great and hidden things

"Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known." (Jeremiah 33:3 ESV)

When I was a young Christian people used to refer to this verse as "God's phone number." That is, it is God's invitation for us to call upon him and he will answer. It certainly does reflect God's willingness to be approached and his desire to communicate great truths.

Contextually, this is addressed to the prophet Jeremiah, who is reeling from the awareness that...

1) Jerusalem will be destroyed and lay desolate for many years, but God in his miraculous power will bring the people back to rebuild and re-populate the land, and

2) an even more amazing transformation will take place when God makes a new covenant with his people, where his Spirit will transform, renew and fill the human heart with new affections for God.

So, the "great and hidden things" have to do with the glories of Jesus Christ. He is the great Center of all Scripture...

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me..." (John 5:39)

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." (Luke 24:27)

Jesus himself is the revelation of God. His true nature and teaching are often hidden from humanity, which sits in darkness and ignorance...

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world." (Matthew 13:35)

Knowing Christ and being in his kingdom is like finding a great hidden treasure...

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (Matthew 13:44)

For the NT believer Jeremiah 33:3 becomes a promise that God will answer when we pray for an ever-increasing awareness of the glory, work, and will of Christ our Lord...

"...that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2, 3)

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