◄ Jeremiah 33:3 ►
Call to Me, and I will answer and show you great and unsearchable things you do not know.
Study Bible
Call to Me
This phrase emphasizes the importance of prayer and communication with God. In the context of Jeremiah, the prophet is imprisoned, and Jerusalem is under siege by the Babylonians. Despite the dire circumstances, God invites Jeremiah to call upon Him, highlighting the accessibility of God even in times of distress. This invitation to prayer is consistent with other biblical teachings, such as Psalm 50:15, where God encourages His people to call upon Him in times of trouble. It underscores the relational aspect of God, who desires to be sought after and engaged with by His people.

and I will answer
God's promise to answer is a reassurance of His faithfulness and attentiveness to the prayers of His people. This assurance is echoed throughout Scripture, such as in 1 John 5:14-15, where believers are reminded that if they ask anything according to His will, He hears them. The historical context of Jeremiah's time, with the impending destruction of Jerusalem, makes this promise particularly poignant, as it offers hope and certainty amidst uncertainty. It reflects God's sovereignty and His ability to respond to the needs and cries of His people.

and show you great and unsearchable things
The "great and unsearchable things" refer to the profound and hidden truths that God is willing to reveal. In the context of Jeremiah, this includes the future restoration of Israel and the coming of the Messiah, which are beyond human understanding and planning. The term "unsearchable" suggests things that are inaccessible or fortified, indicating that only God can provide insight into these mysteries. This aligns with passages like Isaiah 55:8-9, where God's thoughts and ways are described as higher than human thoughts and ways. It points to the divine wisdom and knowledge that surpass human comprehension.

you do not know
This phrase acknowledges human limitations in understanding God's plans and purposes. It serves as a reminder of the finite nature of human wisdom compared to God's infinite knowledge. In the broader biblical narrative, this humility before God's omniscience is a recurring theme, as seen in Job 38-41, where God questions Job to illustrate the vastness of divine wisdom. For Jeremiah, this revelation would include the eventual return from exile and the establishment of a new covenant, which were beyond the immediate perception of the people. It emphasizes the need for reliance on God's revelation rather than human insight.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jeremiah
A prophet called by God to deliver His messages to the people of Judah. He is known for his perseverance in the face of opposition and his deep emotional connection to his prophetic mission.

2. Judah
The southern kingdom of Israel, which was facing imminent destruction and exile due to its disobedience to God. Jeremiah's prophecies often addressed the people of Judah, calling them to repentance.

3. Babylonian Exile
The context of Jeremiah's prophecy, where the people of Judah were about to be taken captive by the Babylonians. This event was a pivotal moment in Israel's history, emphasizing the consequences of turning away from God.
Teaching Points
The Invitation to Call
God invites us to communicate with Him. This is an open invitation to prayer, emphasizing that God desires a relationship with us.

God's Promise to Answer
The assurance that God will respond to our prayers is a source of comfort and encouragement. It reminds us that our prayers are not in vain.

Revelation of the Unsearchable
God promises to reveal things beyond our understanding. This encourages us to trust in His wisdom and timing, even when we cannot see the full picture.

Faith in Uncertainty
In times of uncertainty, like the Babylonian Exile, we are reminded to rely on God's promises and His ability to reveal His plans to us.

Active Engagement in Prayer
This verse encourages us to be proactive in our prayer life, seeking God's guidance and wisdom in all circumstances.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does understanding the historical context of Jeremiah 33:3 enhance our comprehension of its message?

2. In what ways can we apply the promise of God answering our calls to our daily prayer life?

3. How do the "great and unsearchable things" God promises to reveal relate to our current challenges or decisions?

4. What other biblical examples illustrate God's faithfulness in answering those who call upon Him?

5. How can we encourage others in our community to embrace the invitation to call upon God, especially during difficult times?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 91:15
This verse echoes the promise of God to answer those who call upon Him, reinforcing the theme of divine responsiveness and protection.

Isaiah 55:6-9
These verses highlight the concept of seeking the Lord and His ways, which are higher than human understanding, similar to the "unsearchable things" mentioned in Jeremiah 33:3.

Matthew 7:7-8
Jesus' teaching on asking, seeking, and knocking parallels the invitation in Jeremiah 33:3 to call upon God and receive answers.
Sermons
An Invitation -- a Promise-A RevelationJ. T. Davies.Jeremiah 33:3
Answers to Prayer Should be Eagerly ExpectedJ. Edmond.Jeremiah 33:3
Calling unto GodJ. Parker, D. D.Jeremiah 33:3
God's Gracious Answers to Our PrayersJ. Reynolds.Jeremiah 33:3
Instant in PrayerJeremiah 33:3
PrayerG. Brooks.Jeremiah 33:3
Prayer and its AnswerJeremiah 33:3
Prayer EncouragedJeremiah 33:3
Prayer the Soul's WingsJeremiah 33:3
Prevailing PrayerJeremiah 33:3
The Golden Key of PrayerJeremiah 33:3
The Reasonableness of PrayerS. Conway Jeremiah 33:3
Things UnknownCharles Haddon Spurgeon Jeremiah 33:3
Revelation of God's Purpose to Him Who Performs His WillA.F. Muir Jeremiah 33:1-3
A Divine Message Sent into a PrisonD. C. Hughes, M. A.Jeremiah 33:1-9
The Method of Divine ProcedureJ. Parker, D. D.Jeremiah 33:1-9
People
Babylonians, Benjamin, David, Ezekiel, Isaac, Jacob, Jeremiah, Levites
Places
Jerusalem, Negeb, Shephelah
Topics
Cry, Declare, Difficult, Fenced, Hast, Hidden, Mighty, Secret, Shew, Unsearchable, Yea
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Jeremiah 33:3

     5815   confusion
     8640   calling upon God

Library
A Threefold Disease and a Twofold Cure.
'I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against Me; and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against Me.'--JER. xxxiii. 8. Jeremiah was a prisoner in the palace of the last King of Judah. The long, national tragedy had reached almost the last scene of the last act. The besiegers were drawing their net closer round the doomed city. The prophet had never faltered in predicting its fall, but he had as uniformly …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Things Unknown
"Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not."--Jeremiah 33:3. GOD'S PEOPLE WILL NEVER THRIVE on anything less substantial than bread from heaven. Israel in Egypt might live on garlic and onions, but Israel in the wilderness must be fed with the manna that came down from heaven, and with the water that gushed out of the rock, when it was smitten by the rod of God. The child of God, while he is yet in his sins, may, like other men, revel in them, …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 46: 1900

Discerning Prayer.
INTRODUCTORY. BY D.W. WHITTLE. To recognize God's existence is to necessitate prayer to Him, by all intelligent creatures, or, a consciously living in sin and under condemnation of conscience, because they do not pray to Him. It would be horrible to admit the existence of a Supreme Being, with power and wisdom to create, and believe that the creatures he thought of consequence and importance enough to bring into existence, are not of enough consequence for him to pay any attention to in the troubles …
Various—The Wonders of Prayer

The Royal Priesthood
Gerhard Ter Steegen Jer. xxxiii. 18; Rev. i. 6 The race of God's anointed priests shall never pass away; Before His glorious Face they stand, and serve Him night and day. Though reason raves, and unbelief flows on, a mighty flood, There are, and shall be, till the end, the hidden priests of God. His chosen souls, their earthly dross consumed in sacred fire, To God's own heart their hearts ascend in flame of deep desire; The incense of their worship fills His Temple's holiest place; Their song with …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others

The Best of the Best
"I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys."--Song of Solomon 2:1. THE time of flowers has come, and as they are in some faint degree emblems of our Lord, it is well, when God thus calls, that we should seek to learn what he desires to teach us by them. If nature now spreads out her roses and her lilies, or prepares to do so, let us try, not only to see them, but to see Christ as he is shadowed forth in them. "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." If these are the words …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 42: 1896

Nature of Covenanting.
A covenant is a mutual voluntary compact between two parties on given terms or conditions. It may be made between superiors and inferiors, or between equals. The sentiment that a covenant can be made only between parties respectively independent of one another is inconsistent with the testimony of Scripture. Parties to covenants in a great variety of relative circumstances, are there introduced. There, covenant relations among men are represented as obtaining not merely between nation and nation, …
John Cunningham—The Ordinance of Covenanting

Putting God to Work
"For from of old men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen a God beside thee who worketh for him that waiteth for him."--Isaiah 64:4. The assertion voiced in the title given this chapter is but another way of declaring that God has of His own motion placed Himself under the law of prayer, and has obligated Himself to answer the prayers of men. He has ordained prayer as a means whereby He will do things through men as they pray, which He would not otherwise do. Prayer …
Edward M. Bounds—The Weapon of Prayer

Be Ye Therefore Perfect, Even as Your Father which is in Heaven is Perfect. Matthew 5:48.
In the 43rd verse, the Savior says, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy; but I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward …
Charles G. Finney—Lectures to Professing Christians

The Sermon of the Seasons
"Oh, the long and dreary Winter! Oh, the cold and cruel Winter!" We say to ourselves, Will spring-time never come? In addition to this, trade and commerce continue in a state of stagnation; crowds are out of employment, and where business is carried on, it yields little profit. Our watchmen are asked if they discern any signs of returning day, and they answer, "No." Thus we bow our heads in a common affliction, and ask each man comfort of his fellow; for as yet we see not our signs, neither does …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886

Twentieth Day for God's Spirit on the Heathen
WHAT TO PRAY.--For God's Spirit on the Heathen "Behold, these shall come from far; and these from the land of Sinim."--ISA. xlix. 12. "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall haste to stretch out her hands to God."--PS. lxviii. 31. "I the Lord will hasten it in His time."--ISA. lx. 22. Pray for the heathen, who are yet without the word. Think of China, with her three hundred millions--a million a month dying without Christ. Think of Dark Africa, with its two hundred millions. Think …
Andrew Murray—The Ministry of Intercession

Truth Hidden when not Sought After.
"They shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."--2 Tim. iv. 4. From these words of the blessed Apostle, written shortly before he suffered martyrdom, we learn, that there is such a thing as religious truth, and therefore there is such a thing as religious error. We learn that religious truth is one--and therefore that all views of religion but one are wrong. And we learn, moreover, that so it was to be (for his words are a prophecy) that professed Christians, …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Cleansing.
As there are conditions requiring to be complied with in order to the obtaining of salvation, before one can be justified, e. g., conviction of sin, repentance, faith; so there are conditions for full salvation, for being "filled with the Holy Ghost." Conviction of our need is one, conviction of the existence of the blessing is another; but these have been already dealt with. "Cleansing" is another; before one can be filled with the Holy Ghost, one's heart must be "cleansed." "Giving them the Holy …
John MacNeil—The Spirit-Filled Life

Curiosity a Temptation to Sin.
"Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."--Proverbs iv. 14, 15. The chief cause of the wickedness which is every where seen in the world, and in which, alas! each of us has more or less his share, is our curiosity to have some fellowship with darkness, some experience of sin, to know what the pleasures of sin are like. I believe it is even thought unmanly by many persons (though they may not like to say …
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Jeremiah
The interest of the book of Jeremiah is unique. On the one hand, it is our most reliable and elaborate source for the long period of history which it covers; on the other, it presents us with prophecy in its most intensely human phase, manifesting itself through a strangely attractive personality that was subject to like doubts and passions with ourselves. At his call, in 626 B.C., he was young and inexperienced, i. 6, so that he cannot have been born earlier than 650. The political and religious …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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