Jeremiah 16:15
But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. But, The LORD liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.
The Lord promises to bring the children of Israel back from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them, and to bring them again into the land He gave to their fathers, a deliverance to be remembered so distinctly that it will be named in place of the exodus from Egypt as the sign of His living power. It was given as a comforting promise before the Babylonian captivity. It stands among Jeremiah's clearly understood prophecies that awfully denounce sin, express sorrow of heart over transgression, and make most touching appeals for return to God, appeals the mass of the people meet with utter lack of response.
The promise pointed to the return from Babylon as a great display of God's power and a witness to the world, to be fulfilled through the decrees calling the Jews to return to Jerusalem, although most of the Jews remained in Babylon. Some such prophecies of return from dispersion and restoration to the land were fulfilled when Israel was restored from Babylon. The verse belongs to the promises and covenants made to Israel, whose blessings Gentiles share by taking hold of those covenants.
The land promised is not limited to ancient Canaan, for the inheritance promised to Abraham and his seed is the whole earth made new, the immortal land and eternal inheritance in heaven and the earth made new. The promised return is a second and greater deliverance than bringing Israel out of Egypt, surpassing the deliverance from Pharaoh. The oath The LORD liveth will no longer refer to bringing Israel out of Egypt but will be named for bringing up and leading the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all countries to dwell in their own land, as the new measure and sign of the Lord's living power. The verse pictures release from slavery and sin and victory over all earthly foes by God's mighty, glorious power with His judgments made manifest, fulfilled when the delivered redeemed remnant sing the song of Moses, joined by the song of the Lamb.
The gathering of the remnant from captivity is distinct from and comes before the final gathering of all Israel into the inheritance, bringing them into a wilderness period of testing and preparation as Israel was tested after leaving Egypt before entering Canaan. The remnant's prophetic recovery identified with this gathering began in 1798 and is located in America. In its end-time application, the verse shows that God's loyal people are scattered throughout Babylon and will be gathered from all parts of the world. The verse means the final gathering of all the redeemed home, representing the world's deliverance, whose language will appropriately preface the law of heaven and call forth willing obedience just as the exodus prefaced the giving of the law at Sinai. In that heavenly state the law will not be needed as a written code, but its principles will be engraved indelibly on hearts, producing perfect obedience with no other gods, no graven images or idols, and no vain use of the name of the Lord.