Introduction: Consolation Measured in the Details
In this part of the chapter, we find ourselves after the teshuvah has taken place. The people have repented, the kohanim have wept between the porch and the altar, and the Holy One, blessed be He, has responded. However, the Malbim teaches us that the consolation here is not generic: every single word in the verses comes to teach that the salvation is not performed merely for the sake of His blessed Name so that it not be desecrated, but truly for our sake, through the power of our merits and our teshuvah. Let us examine the verses and see how each detail serves as a sign and proof of this.
"Sending" Rather than "Giving"
וַיַּעַן יְהֹוָה וַיֹּאמֶר לְעַמּוֹ הִנְנִי שֹׁלֵחַ לָכֶם אֶת־הַדָּגָן וְהַתִּירוֹשׁ וְהַיִּצְהָר וּשְׂבַעְתֶּם אֹתוֹ וְלֹא־אֶתֵּן אֶתְכֶם עוֹד חֶרְפָּה בַּגּוֹיִם׃ - And the Lord answered and said to His people: Behold, I am sending you the grain, the wine, and the oil, and you shall be satisfied with it; and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations.
The Malbim notes a precision in the language: had the Holy One, blessed be He, done this solely for the sake of His great Name, while they themselves were undeserving, the verse would have said, "Behold, I am giving you the grain." Yet it says "sending." What is the difference? A person picks up the phone and says: "I am giving you such-and-such" - that is a gift, something of mine that I am granting you. In contrast, when he says: "I am sending you" - it implies that the item is already yours anyway; I merely arranged for its delivery. Here, since Israel are truly deserving, and the deliverance comes for their sake in the merit of their teshuvah, Scripture uses the word "sending": this is yours by virtue of your deeds. Until now the grain was withheld because your deeds were corrupted, but now that you have bettered your ways, I am sending you what is rightfully yours.
Wine and Oil - Miracles Transcending Nature
A third point: had salvation been only for the sake of His Name, the miracles would have been performed within nature. But when Israel are upright and worthy, the Holy One, blessed be He, guides them with a heavenly providence that transcends nature. This too is explicit in the verse. If everything operated naturally, only the grain would have been sent, for when it is sown, it grows quickly. But the wine and oil - the grapevine and the olive tree - take a long time to produce, and the trees had been destroyed by the locusts. Producing fruit from them immediately is not the way of nature, but the way of a miracle. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, tells them: "Behold, I am sending you the grain, the wine, and the oil" - wine and oil as well, miraculously and supernaturally, because I am doing this for your sake, and not merely so that My Name will not be desecrated.
"And You Shall Be Satisfied with It" - Abundance Rather than Scarcity
A fourth point: had everything been done solely for His great Name, giving in measured scarcity would have sufficed, for even with a modest gift there is no desecration of God's Name. Perhaps there would not be a great Kiddush Hashem, but neither would there be a Chillul Hashem. Here, however, the Holy One, blessed be He, promises "and you shall be satisfied with it" - in such vast abundance that you will reach complete satiety. This is a sign that it is being done because it is truly coming to you, through the power of teshuvah.
The Malbim further analyzes the nuance of satiety: usually, satiety is linked with the preposition mem ("from" or "of"), as in "and be satisfied from the bosom of her consolations" (u-sevatem mi-shod tanchumeha), which denotes partial satiety - being satisfied from a portion of the thing. But when it is followed by the direct object marker et, it signifies absolute satiety, after which one cannot eat at all. One person may be full yet still able to eat the afikoman atop his fullness (al ha-sova), while another is so completely satiated that he cannot consume another bite. Likewise, "lest you be sated with it" (pen tisba'enu) means being fully sated with the thing itself, not merely from it. Therefore, it is said here, "and you shall be satisfied with it" (u-sevatem oto): a full and complete satiety.
"And I Will No Longer Make You a Disgrace" - Sparing the Honor of Israel
A fifth point: had the Holy One, blessed be He, acted solely for the sake of His Name, He would not have spared the honor of the nation, but only the honor of His Name so that it not be desecrated. But here, where salvation arrives by virtue of their merits, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to them: I spare your honor as well - "and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations." Your honor is precious to Me, for you are upright and possess merits. In Hashem caring for their dignity as well, you have the fifth sign that the salvation is granted for the sake of Israel's own stature after having returned in teshuvah.
"And I will remove the northern one far from you" - Three Interpretations
וְאֶת־הַצְּפוֹנִי אַרְחִיק מֵעֲלֵיכֶם וְהִדַּחְתִּיו אֶל־אֶרֶץ צִיָּה וּשְׁמָמָה אֶת־פָּנָיו אֶל־הַיָּם הַקַּדְמֹנִי וְסֹפוֹ אֶל־הַיָּם הָאַחֲרוֹן וְעָלָה בָאְשׁוֹ וְתַעַל צַחֲנָתוֹ כִּי הִגְדִּיל לַעֲשׂוֹת׃ - "And I will remove the northern one far from you, and I will drive him into a barren and desolate land, his face toward the eastern sea and his rear toward the western sea; and his stench will rise, and his foul odor will ascend, for he has done great things."
Who is the "northern one"? Radak as well as Ibn Ezra explain that this refers to the locust swarm. The entire passage deals with the locusts, and it therefore continues with what it began. The locust is called "northern" because it arrives from the north. "And I will drive him into a barren and desolate land" - to a place where it has nothing to feed upon, and it will consequently perish, and through its death, "his stench will rise, and his foul odor will ascend."
"His face toward the eastern sea" - the eastern sea, meaning toward the east of Eretz Yisrael, the Kinneret or the Dead Sea. "And his rear toward the western sea" - the western sea, the Mediterranean Sea, known as the Great Sea. In other words, understand the staggering scale of the locust swarm described here: its front faces the eastern sea and its rear reaches the western sea, blanketing the entire Land of Israel from end to end. As Radak writes, the swarm was so vast that it stretched from the eastern sea to the western sea. Radak adds that "his stench" and "his foul odor" are parallel expressions meaning the same thing in different words, though the Malbim, as we will see, explains the distinction between them.
The Chazal Interpretation: The "Northern One" Is the Yetzer Hara
Radak notes that our Sages of blessed memory interpreted this verse as referring to the Messianic era: "And I will remove the northern one far from you" - this is the Yetzer Hara (the evil inclination), which lies hidden (tzafun) and stationed within the heart of man. "And I will drive him into a barren and desolate land" - to a place devoid of human beings where he cannot incite anyone. "His face toward the eastern [or former] sea" - for he set his sights on the First Temple, called kadmoni because it was the earlier Temple, and he was the one who brought about the destruction of our Sanctuary. "And his rear toward the western [or later] sea" - this refers to the Second Temple, about which it is written, "Greater will be the glory of this latter House than the former," and the Yetzer Hara destroyed that one as well.
In this connection, the Malbim mentions that someone once asked him: It is written, "the latter House" (HaBayit HaAcharon), which implies there is no house after it - so how can you say there will be a Third Temple? The Malbim replied: Only someone who does not understand Lashon HaKodesh could ask such a question. For Scripture states regarding Yaakov, "and he placed Leah and her children last (acharonim), and Rachel and Yosef last (acharonim)" - so we see that something can be called "last," followed by yet another "last." The same applies here: the "latter House" is only the latter one for a time, and it will be followed by another subsequent House. There is neither contradiction nor difficulty in this.
"And his stench will rise" - according to this approach, this is because the Yetzer Hara leaves the nations of the world alone and provokes specifically Israel. His conduct does not smell good at all. This calls to mind the UN and UNESCO: there are no problems in the world except Israel, as though we are responsible for every issue. Similarly, the Yetzer Hara does not bother with the other nations, and the UN acts like his proxy - fixated exclusively on Israel. "For he has done great things" - Abaye said: against Torah scholars more than anyone else. Whom does the Yetzer Hara provoke the most? Torah scholars.
A Third Interpretation: The King of Assyria
Rashi cites Targum Yonatan, explaining that these words refer to the king of Assyria, who will come against you from the north - "From the north the disaster shall break out." Hashem says: This northern one, the king of Assyria, I will remove far from you; I will scatter part of his army to the east and part to the west, so that he cannot harm you.
The Malbim: Total Banishment, Not Merely Displacement
The Malbim continues along his approach, following the literal meaning (peshat) that the passage refers to the locusts. Had salvation been granted solely for the sake of His Name, the Holy One, Blessed is He, would not have removed the locusts entirely, for you would still need this whip hovering over you - for His Name's sake, He would have shifted it slightly, but not driven it into a barren and desolate land. But since you repented, the whip was lifted from you. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed is He, says: I am removing it completely, in an absolute manner.
Furthermore: had everything been done solely for the sake of His Name, He would have sent the locusts against the nations, in order to avenge His Name that was desecrated among the gentiles, and also so that Israel would take mussar, as it is written, "I cut off nations, their battlements are desolate... I said: Surely you will fear Me, you will accept instruction." But now, since the salvation came for our sake and we awakened in teshuvah on our own initiative, there is no need to strike the nations so that we take mussar; therefore, He sends the locust to a parched and desolate land. And Scripture describes it as having spread throughout the entire land from sea to sea, and when the decree ceased, it divided into two: the part standing in the east - which is "its face" - was carried to the eastern sea, and the second part - "its rear" - was carried to the western sea.
And what is the difference between "its stench" (bo'asho) and "its foul odor" (tzachanato)? The Malbim explains: the foul odor is caused by the eggs and seed the locust leaves behind, which rot and emit a foul smell. The stench is caused by the death of the locusts themselves, for vast numbers of them die and make the land putrid, resulting in pestilence and all kinds of illnesses while contaminating the air. Here, the Holy One, Blessed is He, promises them that both will be eliminated. And why? "For it has magnified its deeds" - the locust has already fulfilled its mission completely, wreaking immense and absolute devastation. Furthermore, there is an allusion here: what was the purpose of the locust? To awaken you to teshuvah. Indeed, it has magnified its deeds, you have been awakened, and you have returned to Hashem - there is no need to add any more afflictions.
Why Did Chazal Apply the Verse to the Yetzer Hara?
At first glance, Chazal's homiletic exposition regarding the Yetzer Hara seems completely disconnected from the subject matter: the verses here describe concrete reality, not allegories or midrashic homilies, so what place does the Yetzer Hara have here, appearing attached to neither what precedes nor what follows it? While we indeed find that Chazal expound verses homiletically beyond their plain sense, the Malbim explains that here the idea is tightly bound to the text. For "it is not the serpent that kills, but sin that kills." What caused the locusts to come? The Yetzer Hara, which enticed us to corrupt our ways. Thus, it was the Yetzer Hara that brought the locusts, and it is tied to the matter by strong bonds. Therefore, when the "northerner" (tzafoni) - the Yetzer Hara that is hidden (tzafun) in a person's heart - is removed, the consequence that stemmed from it, namely the locust, is automatically removed as well. The verse speaks of the locust, while Chazal speak of the root cause: the Yetzer Hara wrought havoc and alienated you from Hashem, and so the locust came. Cast away the Yetzer Hara, and the locust will automatically depart.
"Exult and Rejoice" - Regular Joy and Renewed Exultation
אַל־תִּירְאִי אֲדָמָה גִּילִי וּשְׂמָחִי כִּי־הִגְדִּיל יְהֹוָה לַעֲשׂוֹת׃ - "Fear not, O land; exult and rejoice, for Hashem has done great things."
The term "adamah" (soil/land), the Malbim notes, denotes a more comprehensive scope - not specifically a grain field, but also land with trees. A "sadeh" is typically a field of grain, whereas "adamah" encompasses everything. And what does the prophet tell it? Had salvation come merely for the sake of His great Name, the fruit trees would not have recovered, for by the laws of nature it takes them a long time to grow. But as we explained, the new wine and fresh oil also return, because the salvation came in the merit of our teshuvah, and we are worthy of supernatural miracles.
And what is the difference between gilah (exultation) and simchah (joy)? Simchah is steady, standard joy - the static and ongoing state. Gilah refers to something brought about by a novel cause - an unexpected event that generates extraordinary joy. A person cannot remain in a state of gilah indefinitely, for gilah is an exceptional departure from the routine. Therefore, it is written here: "Exult and rejoice" - first gilah, because a good thing has newly emerged beyond anything we could have imagined, namely, that the new wine and fresh oil will sprout immediately, not just the grain, which naturally grows quickly. And following this supernatural gilah, we return to the steady state of simchah.
"Fear Not, Beasts of the Field" - Even Desert Pastures
אַל־תִּירְאוּ בַּהֲמוֹת שָׂדַי כִּי דָשְׁאוּ נְאוֹת מִדְבָּר כִּי־עֵץ נָשָׂא פִרְיוֹ תְּאֵנָה וָגֶפֶן נָתְנוּ חֵילָם׃ - "Fear not, beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness have turned green, for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded their strength."
Had the salvation been solely for the sake of His blessed Name, the Holy One, Blessed is He, would have restored produce only in inhabited regions and not in the desert. For if the entire purpose was merely that His Name not be desecrated, why bestow an unnecessary boon and bring forth growth in the wilderness as well? But now, since the salvation comes for the sake of Israel, "the pastures of the wilderness have turned green" - even the deserts yield growth. And the proof is: "for the tree has borne its fruit, the fig tree and the vine have yielded their strength" - even though by the laws of nature they take a long time, they yielded their produce immediately. All the more so you understand that the salvation here is miraculous and supernatural, an all-encompassing deliverance from every angle: vegetation and trees alike, both in inhabited settlements and in the desert.
"HaMoreh LiTzedakah" - Rejoicing in Affliction
וּבְנֵי צִיּוֹן גִּילוּ וְשִׂמְחוּ בַּיהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם כִּי־נָתַן לָכֶם אֶת־הַמּוֹרֶה לִצְדָקָה וַיּוֹרֶד לָכֶם גֶּשֶׁם מוֹרֶה וּמַלְקוֹשׁ בָּרִאשׁוֹן׃ - And children of Zion, exult and rejoice in Hashem your God, for He has given you the early rain in righteousness, and He has brought down for you rain - early rain and late rain - in the first month.
Children of Zion, do not rejoice over temporary matters and localized success, but rather "in Hashem your God" - over the very fact that the Holy One, blessed be He, has been reconciled with you. You corrupted your ways, the locusts came, you repented - and Hashem was appeased. This is the primary reason for joy: not the economic abundance, which is temporary, but the fact that we no longer have an unresolved grievance with the Master of the World.
And not only this, but you will also rejoice over the locusts and the famine themselves. How can one rejoice in famine? Because you will reach the understanding that this is what saved you. This is comparable to a person who needed to catch a flight, broke his leg and missed it - and the plane crashed. It turns out that he thanks Hashem for his broken leg, for had it not broken, his entire body would have been shattered. So too here: the Holy One, blessed be He, sent us the locusts and the famine, and they were what compelled us to return to Him.
And who is "the teacher for righteousness" (hamoreh litzdakah)? Rashi explains: These are your prophets who teach you to return to Hashem in order to vindicate you, that is, to plead merit on your behalf. But the Malbim says: The teacher for righteousness is the locust. It was our teacher - a teacher who dealt out blows, but brought us back to Hashem and taught us to act righteously regarding mitzvot between man and God. Thus, in the end, we even rejoice over the afflictions. And because you learned righteousness and mended your deeds, "He has brought down for you rain - early rain and late rain - in the first month," and thereby the famine will depart from you.
"In the first month" - The Episode of the Nissan Rains
"In the first month" refers to the month of Nissan, as the Radak cites from the words of Chazal: both the early rain and the late rain fell in Nissan that year - both the first rain and the last rain. That year, most of Adar passed without rain falling, and the first rainfall fell for them on the first of Nissan. Let us recall the established order: if Kislev arrives and rain has not fallen, fasts are observed on BeHaB - Monday, Thursday, and Monday - followed by another seven fasts; and if it still has not rained, the community as a whole no longer fasts, but individuals fast until Nissan. And if the season of Nissan passes and rain falls, it is already considered a sign of a curse.
The prophet said to them: Go out and sow. They said to him: If someone has a kav of wheat or barley, should he eat it and live, or sow it and die? If a person possesses only a small amount, if he sows it, who knows whether it will grow; and even if it grows, it will take months, and in the meantime we will starve to death. He said to them: Even so, go out and sow. A miracle was performed for them, and whatever was hidden in holes, in ant crevices, and inside walls was revealed - wheat was uncovered, and they had food to eat immediately. They went out and sowed on the second, third, and fourth of the month, and a second rainfall descended for them on the fifth of Nissan, and they offered the Omer on the sixteenth of Nissan. Thus, the Omer was offered from grain that normally takes six months to grow, yet here it was offered after only eleven days. Concerning that generation it was said, "Those who sow in tears" - who asked what purpose there was in sowing when we have nothing to eat - "shall reap with songs of joy."
Therefore, the prophet says here, "And children of Zion, exult and rejoice." The Malbim explains: they fasted until Nissan, and behold, the rain arrived in Nissan. "Rain" refers to the trees, and "early rain and late rain" to the grain, since the critical season for trees is at Pesach. And even though the rainy season had already passed, come and see that there was blessing in this rain.
"And the Vats Shall Overflow"
וּמָלְאוּ הַגֳּרָנוֹת בָּר וְהֵשִׁיקוּ הַיְקָבִים תִּירוֹשׁ וְיִצְהָר׃ - And the threshing floors shall be filled with grain, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.
The threshing floors were filled with grain, and Hashem's blessing here was supernatural. And what is the meaning of veheshiku? Rashi explains that it is an expression denoting the emission of sound, similar to glasses clinking against each other and producing a ringing sound - so too, when the stream flows down from the winepress, the place where the grapes were trodden, into the vat before it, a sound is heard.
The Radak explains veheshiku as meaning "and they shall overflow," akin to the expression "and Hashem caused the waters of the Red Sea to overflow upon them" - the vats will be so full that the wine and oil overflow their rims. This expression is very common in the words of Chazal: there is a situation where liquid can be purified through hashakah - one fills a vessel with the liquid, places the vessel into the waters of a mikveh, and it is sufficient for the surfaces of the waters to touch each other; this is hashakah, the overflowing of the water in the vessel with the water of the mikveh. "If the water of the Festival became ritually impure, if one performed hashakah and then consecrated it, it is pure": he submerged it until the waters of the mikveh flowed over it, thereby purifying it. And hashakah is effective only with water, because there is a form of nullification here - the water in the vessel is nullified to the water of the mikveh and by virtue of that becomes purified (and one wishing to expand on this can listen to the series on Mishnayot Tahorot, where this is discussed in several places). It emerges that "and the vats shall overflow" means that the volume of wine will overflow to the top. And the Malbim explains that it is related to mashkeh (drink): the vats will be filled with drink.
"And I will repay you for the years" - The King's Restitution
וְשִׁלַּמְתִּי לָכֶם אֶת־הַשָּׁנִים אֲשֶׁר אָכַל הָאַרְבֶּה הַיֶּלֶק וְהֶחָסִיל וְהַגָּזָם חֵילִי הַגָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר שִׁלַּחְתִּי בָּכֶם׃ - And I will repay you for the years that the locust, the yeleq, the chasil, and the gazam have eaten - My great army which I sent among you.
"The years" is in the plural because the locusts did not come in a single year, but over several years. The Radak cites Targum Yonatan, explaining that the verse is a prophecy for the Messianic era, when the Holy One, blessed be He, will compensate us for the years of suffering. However, most commentators explain it according to the simple meaning, that these words refer back to the great abundance we see here and now: the threshing floors filled with grain, the vats overflowing with wine, rejoicing and gladness in Hashem, the early rain and the late rain - and in contrast to the past famine, the Holy One, blessed be He, promises them good years.
The Malbim offers a parable of a mortal king who laid siege to a province, and ultimately the people of the province defeated the conquering king. The rule is that he must compensate that province for all the losses his soldiers caused during the siege. This principle is accepted even today: when one country acts unlawfully against another, the court at The Hague demands reparations for the damage, or states complicit in terrorism are sued and their assets seized to pay for damages. So too, as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: After you defeated Me through teshuvah, by doing teshuvah out of love - My legions, which are the locusts, consumed and damaged your land, and I must pay for the damage My legions caused.
The Malbim notes a precision in the text: at the beginning of the book, the prophet listed the gazam first, whereas here it is listed last. Why? Because when Hashem initially brought all the species of locusts upon them, strict justice demanded retribution for their evil deeds, and therefore the gazam came first by law. But after the gazam, they began to repent. From that point on, the remaining species of locusts were no longer deserved, and for what the arbeh, yeleq, and chasil consumed, the Holy One, blessed be He, must pay compensation. Ultimately, He compensates even for the gazam, since it was part of the group with the other species, but it is listed last - for strictly speaking, He was not required to pay for the gazam, as it came rightfully and justly, since you only repented after it struck.
"And you shall eat and be satisfied" - Hallel from Satiety
וַאֲכַלְתֶּם אָכוֹל וְשָׂבוֹעַ וְהִלַּלְתֶּם אֶת־שֵׁם יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂה עִמָּכֶם לְהַפְלִיא וְלֹא־יֵבֹשׁוּ עַמִּי לְעוֹלָם׃ - And you shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of Hashem your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; and My people shall never be put to shame.
"You shall eat and be satisfied" - one eats a little and it is blessed in one's stomach, which is supernatural and wondrous. Therefore, it says: "and praise the name of Hashem your God," for the Holy One, blessed be He, designates His Name uniquely upon us and performs unnatural miracles for us. For as is well known from the teachings of the Malbim, "Hashem" on its own refers to Him as God of the entire universe, whereas "Hashem your God" refers to Him as our unique God, exercising a level of individual Divine Providence (hashgachah pratit) unlike that over the rest of the world.
There is also an allusion here, notes the Malbim, to what is explained in the laws of fast days: if people began to fast and rain fell, they do not complete the fast, but rather eat first and only then recite Hallel, as recounted in the Gemara in Ta'anit. The reason is that one can only offer praise from a state of satiety; when a person is hungry, he cannot properly sing praises. Therefore, if they were answered in the middle of a fast, they eat, return to the synagogue, and recite Hallel. This is what the prophet describes here: the Holy One, blessed be He, will bestow abundance upon them in the middle of the fast, and therefore the first step is "And you shall eat and be satisfied," and the second step is "and praise the name of Hashem your God."
Another textual precision: it does not say "and praise Hashem your God," but rather "the name of Hashem your God." What is the difference? "Hashem your God" refers to His essence, whereas "the name of Hashem" refers to His renown - "name" (shem) signifies renown, that His fame went forth and spread throughout the world. In other words: praise Hashem for the worldwide renown His Name received through the miracles He performed for us.
Disgrace Versus Shame
"And My people shall never be put to shame" - while above it says, "and I will no longer make you a disgrace among the nations." What is the difference between cherpah (disgrace) and boshah (shame)? Disgrace comes from others. A person says, "They disgraced me," not "I disgraced myself." But shame is felt from within: a person says, "I was ashamed of myself." Therefore, the Malbim explains that here Hashem promises they will not feel ashamed of their past evil deeds, because through teshuvah motivated by love, sins are transformed into merits. And when one has done teshuvah out of love, sins are no longer remembered as merely forgiven transgressions; on the contrary, everything that was once a sin is counted as a merit, becoming something of value to us, and we will feel no shame over it.
"And You Shall Know That I Am in the Midst of Israel"
וִידַעְתֶּם כִּי בְקֶרֶב יִשְׂרָאֵל אָנִי וַאֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם וְאֵין עוֹד וְלֹא־יֵבֹשׁוּ עַמִּי לְעוֹלָם׃ - And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Hashem your God and there is none else, and My people shall never again be ashamed.
Earlier it was said, "and praise the Name of Hashem," and we explained that "the Name of Hashem" indicates His renown spread far and wide. Why? Because in our present era we do not perceive Hashem Himself; the Shechinah does not dwell among us in an abiding, miraculous manner, and therefore we do not praise His very Essence, but rather the renown of His Name through His general providence. This is comparable to a person sitting inside a house: he cannot see the sun, but the sunlight enters, and he knows that the sun exists by virtue of that light. Yet there is another state, in which he walks outside and stands directly in the sun. So too, today we benefit only from the radiance emanating from Hashem, not from the direct light itself: we no longer have the ten miracles in the Beit HaMikdash, nor do we experience direct perception of continuous divine bounty.
Yet the day will come in the future when you will have clear knowledge, perceiving these matters just as a person perceives through his physical senses. Therefore the verse uses the term "and you shall know," for knowledge implies complete grasp and direct perception. One can believe that Hashem exists, while knowing that the table is present; the reality of Hashem is currently a matter of faith, whereas the physical is a matter of direct knowledge. Even so, our mandate is to attain, even in divine perception, the level of "and you shall know that I am Hashem," as well as "and they shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," which we will encounter later. Our present reality is that one recognizes this intellectually but does not directly feel and experience it; we must strive for "And you shall know this day and take it to your heart that Hashem is God" - a state of direct, crystal-clear knowledge.
Then, "I am in the midst of Israel" - meaning, I abide constantly among you and walk in your midst, no longer guiding you through the veil of nature, but rather "I am Hashem your God, and there is none else." From a purely material viewpoint, one sees the forces of nature through which Hashem acts, and there remains a barrier between oneself and Hashem. On a higher level, however, one does not see the forces of nature at all, like Rabbi Chanina ben Dosa, who said: "He Who commanded the oil to burn can command the vinegar to burn." One might explain the burning of oil by natural laws, attributing it to molecules and combustible properties; but he did not view it that way at all. He saw that Hashem commanded it to burn, and this was a matter of clear knowledge to him; just as he perceived Godliness in oil, so he perceived Godliness in vinegar. Consequently, he saw no natural intermediaries whatsoever. In the future to come, we will all attain this state: nature will not be perceived as an independent reality at all, but everything will be seen as the direct hand and providence of Hashem, for nature and the celestial order possess no intrinsic power, and everything will be guided by miraculous, direct providence without intermediaries.
"And My People Shall Never Again Be Ashamed" - A Second Time
Why does the verse repeat and conclude with "and My people shall never again be ashamed"? The Malbim explains: The first mention meant that they would not be ashamed of their past evil deeds, since Hashem will transform them for good through repentance out of love, wherein willful sins become merits. Here, however, he adds an additional dimension: that they will not suffer shame from the absence of the Shechinah's presence. The holy elements that were missing in the Second Temple indicated that the Shechinah was diminished, and it is a source of humiliation for us that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not dwell among us as in days of old. Hashem assures: My people shall never again be ashamed - I will be with you and rest My presence among you, and you will suffer humiliation no longer, for you will see how I accompany you in every state. When will this be? In the end of days, with the arrival of the ultimate Redemption, as we will see immediately in the coming chapter.
In Summary:
The prophet proclaims the salvation that follows sincere repentance, and the Malbim demonstrates how every nuance of the text proves that it comes for the sake of Israel themselves, not merely for the honor of His blessed Name: "sending" rather than merely "giving," wine and oil growing through outright miracle, complete abundance rather than mere sustenance, divine regard for Israel's honor, the absolute removal of the "northerner," and flourishing growth even in the arid pastures of the wilderness. The "northerner" is interpreted as the locust plague, as the yetzer hara concealed within the heart, and as the king of Assyria, and all are deeply connected: the yetzer hara brought about the locust plague, and with its departure, the affliction it caused departs as well. The locust swarm itself is revealed as a "teacher of righteousness" that brought the nation to repentance, allowing us to rejoice even in past afflictions; rain falls miraculously in Nisan, the Omer offering is brought from grain ripened in merely eleven days, and the Holy One, blessed be He, repays for all the years consumed by the locusts. Finally - praise born of profound abundance, sins transformed into merits, and the divine promise of rising from faith to direct, luminous perception: "And you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am Hashem your God and there is none else."