“This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: "Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the LORD came to me: "O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does?" declares the Lord. "Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.” Jeremiah 18:1-10
The Lord compares a jar of clay being in the potter’s hands to Israel being in His hands. He can do with Israel whatever He determines. Then He goes on to broaden this analogy to any nation or kingdom. God is sovereign; He can do what He wants with each nation.
Then He tells us (Jeremiah in this instance) what He has determined He will do: If a nation does evil and He warns that nation that it is to be uprooted or torn down and if that nation repents or turns from its wicked way, He will relent and not inflict on it the disaster He had planned. Conversely, if He has planned to do good to a nation and it does evil, He will reconsider the good He intended to do.
The Bible clearly tells us what will happen to Israel: “This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: "I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves.” Zechariah 12:1-3 and in the New Testament: “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:"The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins."” Romans 11:25-27
However, we do not know what will happen to each individual. Our prayers help determine the destiny of individuals. God uses the prayers of His saints to accomplish His will.
Esther is chosen to be the queen of the Media-Persian Empire. Her cousin and guardian Mordecai tells her not to let the king know her Jewish nationality. When the evil Haman gets the king to sign an edict that will destroy the Jews, Mordecai asks Esther to plead for her people. It is very serious to appear before the king without being requested. When Esther points this out to Mordecai, he replies: “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14 God has determined to save the Jewish people, but Mordecai’s prayers and Esther’s obedience and prayers determine the outcome for her family and many others.
We do not know what will become of other nations. That is why it is so important to continually pray and do all we can to keep the nations of the world and especially our own nation, in God’s will.
This is a promise from God: “if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 Although God is talking to the Jews, Christians can apply this promise to include themselves.
Perhaps we are too close to the time when Jesus will return to have a godly nation, but we should do our best to obey Him. Even if our nation does not return to God, individuals and most likely our own families will if we “humble themselves and pray and seek (God’s) face and turn from (our) wicked ways.”