There's a Crack in Your Armor Perry Stone

Chapter 9 MENDING CRACKS IN A BROKEN VESSEL

M OST PEOPLE IN N ORTH A MERICA ARE FAMILIAR WITH pottery. Biblical pottery was made of stone but primarily of clay, which was fashioned by the hands of a master potter, then fired at high temperatures to harden the vessel for public usage. During the firing process the clay undergoes a chemical change, which hardens the soft clay into a permanently shaped container. In 1 Kings 7:46 King Solomon ordered that the temple vessels be cast from clay molds from the area of Succoth and Zaretan. According to Jewish sources, these vessels were made out of clay molds formed from the wet clay found in the Jordan River. Many of the sacred vessels used in the temple service were made of gold or silver and others cut from stone. Each temple vessel served a distinct purpose and was considered holy in the eyes of both God and the priest. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word keliy can be translated in the Bible as “vessel” (Lev. 6:28), “bag” (1 Sam.