The Wise Potter And The Lump of Clay

1
The Wise Potter And The Lump of Clay

• Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
  Why did you make me like this? Does not the
  potter have the right to make out of the same
  lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and
  some for common use?
• 
  Romans 920-21

2
The Facts, Please!

• People who work with clay are called potters.
  The making of pottery is one of the earliest
  crafts of civilization. One of mans first
  inventions was the potters wheel.

• The clay used in pottery has two characteristics
  It can be shaped (and retain its shape), and it
  hardens under a high temperature. In Bible
  times, clay was mixed with water and sifted to
  remove stones and other impurities. Then it was
  trampled until it was smooth and pliable. At the
  potters bench, more water was added until it was
  just right for molding.

3
More Facts, Please!

• The earliest potters wheel consisted of a
  horizontal turntable made from wood, clay, or
  limestone It was turned by hand on an axle that
  pierced the working bench. One person turned the
  wheel, while another one shaped the clay. This
  was the kind of wheel Jeremiah saw when he went
  to the potters house.

• About 200 B.C., a better wheel was invented,
  consisting of a larger second wheel on the bottom
  end of the axle. A potter could turn it with his
  feet and make the upper wheel turn as he molded
  the clay

4
More Facts, Please!

• Sometimes air bubbles developed in the pottery,
  or it didnt come out just right. Then the
  potter would smash the clay flat and begin again.

• After molding, pottery was air-dried and then
  hardened in a kiln that was fired to a very high
  temperature.

5
What Does God Want You to Do?

• Workers with clay are called -------.
• They can only work with a special kind of -----.
• Pottery clay must be able to retain its -----.
• It must harden under a high -----------.
• Pottery is molded on a potters -----.
• The man God sent to the potters house was
  -------.
• The potter had a marred pot that he ------- and
  ----.