Jeremiah 18:6

Cannot I do with you? God here speaks to Israel, not as individuals and not with respect to personal salvation, but as a nation and in terms of its covenant relationship with Him (see v. 7). All God’s dealings with Israel in ages past had been based on the call of Israel to serve as the custodian of His revealed will (Rom. 3:1, 2) and to be His special instrument for the salvation of the world (Gen. 12:1-3; Deut. 4:6-9, 20; 7:6–14; see pp. 26, 27). God had clearly set before His people the fact that strict obedience on their part was prerequisite to His blessing them and making them a blessing to others (Deut. 28:1-14), and that disobedience would inevitably bring a curse and the eventual rejection of Israel as His chosen nation (Deut. 28:15, 63-66). Here, through Jeremiah, God reaffirms what He had already spoken through Moses, and adds a warning that disobedience on their part will invalidate the promises of blessing, and the assurance that sincere repentance will render the threats of rejection ineffective (Jer. 18:7-10). For a statement of the principles on the basis of which God deals with nations, see on Dan. 4:17; see also on Ex. 9:16, 17.

As the clay. As a nation Israel had voluntarily entered into the covenant relationship (Ex. 19:3-8; 24:3-8). In so doing they accepted God as their King (see 1 Sam. 8:7), to direct the affairs of the nation in such a way as to accomplish the salvation of the world through them (see John 4:22; see pp. 26-30). By virtue of their own choice in the matter they became as clay in the hands of the potter. In the days of Jeremiah the “clay was marred in the hand of the potter” (Jer. 18:4), and, as master potter, God would have been justified in discarding them as a nation. But in mercy He was willing to reclaim the worthless clay vessel and to make “it again another vessel” (v. 4). All that had been promised might yet come to pass if they would only learn to love and serve God (Zech. 6:15; cf. Isa. 54:7; Eze. 36:11; 43:10, 11; Micah 6:8; Zech. 10:6; see also pp. 31, 32).