Dr. John Hartmann

In this study Dr. Hartmann expounds the principles of God’s Judgment with nations, as laid out in the parable of the Potter and the Wheel in Jeremiah 18:1-12. While God can do with the nations as it pleases Him, His work in fashioning them is not arbitrary. God governs the nations in accordance with His own nature, as proclaimed in passages like Exodus 34:6-7; Deuteronomy 32:1-4; Psalms 89:14; Jeremiah 9:23-24. If a nation marked for judgment (because of its wickedness) turns from its evil, God promises to relent concerning the calamity He had purposed to bring upon it (Jeremiah 18:7-8; cf. Joel 2:12-17; Jonah 3:10). The reverse is true as well: if a nation marked for blessing turns from righteousness and practices evil, God will think again about the good with which He had purposed to bless them (Jeremiah 18:9-10). The Lord thus warns the nation of Judah that He has purposed calamity against them because of their wickedness and calls them to repent so that He might relent and show mercy (Jeremiah 18:11). The people in Jeremiah’s time did not respond in a proper way, but said “it is hopeless” and “we will continue to walk in the stubbornness of our hearts” (Jeremiah 18:12).

This study gives guidelines for understanding what God will do if persons and nations will truly turn to Him in repentance and sorrow over sin, with intention to amend their ways. God will always respond to a sincerely repentant people. Our study also shows that God is not mocked, that whatever is sown is what will be reaped (Galatians 6:7), hence, that His judgment against wicked persons and nations slumbers not. From this we learn the fear of the Lord and gain knowledge of how to co-labor with Him in prayer for the accomplishing of His purposes in our time

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