Jeremiah 30:17
For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
The promise was given to the church in one of the darkest hours of her long conflict with evil, when it appeared that Satan had triumphed in his attempt to destroy Israel. The Lord was at that time overruling present events, and through this assurance His people in the years to follow would be given opportunity to redeem the past. The restoration is set at a time when nations are gathered against Zion, yet their hostile designs come to nothing because they do not understand the counsel of the Lord.
God pledges to restore health and heal wounds precisely because Zion had been called an outcast whom no one seeks after and for whom no one cares. That restoration includes bringing back the captivity of Jacob and showing mercy to his dwelling places. In this the Lord stands revealed as the great Restorer who restores health to His people and heals their wounds.
The broken bones are the picture of the injury over which the sufferer mourns. The healing embraces both recovery of bodily health, as seen in the work of the health institution, and healing for sin-sick souls. It is given as a personal assurance of recovery from sickness, issuing in continued praise among the saints. That healing is trusted as a free gift to erring people, not as a reward for having deserved it. It comes to the one who recognizes need for it, while the one who counts himself whole and in no need of a physician remains unhealed and unrestored.