing, grog may be added to the clay during wedging. These hardened bits of clay do not shrink as much and help to strengthen the pottery. This crushed pot becomes part of a new pot that shrinks less in firing.
Even the most hardened enemies of God may find themselves prostrate before the cross, crushed by the wonder of God’s grace. It may be tougher and much more painful (from the human perspective), but God is able to make a completely new life from the old. In fact, some of the most hardened sinners and vocal opponents of Jesus, become some of the most outspoken followers of Christ. I think Paul might fit into this category.
The last step in most modern pottery is glazing. In the kiln, glazes melt to form a layer of usually colorful glass on the pot. This step finishes hardening, sealing and perfecting a pot. If a vessel is glaze fired well, the potter may have produced an object of great usefulness and beauty. Unfortunately, flaws may still appear at this stage. The glaze may be ruined for various reasons or cracks may yet appear as the last of the impurities are either burnt away or exposed. Some pots may even have small air pockets within the walls which cause them to explode in the extreme heat in the kiln, which could damage other pots nearby. When a pot comes out of the glaze fire with a beautiful glaze and a pleasant shape the potter is glad and might ask a high price for it. When the glazed pot does not meet his standards, he takes the pot to the trash heap and dashes it hard against the ground (Ps.2:9). He would not want his name to be seen on an inferior pot.
How does this relate to people? Basically, there is a limit. People can continue to harden their hearts against God. They resist and resist until they reach their ultimate ruin. (Isa. 30:12-14) God has prepared hell for them. However, those who reach the end of life having humbly submitted to the kingship of Christ, come out with a beauty based on Jesus’ worth, not their own. Jesus paid the high price for His people.
God’s grace is deeper and more profound than we can imagine. He desires to bring us to a home with Him that is more wonderful than we can hope for. However, our stubbornness, self-love and evil are what can bring us to an end of ugliness and ruin. I suspect hell is also more horrible than we can imagine. We have a choice to make: allow God to mold us or resist to the end.
Of course, these analogies are not flawless. Clay is not willful and God’s pottery skills would be perfect. Not all pain in life is the result of our own disobedience, either. People can be hurting and struggling because we live in a fallen world and our own actions have not caused the pain of our circumstances. The main point that I get from all of this is the need for repentance and submission. Once we yield to God’s hand, we find He is shaping us and building us up with the strength to make it through whatever life throws at us. So, we grow with the confidence that we will someday be welcomed home to be with Him forever.
Here are the relevant verses I found about potters, pottery and clay:
Isaiah 64:8:
Yet, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (NRSV)
Isaiah 26:16:
You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?
Shall the thing made say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of the one who formed it,
“He has no understanding”? (NRSV)
Isaiah 45:9:
Woe to you who strive with your Maker,
earthen vessels with the potter!
Does the clay say to the one who fashions it, “What are you making”?
or “Your work has no handles”? (NRSV)
Romans 9:20 – 21:
20But who indeed are you, a human being, to argue with God? Will what is molded say to the one who molds it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one object for special use and another for ordinary use? (NRSV)
Isaiah 41:25:
I stirred up one from the north, and he has come,
from the rising of the sun he was summoned by name.
He shall trample on rulers as on mortar,
as the potter treads clay. (NRSV)
Jeremiah 18:1-7
1The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2“Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.” 3So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him. 5Then the word of the LORD came to me: 6Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the LORD. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. 7At one moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8but if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will change my mind about the disaster that I intended to bring on it. 9And at another moment I may declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, 10but if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will change my mind about the good that I had intended to do to it. 11Now, therefore, say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Thus says the LORD: Look, I am a potter shaping evil against you and devising a plan against you. Turn now, all of you from your evil way, and amend your ways and your doings. (NRSV)
Psalm 2:7 – 9:
7 I will tell of the decree of the LORD:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have begotten you.
8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage,
and the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron,
and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (NRSV)
Isaiah 30: 12 – 14:
12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel:
Because you reject this word,
and put your trust in oppression and deceit,
and rely on them;
13 therefore this iniquity shall become for you
like a break in a high wall, bulging out, and about to collapse,
whose crash comes suddenly, in an instant;
14 its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel
that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a sherd is found
for taking fire from the hearth,
or dipping water out of the cistern. (NRSV)
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Limited Glossary (a la Gwen):
Bisque (or Biscuit) – fired but unglazed pottery. The term evidently comes from the name of a French twice-baked biscuit. I’m imagining something like hard tack. Bisque pottery is hard and sturdy but is usually still porous enough for the glaze to adhere easily.
Centering – forcing the clay into the center of a spinning potter’s wheel. This is one of the toughest things for beginners to learn. If the clay is not centered the potter will fight with an uneven and wobbly pot the whole time – usually before watching his pot collapse.
Glaze – A substance that forms a layer of glass. Glazes are made of clays mixed with other minerals that are added to impart different colors and to lower the melting temperature. Clay that might make a good flower pot when fired at a low temperature (say 1800ºF) might be a good foundation for a glaze when fired at higher temperatures (like 2350ºF). This is where art meets science. Tweaking a glaze recipe to obtain the exact look you want can take careful experimentation.
Grog – crushed bisque pottery. This can be made in coarse to fine grits. Fine grog would be chosen for smaller wares (like dishes) when a smooth texture is desired for the pottery. Larger pots and sculptural forms benefit from coarser grog but it can be a lot rougher on the hands while throwing.
Plastic – the quality of clay that allows it to be shaped into a fine ribbon without cracking or crumbling. Some types of clay are naturally more plastic than others. A potter may choose to mix clays from different sources to get just the qualities he likes.
Plastic memory – annoying tendency for a round pot to get more oval, and for an oval pot to get more round during the firing. Every time you move a wet pot you have the chance to bend something slightly. Just remember that if your pot isn’t perfectly round it is just showing that it is handmade.
Shrinking – what a pot does in a kiln. Pots can shrink 10 – 20% depending on what type of clay is being used and the firing temperature. The heat in the kiln, in driving out the moisture, makes the clay denser and smaller but much stronger.
Throwing – using a potter’s wheel to make something with clay. There are other ways to work with clay, too.
Wedging – the process of smoothing the texture and working air bubbles out of the clay. It can be hard work, especially if I am wedging a large lump of clay. So, it is easy to be tempted to quit before I should. But that could come back to haunt me when I throw. I regret it later if I hit the air bubbles while working on the wheel. Beginners often put more air into the clay than they take out. It takes some practice. This job used to be given to apprentices so the master could concentrate on throwing. The apprentices got to mix the water into the clay, too. Both can be good exercise.
A Potters Perspective updated.pdf