1 Kings 7:46

The Clay Ground in the circuit of the Jordan.

These things are an allegory. These words suggest some thoughts as to the soil in which the King of Heaven moulds the vessels for His service ( 2 Timothy 2:20 , 2 Timothy 2:21 ; Acts 9:15 ; Romans 9:21 , Romans 9:23 ). They, too, are prepared in the plain : they are cast in the clay ground.

Observe

As to the plain, the figure is obvious enough, and a few words will suffice to expound it. From the Mesopotamian immigrants into Palestine, the first fathers of the Jewish people, down to the peasants and fishermen of Galilee, aye, and to the poor monk, Luther, and the poor servitor, Whitfield, history constantly teaches the same lesson—that not many wise men or mighty or noble ( 1 Corinthians 1:26 ) are the vessels chosen of Heaven to do God's work in the world. The apostles did not issue forth from "king's houses" ( Matthew 11:8 ). Just as "the gentle rain from heaven" leaves the mountains and descends into the vales, so does the grace of God ever condescend to men of low degree. Not "the princes of this world" ( 1 Corinthians 2:8 ), not its rich men ( James 2:6 ), but the "poor of this world" hath God chosen (ib. 1 Kings 7:5 ). "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?" ( John 7:48 ). No, it was the "common people"—the despised amhaaretz— "heard him gladly" ( Mark 12:37 ). The early adversaries of Christianity used to sneer at the humble origin and occupations of its champions, and the apologists would not and could not deny the charge.

Now as to the " clay ground," observe that while the text gives this rendering, the margin has, " thickness of the ground." It is not a distinction without a difference, for the latter rendering would import that the soil had been made thick, for the purpose of casting, by stamping or puddling. And which of these translations is the true one; whether, i.e; the soil was naturally clayey—perhaps from the overflow of the Jordan ( Joshua 3:15 , Hebrews), perhaps from the springs which make much of the Jordan valley into a swamp—or whether it was artificially prepared for castings, it is perhaps impossible to say. Nor need we wish to decide, since for our purpose both meanings are true. Whatever Hiram did, God casts His vessels, some in the clay, i.e; in the most unpromising soil, with the most ungenial surroundings; some "in the thickness of the ground," i.e; in soil which has been trodden by the iron feet of the persecutor; and some in both.

I. Let us now see how

And so it lay, century after century, a marsh, or piece of scrub, a blot on the landscape. Men thought it was irreclaimable. But now the temple is being built, the vessels of brass have to be cast, and through the length and breadth of Palestine they find no spot so suited to the purpose as the "clay ground between Succoth and Zarthan." Here shall the foundry be. And so from this despised and desolate tract the burnished brass went forth to adorn the temple of the Lord. Even so ―

1. The Jewish Church was moulded in the clay. Where was it constituted? In the desert of Sinai, in the "great and terrible wilderness." In the Red Sea was its baptism ( 1 Corinthians 10:2 ); at Horeb (lit; dry ground ) it entered into the covenant. From the "backside of the desert," from the plain of Rahah, where "desolation keeps unbroken sabbath; "from a "frozen tempest of black, weather worn, rugged mountain peaks," the Hebrew Church went forth to witness for God. Nowhere, perhaps, under the whole heaven is there a more arid and rugged and desolate and uninhabitable land. Yet God chose it to be the school and training ground of His Church.

2. The Christian Church was cast in the clay. Not in Greece, amid the schools of philosophy, not in Rome, among senates, and armies, and subject kings, but in Palestine, a despised corner of the empire, among Jews, who were hated of all men. And in what part of Palestine? Not in Jerusalem, among the scribes and doctors, but in the provinces, in "Galilee of the Goim." The question was often asked, Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? ( John 1:46 .) The answer was often given, "Out of Galilee ariseth no prophet" ( John 7:52 ). Surely this was clay ground. Yet there it pleased God to found the Holy Catholic Church. And this, which is true of the Church, is equally true of its vessels. For --

3. The lawgivers and prophets of the Jewish Church were shaped in the clay. Moses, it is true, was bred in the court, but he was not prepared there for his work. No, it was necessary for him to leave the court in order to become a "vessel meet for the Master's use." It was in this same desert of Sinai, amid the Bedouin, while keeping an Arab's flock, and leading a nomadic life, after forty years of self rule, that God appeared unto him. The lawgiver himself came from the clay. So did Elijah, the restorer of the law. He was a Gileadite. It was a wild, unsettled, semi-civilized, trans-Jordanic region gave to the world the greatest of the prophets. And he too must go into the desert, and must be trained for his work at Horeb—the "dry ground" ( 1 Kings 19:8 ). And the same remark applies to nearly all the prophets, judges, etc. Occasionally we have a Jeremiah, the son of a high priest ( Jeremiah 1:1 ), or a Daniel of the royal seed ( Daniel 1:3 ), but more frequently a herdman, a gatherer of sycamore fruit ( Amos 7:14 ; 1 Kings 19:19 ), or a captive by the river Chebar ( Ezekiel 1:3 ), rises up to speak for God.

4. The apostles and preachers of Christianity were fashioned and prepared in clay ground.

II. But let us now assume that this foundry of the Jordan valley was not a bed of natural clay, but that the soil had been prepared by stamping. We shall find that both

1. The Jewish Church came out of the house of bondage. "Out of the iron furnace" ( Deuteronomy 4:20 ; 1 Kings 8:51 : cf. Exodus 5:1-23 .) "Dealt subtilly with our kindred, and evil entreated our fathers" ( Acts 7:19 ). It was among the brick fields— the thick Nile mud—of Egypt, and their hardships and oppressions, that God disciplined and prepared His people.

2. The Christian Church has come out of great tribulation. Its history begins with a shameful crucifixion, and it is a history written in blood, a history of "stripes" ( Acts 16:23 ; 2 Corinthians 6:5 ), beatings ( Acts 5:40 ), stonings ( Acts 7:59 ; Acts 14:19 ), the sword ( Acts 12:2 ), "great persecution" ( Acts 8:1 ), and the like. Nero, Decius, Aurelian, Diocletian—what tragedies are connected with these names! Yet "the blood of the martyrs has been the seed of the Church," and in the reign of Constantine the empire awoke to find itself Christian. Persecution only evolved progress ( Philippians 1:12 , Philippians 1:18 ). And what is true of the pillars is also true of the vessels. For ―

3. The heroes of the Jewish Church passed through fire and sword. Moses must flee his country, must learn obedience by the things which he suffered. Elijah—they sought his life ( 1 Kings 19:10 ). Jezebel sought to slay the prophets of the Lord. Daniel is cast into the lions' den; the Hebrew children into the fire; Jeremiah into the mire and clay ( Jeremiah 38:6 ). Isaiah is sawn asunder ( Hebrews 11:1-40 :87). Zechariah is slain between the temple and the altar, etc. See Hebrews 11:34-38 . What evidences of stamping are here! Surely the ground bears the marks of a struggle!

4. The saints of the new dispensation have been made perfect through suffering. For St. Paul, see 2 Corinthians 11:28-33 , and remember that this list only extends, at the latest, to A.D. 58. That "chosen vessel" was first showed "what great things he must suffer" ( Acts 9:16 ). For the early Christians see Revelation 2:10 .13; Revelation 6:10 ; Revelation 7:14 , etc.; 1 Corinthians 4:13 ; 2 Corinthians 6:5-10 . Polycarp, Augustine, Cyprian, Chrysostom—the time would fail me to tell of those bright vessels of grace, some in the dark ages, some in our own time, who were prepared for the ministry and the inheritance of the saints in "the thickness of the ground," and who, "after they had suffered awhile," were made perfect.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND