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Isaiah and Micah: Assyrian Crisis

  1. Lesson One
    Isaiah - YHWH and the Nations
    22 Activities
    |
    3 Assessments
  2. Lesson Two
    Isaiah - YHWH and His People
    23 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  3. Lesson Three
    Isaiah's Anticipated Messiah
    24 Activities
    |
    4 Assessments
  4. Lesson Four
    The Authorship and Unity of Isaiah
    24 Activities
    |
    4 Assessments
  5. Lesson Five
    Micah
    17 Activities
    |
    2 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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These three Isaiah verses reference pottery imagery: 29:16, 45:9 and 64:8. In each case, the motif is used to emphasize the sovereignty of God. Just as a potter consciously molds and forms clay to make an intentional shape or design, so the Lord orchestrates the contours of history to bring about his purposes. 

You turn things upside down!
Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,
that the thing made should say of its maker,
“He did not make me”;
or the thing formed say of him who formed it,
“He has no understanding”?
Isaiah 29:16 ESV

The symbolism of Isaiah 29:16 implies: Who do people think they are that they should question the deeds of the Lord? Pottery does not call out to the potter and criticize him for his decisions. So, neither should humanity. 

Woe to him who strives with him who formed him,
a pot among earthen pots!
Does the clay say to him who forms it, “What are you making?”
or “Your work has no handles”?
Isaiah 45:9 ESV

The broader context of Isaiah 45 makes the symbolism explicit: Who is Israel or the world to question the Lord for his decision to use Cyrus the Great as an instrument for his purposes (v. 13)?

But now, O LORD, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Isaiah 64:8 ESV

Isaiah 64:8 ties back to the point about God’s sovereignty from the other pottery analogies. This chapter, however, also calls out for God, the Potter, to remember His clay pot, His people. It includes a call for the Lord to remember His ruined people.