Why will the Lord bring them from “the north country” including the “blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labour”?

Jeremiah once again uses language very similar to that used in the later chapters of Isaiah (see Isaiah 35:1–10;Isaiah 40:3–5,Isaiah 40:11; Isaiah 41:18–20; Isaiah 42:16; Isaiah 43:1–7; Isaiah 44:3–4; Isaiah 48:20–21; Isaiah 49:9–13). Bringing his people back from a northern country speaks of the Lord taking his people on a New Exodus to their land of rest¹. In the context of Israel’s history, the reference to the north country points to the direction from which danger had typically come, including the Assyrians in 721 BC and the Babylonians in 597/587 BC. It is therefore a broad reference to the Lord bringing back all of his people who have been exiled to the farthest parts of the earth.

Those whom the Lord will bring back will include the blind and the lame, the pregnant woman and she who is in labor (see Isaiah 40:11). Even the most vulnerable will be brought back. The Lord’s people will return in weakness and their salvation only happens because of his compassion as he acts powerfully to save them². They will also return as a great company. The Hebrew word used here is qahal and is often used to describe Israel as a worshipping community³. They do not return as a mighty nation, but as a nation in total dependence on their God, saved so that they can worship him.