CALL UNTO ME AND I WILL ANSWER THEE – A VALID PROMISE TO THE BELIEVER TODAY?

Today we come to another one of those special nuggets—a verse that many have claimed as a prayer promise for years.

Jeremiah 33:2–3 “Thus saith the LORD the maker thereof, the LORD that formed it, to establish it; the LORD is his name; Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”

In context, the LORD is encouraging Jeremiah to feel free to question Him further about the prophecies being revealed to him. The LORD is ready to share more with Jeremiah than He already has; all Jeremiah has to do is ask.

Verse 3 is one that I learned early in my youth as a prayer promise. Does it have a valid application to the believer today? Again, I think it is predicated on the unchanging nature of God and His desire to bless those who serve Him in faith and obedience. So often we want to make application of a promise to ourselves without recognition of our accountability before God in connection with that promise. Am I serving God in faith and obedience to the best of my ability as was Jeremiah? Am I seeking wisdom so as to more effectively serve Him and bring honor to His name? Is my motive to share His truth with others? If we can examine our heart and motives and identify them as selfless rather than selfish, I think we can apply this promise to our own lives as well. I think the words of Jesus and His brother James confirm this conclusion.

John 14:13 “And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

John 15:7 “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

James 4:3 “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”

Several verses down the Lord once again tells the prophet about a time that the people of Israel will be dwelling in their land in prosperity, peace and safety.

Jeremiah 33:14–16 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The LORD our righteousness.”

Considering the situation in the world today, this certainly sounds like an impossible dream. As we examine these verses more closely, we learn that this will be possible because “the Branch of righteousness” will “execute judgment and righteousness in the land.” We don’t have to guess who this Branch is; the scripture identifies Him.

Isaiah 11:1–2 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;”

Jeremiah 23:5–6 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”

Jeremiah also tells us that “Judah shall be saved” when the Lord is on the throne. The Apostle Paul tells us more.

Romans 11:25–27 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

Paul clarifies several things that we have learned from Jeremiah to this point. God’s plan always included the Gentiles. The nation of Israel as a whole will be blind to spiritual truth for a time. Just as Gentiles were always free to declare faith and allegiance to the Lord in the days before Jesus, so too are Jews free to accept salvation through Jesus Christ in faith since the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. When Jesus returns as King, however, Israel will experience the blessing of the new covenant (discussed in the previous post) and the whole nation will accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. I believe this is the believing remnant that will emerge from the refining fires of the 70th week, the 7-year tribulation, as prophesied by Zechariah.

Zechariah 13:8–9 “And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”