Vaso
A metáfora do vaso é uma das mais belas da Bíblia. Assim como o oleiro molda o barro, Deus nos forma segundo seus propósitos, fazendo de nós vasos úteis para sua glória.
Nas mãos do oleiro
Deus é o Oleiro e nós somos o barro. Ele tem autoridade e sabedoria para nos moldar conforme sua vontade perfeita, e não devemos questionar sua obra.
Be not in wrath ad me’od, Hashem,
neither remember avon forever;
behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all Thy people.
The Davar which came to Yirmeyah from Hashem, saying, Arise, and go down to the bais hayotzer (the house of the potter, Creator), and there I will cause thee to hear My Devar. Then I went down to the bais hayotzer, and, behold, he wrought a work on the [potterʼs] wheel. And the keli (vessel) that he was making of khomer (clay) was marred in the yad of the yotzer; so he made it again keli acher (another vessel, a different vessel), as seemed good to the eyes of the yotzer to make it.
Then the Devar Hashem came to me, saying, O Bais Yisroel, cannot I do with you as this yotzer? saith Hashem. Hinei, as the khomer (clay) is in the yotzerʼs yad, so are ye in Mine yad, O Bais Yisroel.
On the contrary, who are you, a human being, to answer back to G-d? VEYETZER AMAR LEYOTZRO (Can the pot say to the potter), Why have you made me thus? Or does the potter not have the right over the clay to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Woe unto him that quarreleth with his Yotzer — a potsherd among the potsherds of adamah.
Shall the chomer (clay) say to the Yotzer of it,
What art Thou making?
Or Thy po’al (work) hath no handles?
Surely you have things turned around.
Shall the Yotzer be esteemed as equal with the khomer (clay);
for shall the ma’aseh say of him that made it,
He made me not?
Or shall the thing formed say of Him that formed it,
He had no understanding?
Vasos para honra
O cristão é chamado a ser um vaso de honra, purificado e preparado para toda boa obra. Nosso valor está em quem nos formou e no que carregamos.
In a bais gadol, there are not only k’lei (vessels) of gold and silver but also those wooden ones and earthen ones: some, for honorable use; others, for dishonorable use. If anyone makes himself tahor from these things he will be a k’li vessel for honorable use, having been set aside as kodesh, useful to HaAdon, ready for every ma’aseh tov.
Now we have this otzar (treasure) in earthen vessels that the excellence of the ko’ach may be of Hashem and not of us.
The precious Bnei Tziyon,
comparable to fine gold,
how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers,
the work of the hands of the yotzer (potter)!
Moldados pela graça
Mesmo quando nos sentimos frágeis e imperfeitos, o poder de Deus se aperfeiçoa em nossa fraqueza. Ele nos restaura e nos renova continuamente.
Thine yadayim have formed me and altogether round about have fashioned me;
yet Thou hast now swallowed me.
Remember, now, that Thou hast molded me like the chomer (clay),
and wilt Thou turn me into aphar again?
Fervent sfatayim (lips) and a lev rah
are like earthenware covered with silver dross.
Wail, ye ro’im (shepherds), and weep;
and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye leaders of the tzon;
for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished;
and ye shall fall like a precious pottery vessel.