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Great And Unsearchable Things.


This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says about the houses in this city and the royal palaces of Judah that have been torn down to be used against the siege ramps and the sword in the fight with the Babylonians: ‘They will be filled with the dead bodies of the men I will slay in my anger and wrath. I will hide my face from this city because of all its wickedness. “‘Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.’ (Jeremiah 33:2-9)


          There’s a famous scene from A Few Good Men in which Tom Cruise’s character shouts, “I want the truth” and Jack Nicholson’s replies “You can’t handle the truth!” That’s sort of how this passage affects me sometimes. Oh, God doesn’t tend to be as obnoxious as Jack Nicholson’s character, but the truth of the matter is that we don’t deal well with the truth. The truth when God invited the Israelites to call to Him was that He was going to hand them and their land over to the Babylonians. At least, that was part of the truth. The other part was that He would bring them back and rebuild the land. At the time, however, I suspect they were more focused on the “exile to Babylon” part.
          The Disciples had the same problem. Jesus talked about going to Jerusalem, of dying and rising again, and the Disciples got as far as “die.” I have a friend who recently got a diagnosis that is one of the “you can’t handle the truth” kinds of diagnoses. I have friends of friends who face the same kind of hard truths. My own experiences with truths that I can’t handle haven’t been as difficult but it’s still had me seeking shelter from the truth. Sometimes we do so badly at handling one piece of truth that we don’t even notice the second part.
          Sometimes, it seems life is filled with these truths that we can’t handle. We also get stuck on the captivity part. The restoration part seems so far away, much further than the seventy years Israel spent in Babylon, though it isn’t for most of us. How many of us face a truth in our lives that is more than a lifetime of suffering?
          The important thing when we call to God and He tells us great and unsearchable thing is that we not get stuck on the captivity we will face, but keep the restoration in mind. It may coming during our lifetime, or through our death, but it is part of the message.

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