Peter Pett's Commentary on the Bible
Jeremiah 33:1-3
To A Doubting And Troubled Jeremiah YHWH Promises To Reveal The Glorious But Seemingly Impossible Future, Which Will Be Brought About By His Creative Power Following The Current Storm (Jeremiah 33:1).
‘Moreover the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the guard, saying,'
The need for a ‘second word' suggests that YHWH is aware of Jeremiah's confusion as the siege gets even more severe. Situated as he was he had had plenty of time to puzzle over what appeared to be an impossible situation. Who had ever heard of a nation being destroyed and exiled from its land, only to be restored in all its former grandeur?
“Thus says YHWH who does it, YHWH who forms it to establish it; YHWH is his name,”
YHWH, however, assures him that He is easily able to produce something out of what appears to be nothing, for He is the one who ‘does things', and then ‘fashions them' (as He had at creation), with a view to finally establishing them. And this is so because His Name is ‘YHWH', the One Who ‘will be whatever He wants to be', and ‘causes to be whatever He wants to cause to be'. (Depending on the pointing both meanings are contained within the Name YHWH).
“Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and hard to bring about (difficult, impregnable), which you do not know.”
All therefore that Jeremiah has to do is call on Him, and He then promises him that He will answer him, and will show him things which are both ‘great and hard to bring about' (compare the same description in Deuteronomy 1:28; Deuteronomy 9:1), things about which at present he has had no past knowledge of. In other words He will show him ‘a new thing' outside of his experience.
Alternately the singular verbs may apply to the people in general, with the point being that if, when in exile, they truly call on Him, He will reveal His hand in an amazing deliverance.