Sefer Yeshayahu, chapter 49: "Listen, O islands, unto Me, and hearken, you nations, from afar: Hashem has called Me from the womb, from the innards of My mother He has mentioned My name." You surely notice that there are repetitions here: "Listen, O islands, hearken, you nations," first "listen" then "hearken," first "islands" then "nations." "You nations from afar, Hashem has called Me from the womb," and then "from the innards of My mother He has mentioned My name," once "called Me" and once "mentioned My name," once "from the womb" and once "from the innards of My mother." Anyone who already walks in the way of the Malbim knows that here is a broad field for the Malbim to give us a lesson in the holy tongue.
The Malbim says: until now he spoke of the redemption from Bavel through Koresh; now he begins to speak of the future redemption. This chapter begins to speak of the future redemption, not the redemption from Bavel, but the redemption of the King Mashiach. "Listen, O islands, unto Me" - this prophecy touches the ends of the earth, and therefore "hearken, you nations," the nations that are far off. What does "from afar" mean? The Malbim says it does not mean physically far, but rather it speaks of "far" in terms of the end of days, that is what "from afar" means here. "And hearken, you nations, from afar" - there is here an announcement about something that is destined to be far off, there is here a prophecy about things destined to come in the many days that are yet to be at the end of days.
What is the difference between "islands" and "nations"? The Malbim explains that "nations" comes to indicate the great peoples who have a distinctive religion, who have distinctive laws, that is called "nations." In contrast, "islands" are the small ones, the separated ones on the sea. If we wanted to give an example of "nations," I would say today the nations are America, Russia, Britain, places that have a distinctive religion, that have laws, they are the orderly, established nations, they are called "nations." The "islands" are the small and separated ones.
The Malbim explains that when he addresses two separate parties, to one he speaks in the language of "listening" and to the other he speaks in the language of "give ear" or "hearken," as in "Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of My mouth." We have seen several such instances in this very sefer, where at times to one he turns with the language of "listening" and to the other he turns with the language of "giving ear" or "hearkening." So "listening" is directed to the one to whom he specifically addresses his words. The one to whom I mainly want to speak, whom I want to understand and accept my words, to him I say "listen." To the one whom I think can understand the matters even if he does not listen, and whom I do not address directly but only indirectly, who will give ear to the words - to him I say "hearken" or "give ear." I am not addressing you directly, but I am speaking to him: it is worthwhile for you also to hearken, it is worthwhile for you also to give ear. My address is not directly to him. Always "hearken" or "give ear" refers to the one who incidentally hears the one to whom I said "listen." So the one to whom I say "listen" is a direct address, and the rest are only hearkening and giving ear incidentally.
Now, regarding the great nations, the prophet does not need to come and persuade them of the existence of God, for the great nations already believed, they are religious, they believed and they knew and they will believe in God, they will believe in prophets, so I do not need to address them directly. To whom do I need to address directly? To the distant islands, for the distant islands are still far from faith, they still do not know Hashem, and therefore the prophet turns to them directly: "Listen, O islands, unto Me," you shall listen for it is to you that I speak, since there is no faith. But the nations, who as I said have a religion, who have faith, they will accept the words easily, so you only hearken. I have no direct address to you, you do not require that I address you directly, for in any case you have faith and religion, so it will be easier for you to accept the words of the prophet who will come and be a prophet about the end of days, about the future redemption.
"And hearken, you nations, from afar: Hashem has called Me from the womb." The Holy One, blessed be He, called me from the womb and appointed me to prophesy about the redemption. "From the innards of My mother" - still from the innards of my mother. What is "from the innards of My mother"? The Malbim explains that there is a difference between "womb" and "innards." The fetus is initially attached to the innards of the mother; when it grows a little it rises upward and floats to the womb. What does this mean? The Malbim explains that in the beginning, in the first stage, perhaps before that, "womb" (beten) generally speaks of the entire abdominal cavity, it is a general term. In contrast, "innards" (me'ei) is only the inner parts. Where it is written together in relation to the fetus, "innards" and "womb," he means that the "innards" speak of the inner place where conception takes place, this speaks of the fallopian tubes, this speaks of the ovaries, there. This is what is meant when it says "innards," where the fetus is first formed and takes root, where fertilization occurs, and afterward it rises upward and enters the place called the womb (rechem), where the fetus develops. So he says: even earlier, the Holy One, blessed be He, even sooner, where? "From the innards of My mother," in the innards which are the earliest place, there already the Holy One, blessed be He, "from the innards of My mother He has mentioned My name," already there He mentioned my name and told me that I was destined to prophesy about the people of Israel.
And we will always see, regarding a male for example, the expression "innards" always appears. Why? Because if we explained that the place of the egg in the woman is called "innards," then such a thing exists also in the male; the place of the seed in the male is also called "innards." "He that shall come forth out of your own innards shall be your heir" - so said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Avraham; "innards" pertains also to a male. But in contrast, we never see "womb" (beten) with regard to a male, for "womb" speaks of the place of pregnancy, as we explained, and that does not pertain to a man, and therefore it is never written "that shall come forth out of your womb," but always "out of your innards," "that shall come forth out of your innards," for "innards," as we said, is the place of fertilization, the place of the seed, and just as it pertains to the woman, so too it pertains to the man. So he comes and says to him: when you were in your mother's womb, even before you came out, already the Holy One, blessed be He, called him and commanded him to go on His mission to prophesy about Israel. And not only that, but "from the innards of My mother He has mentioned My name" - even while I was in the innards, cleaving to her innards, even before the form of the fetus was fashioned, already then Hashem mentioned my name, that I would be the one prepared for the mission.
What does this come to teach? The Malbim explains that in order to attain prophecy - so brings the Rambam in the Moreh Nevuchim and elsewhere - there must be a natural preparation and a habitual preparation. What does this mean? Natural preparation means that from the mother's innards he is already prepared for prophecy, "before I formed you in the womb I knew you," he must have a natural preparation, that is one thing. And the second thing is habitual preparation, meaning that all the natural preparations will not help him if he does nothing with them. The Rambam writes about Aristotle that in his wisdom he was close to the level of prophecy, but what did being close help? It did not place him there. Why? Because he did not have habitual preparation. That is, even in himself, even had he been a Jew, the moment one does not do Hashem's will, does not fulfill the mitzvos, does not sanctify himself to be worthy for Hashem's word to be upon him, this is called habitual preparation, meaning he accustoms himself to mitzvos and good deeds. So he comes and says: behold, see, Hashem prepared me even before then, from the moment of conception, and also from the moment I was separated from the innards, even though I had not yet come out of my mother's womb but was still in my mother's innards, as we explained - the meaning being that after I came out of my mother's innards into my mother's womb, that is, at the time it was already in pregnancy, even then the Holy One, blessed be He, already prepared him. And if so, you will understand that when the Holy One, blessed be He, sends me, He sends someone who from the outset had all the fitting preparations to prophesy. So the words that such a person prophesies are words that contain truth, they are words that one must accept, since such a prophecy comes with proper preparation.
"And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, and He has made Me a polished arrow, in His quiver He has concealed Me." "And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword" - let us first explain according to Rashi. Rashi explains that "like a sharp sword" refers to rebuking the wicked, that calamities will come upon them. Now, calamity - how is it fitting to compare it to a sharp sword? So "He has made My mouth like a sharp sword" - Hashem, through my mouth, brings calamities to the nations, meaning He transmits the prophecy through me, so that from my mouth, as it were, swords go forth against the nations. "In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me" - since when I prophesy ill against the nations, they want to harm me, they want to persecute me. Where did they throw Yirmiyahu? The prison court, correct, they put him in prison, we will learn that with Hashem's help, God willing. And so "in the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me" - He often needed to hide the prophet so that no one would harm him.
"And He has made Me a polished arrow" - what is a "polished arrow"? Rashi says burnished and shining, that is the meaning of "polished," burnished and shining. How does Rashi render it? What is it in the vernacular? You have Rashi: "clair," what is "clair"? Clear, correct, clair means clear, clair means clean. What is that? We do not know exactly, is it not "clean"? So it would be burnished, clear, polished. "A polished arrow in His quiver" - this is the place inside which one puts the arrows, this is the quiver of the arrows.
The Malbim explains: "And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword." Notice, the Malbim says, the sword cuts from close up, the arrow shoots and cuts even from afar. The sword one holds in the hand; the arrow one does not go with it to war in the hand, it is in the quiver of arrows, and the moment I see a need I immediately draw the arrow from its quiver and shoot. But the sword, generally, when they went out to battle they would run with the sword ready in their hand for any surprise. So Hashem has made my mouth like a sharp sword that cuts from close up. Of whom does this speak? It speaks of the people of Israel. Who is "close up"? Who are found close by? The Malbim says: this is the people of Israel. So He attributes to the people of Israel sharp expressions that cut Israel, and He held me in His hand, and since with a sword one draws near for battle, therefore it must be "He has hidden Me in the shadow of His hand," in such a manner that I would be hidden under the shadow of the hand so that they would not see me. What is the meaning of being hidden in the shadow of the hand so that they would not see him? The Malbim says the analogue here is that since his words were in Hashem's name, so that they would not feel "this Yeshayahu tells us bad things, this Yeshayahu wants us to have it bad" - for this is what they slander against the prophet - therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, "hid me in the shadow of His hand," as it were, so that everyone would recognize and feel: this is not Yeshayahu, this is the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He. Where is the prophet? The prophet is in the shadow, do not attribute it to him, the prophet only conveys the words. So it is a sword that indeed cuts, but it is in the shadow of His hand; look, whose hand is this? This is the hand of Hashem that struck you, it is not the prophet. For this it was necessary that Hashem hide me in the shadow of His hand, so that it would be evident to all that I prophesy in Hashem's name, and they would not kill the one who conveys the message, the one who announces the matter, as was customary in their day: a person would announce bad news and they would kill the messenger. What do you want from the messenger? You yell at the mailman who brought you a fine. What did I do? I gave you a fine? I am only telling you to sign here, it was sent to you at home, I have nothing to do with it; if you don't want it, don't sign. But who beats up the mailman? Only a fool and an imbecile. For it is written that this is a generation whose face is like the face of a dog. On this point it is brought that a dog, when someone strikes it, grabs the stick, tries to bite the stick, tries to catch the stick. Fool! Run to the leg of the one who is biting and striking you, and that one will flee. But the dog has no sense, it bites the stick. "The face of the generation is like the face of a dog" - the meaning is that in the footsteps of Mashiach the face of the generation will be such that if one has a problem with Hezbollah, he says we must eliminate Hezbollah, we must finish off Nasrallah, we must finish off Ahmadinejad, we must bomb the reactor. Perhaps we need another hour of Torah study, perhaps we need to strengthen ourselves more in the service of Hashem, perhaps we need to do teshuvah, and then all these problems would be solved. That is, we go for the stick, we think how to solve the problem, we have no problem with the stick. The stick is "Woe, Ashur, the rod of My anger," it is the rod of the anger of the Holy One, blessed be He. We must see how to soothe the anger of the Creator of the world. Certainly, in the natural way we must make the necessary effort, whatever is needed, but to see in that the solution, no, that is not the solution. The solution is to return in teshuvah. So this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, tells him, as it were: that I would be hidden under the hand of Hashem, blessed be He, so that the people of Israel would not feel that I am the one prophesying to them, as if it comes from me, that I seek their harm.
Not only that, but Hashem, besides a sword, which is for the people of Israel, also made me "a polished arrow," a burnished arrow, so that I would direct my prophecy also to distant peoples and also to future times, like an arrow that, as we explained, shoots far. So I prophesy to the people of Israel in the present, and to the peoples in the future, and Hashem "has concealed me in His quiver" so that the peoples would not feel, as it were, that I am ready to shoot, would not feel, as it were, that I have some prophecy prepared against them, and therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, concealed me in His quiver.
What is the difference between "hid" and "concealed" in the holy tongue? The Malbim says that "hidden" is always someone who is pursued and because of that he hides. In contrast, "concealed" can apply even to someone whom no one is pursuing; he is concealed even though no one is seeking him. For example, it is written "Shaul my father seeks to kill you; therefore hide yourself" - there it is brought that Shaul pursued him; "and you shall let me go, and I will conceal myself in the field" - there it is brought that Shaul did not seek him. "Concealed" applies even when they do not seek him; "hidden" is always when they pursue him. "As a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest" - why "a hiding place from the wind"? Because the wind searches into holes and crevices, it comes from all four directions, but the stream comes from only one direction, so one need not hide, it is enough to take cover. Here too, the sword that cuts from close up - here everyone searches: where is this prophet who says such things, where is he, we will show him! So one must hide, therefore it is like a hiding place from the sword. But the arrow that shoots far - it is concealed until no one even imagines going to search for it, just as we explained that the arrows too are concealed in the quiver, so no one imagines going to search for them.
"And He said to Me: You are My servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified." Hashem said to me "You are My servant," Hashem called me by the name of His servant. That is, when I want to give you some role, by calling you "My servant" you become fit and worthy and proper for that role. Hashem says to me "You are My servant." Now the prophet turns and says "Israel, in whom I will be glorified." The prophet turns to the people of Israel and says to them: know that the fact that Hashem called me "My servant" is only in your merit, it is for you, it is for your sake, "Israel, in whom I will be glorified." How did the Holy One, blessed be He, say to Moshe? "Go, descend, for your people have become corrupt" - the moment your people became corrupt, descend from your greatness; all your greatness I gave you only for their sake. So if that is so, know that the fact that Hashem said to me "You are My servant" is in your merit, it is for your sake, "Israel, in whom I will be glorified." What, in fact, is the mission? The mission is to bring you back in teshuvah. So I am Hashem's servant and the emissary of the Holy One, blessed be He, to awaken the people of Israel. When can I reach the state of "in whom I will be glorified"? When can I say that I have completed my work? When you return in teshuvah. Then I can truly say: a servant of Hashem, I fulfilled Hashem's command, and behold, the people of Israel have returned - "in you I will be glorified." But if, God forbid, you do not return in teshuvah, then I have lost the entire distinction of being called Hashem's servant, then I do not have the "in you I will be glorified."
Well, did he succeed or not? "And I said: I have labored in vain, for emptiness and futility I have spent my strength; yet surely my justice is with Hashem, and my recompense with my God." For this reason the prophet says to them: I said in my heart, I have labored in vain, I see that the people of Israel do not return in teshuvah, so I did not merit to fulfill my mission, so I labored in vain, for emptiness and futility I have spent my strength.
The Malbim says: what is the difference between "in vain" (rik) and "emptiness and futility" (tohu vahevel)? What is the difference between "labor" and "spending strength"? So he begins and explains: "labor" is during the work, in the midst of the work I toil, I grow weary. "I have spent my strength" is when I have finished and I look back to see whether something came of it or not. "I have spent my strength" - during the time I toil, I labor; "I have spent my strength" is already the retrospective view, when I look back after I have already finished everything and I look to see whether something came of it, and then I say, ah, I have spent my strength. Now he will give us a wonderful parable to explain the matter. The Malbim says: imagine that someone hired you to dig and search for a treasure, and he gives you a daily wage, and behold you worked there all day, you exerted yourself, you toiled, and in the end you found nothing. Now let us examine: can I say that this person labored in vain? Can I say that this person spent his strength for emptiness? On the one hand, he labored in vain - did you find a treasure during the labor? No, it was in vain, you did not find a treasure, so you labored, you exerted yourself, now in vain. But when I look at the end of the day and glance back - did I spend my strength for emptiness? No, I have my wage. At the end of the day they promised me a wage, I receive the wage, I work by the day. So on the one hand I labored in vain, but I did not spend my strength for emptiness, for at the end of the day I do receive a wage. But if they made such a condition with you: sir, you are searching for a treasure here; if you find the treasure you get a share, and if you do not find it you get nothing - such a person will not even receive a wage. Such a person at the end of the day can say: I labored in vain, I did not find a treasure during the search, I found nothing, I labored in vain. And what more will you say? Perhaps at the end of the day something still remained for me? For emptiness I spent my strength, it turned out that my strength I spent for emptiness, since even a wage at the end of the day I did not receive for it. Now the prophet says: I thought I labored in vain, behold in the end - I bring them back in teshuvah, they do not return, I speak with them, they are not influenced, I labored in vain. Fine, but perhaps in the end I will receive a wage for the very act? He says: I did not complete my mission, so in the end for emptiness and futility I spent my strength. The Creator of the world will say: sir, for what shall I pay you? You did not achieve the hoped-for goal, you did not produce, you did not bring results, they did not return in teshuvah. So I said.
But the answer is: "Yet surely my justice is with Hashem, and my recompense with my God." And the Malbim says: here the halves of the verse are parallel. I said "I have labored in vain" - "yet surely my justice is with Hashem"; "for emptiness and futility I have spent my strength" - "and my recompense with my God." What does this mean? "Yet surely my justice is with Hashem" - the Holy One, blessed be He, tells me: know that your deeds were not for naught. What I did not complete, the Holy One, blessed be He, completed in the work of the mission. I said "I have labored in vain," all the immense work I invested is empty, it accomplished nothing, but "my justice is with Hashem," Hashem in His power brought it about that the rebukes and prophecies would be of benefit, not now, but for the future, as we will see. So "I have labored in vain" - no, you will soon see that in the future it will have results. What I thought - "I spent my strength for emptiness, I will receive no wage for it" - but the recompense, "my recompense with my God," Hashem will bring it about that I will have from it an immense recompense. Ah, but now I see nothing? But the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring forth from it benefit for the future, as we will soon see in the coming verses.
The Malbim explains that there is a difference between "in vain" (rik) and "emptiness and futility" (tohu vahevel). We explained the difference between "labor" and "I spent my strength," that "labor" is during the act and "I spent my strength" is in retrospect, when I look back to see what came of it. The Malbim says: what is the difference between "in vain" and "emptiness and futility"? What is "in vain" (rik)? "In vain" is a shell without an inside. Whenever I say "in vain," it means there is some wrapping and what is inside is empty; that is always called "in vain," "in vain" is a shell without a core. "Futility" (hevel) is absolute nothingness, mere vapor. Where is it nothing, absolutely nothing? "Futility" here is nothing, it is nought. The Malbim says: when a person labored and did not reach that result, then it turns out that it is essentially a shell without a core. I labored, I exerted myself, I worked, now I come to open it up inside - empty. That is called "I labored in vain," I labored a great labor, but it turned out that all this labor is only a wrapping, it is nothing, I open it, I see nothing, they did not return in teshuvah. So it turns out that there is nothing in it. But as for "I spent my strength" - here I will not even receive a wage. So it turns out that entirely everything I did was utterly nothing. This is what is called "for emptiness and futility I spent my strength," for at the end of the day when I look - do I have a wage? I do not. So if that is so, everything was futility and emptiness. The labor, you can still say - I exerted myself somewhat, I did perform an act, but it is an act without a result; an act without a result is a shell without fruit. But what I say at the end, "for emptiness and futility I spent my strength," regarding the wage - here there is neither shell nor fruit, I have nothing, I was left with nothing. So this means that everything I did was futility, here nothing, nothing at all, there is no substance in it. So I thought at first, but the Holy One, blessed be He, in the end watched over me, and this is "yet surely my justice is with Hashem, and my recompense with my God." The Malbim explains that wherever it says "my God" (Elohai), not "God" (Elohim), "my God" indicates the individual providence, that from the aspect that Hashem is "my God," that Hashem watches over me, that Hashem cares for me. Always where Hashem is joined to the people of Israel - "God of Israel," "Holy One of Israel and his Redeemer" - this indicates the providence, that Hashem watches over the people of Israel. If it says "Hashem," then it is Hashem in general governance, but if it says "my God," my Hashem, and likewise "Holy One of Israel," it always refers to the providence that the people of Israel merit from God.
"And now, says Hashem who formed Me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Yaakov back to Him, and that Israel be gathered to Him - and I am honored in the eyes of Hashem, and my God has been my strength." Now he will describe how the Holy One, blessed be He, brought it about that all my actions were not in vain, that in my actions there was ultimately benefit, and if there was benefit, then in turn there is also recompense for my action. Hashem said to me: He who formed Me from the womb to be His servant. Hashem said that He formed me from the womb to be His servant - for what purpose? "To bring Yaakov back to Him." "To bring back" (leshovev) is a term of teshuvah, to return the people of Israel in teshuvah, through a special mission to which I am sent, to bring them back in teshuvah, "to bring Yaakov back to Him." What is "Yaakov"? At what level are we? A low one, we have already spoken several times, and "Yaakov" is at a low level. What is needed when they are at a low level? "To bring Yaakov back to Him," to return the people of Israel to Him in teshuvah, this is the task that Hashem designated for me. "And that Israel be gathered" - what is this "Israel"? It is spelled with a vav ("lo"), that is how it reads. What is "Israel"? "Israel" are the great ones, "Israel" are those of authority, "Israel" are the people of Israel at the higher spiritual level. "That Israel be gathered" - I will act through rebuke to gather them to serve Hashem as one band. That is, they are not at a low level requiring teshuvah, having sins and transgressions; they are not "Yaakov," they are "Israel." So what is needed? To unite them, to encourage them in the service of Hashem; they need, as it were, a push, but they do not need to be returned in teshuvah from some sins in their hand. And in this work, as I said - "to bring Yaakov back to Him, that Israel be gathered to Him," to gather them to serve Him with one shoulder - in this work I thought that nothing would come of it for me. When I look at the test of results, I saw that my action did not succeed, they did not heed this rebuke. But "I am honored in the eyes of Hashem, and my God has been my strength" - in any case, "I am honored in the eyes of Hashem," I was honored in Hashem's eyes, for Hashem saw the great effort I made, the great exertions I invested, and because the Holy One, blessed be He, saw this, I was honored in His eyes, and therefore He performed an action, as we will soon see, so that in any case I will receive recompense for all that I do, and all my action will not be in vain.
The Malbim says that "to bring Yaakov back to Him" is a term of returning, and returning applies to something that has grown distant, which I bring back. Therefore "Yaakov," as we said, at the low level, they grew distant, they need to be brought back to Him, to be returned to Him and brought back to Him. In contrast, "to gather" - I call from the outside inward. Even though he is near, he is not too far, but I gather you: draw closer to me, "gather yourselves and I will tell you." What? Where were they? At the border of Egypt, they were near Yaakov: draw closer. So too this is "Israel"; "Israel" are at a high level, and when they are at a high level one need only draw them a bit closer, to gather them, to consolidate them, therefore it is called "that Israel be gathered." One need not return them; returning is done to one who is banished, who grew distant, "to return the lame and the banished" - those must be returned, that is "Yaakov." But "Israel" need not be returned, only gathered.
"And He said: It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Yaakov, and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will also give you for a light to the nations, that My salvation may be to the end of the earth." And therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, says to me: do not despair, do not be broken because you did not attain that goal for which I designated you, to return the people of Israel in teshuvah, to gather those who are at the higher level. This work seems to you not to have been completed by you. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I designate for you something far greater, I designate for you a far more immense greatness, a very honored work, so that "it is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Israel." The meaning is: the work you had until now, to return in teshuvah, this is what is called local work, those around you, to return them in teshuvah - the Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: this is a light thing, this is small, this is as nothing and as naught, this work you had until now compared to what I now designate for you. "I will also give you for a light to the nations." Until now you had a private mission, what is called local activity; the Holy One, blessed be He, says: now I give you global, cosmopolitan activity, activity by which you act for the entire world. I now designate you not only to return this generation, not only to speak to the people of your surroundings. Consider how much the prophet could really speak - what did he have, a radio? What means of communication to the public did he have? How much could he really influence? So if he lived, say, in Bnei Brak, then at most he spoke to the people of Bnei Brak; perhaps his words were written down and went out a bit to more distant places, but consider, that is no longer the prophet himself speaking. And if he indeed traveled and made rounds, how much could he cover? Shmuel traveled through all the mountains of Israel, and one who travels through the mountains of Israel and today is in Dan - when will he be in Eilat? It will take more months, correct, until he makes a circuit and reaches them again. That is, the influence of the prophet, however powerful it may be from the aspect that Hashem's word is in his mouth, is still a local influence, a local temporary influence, for that generation, upon the group of people around him; he has no global influence. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: this is small work, this is a light thing, what I have given you is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Yaakov and to restore the preserved of Israel. I designate for you something far greater: "I will also give you for a light to the nations, that My salvation may be to the end of the earth."
The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: your mission now will be global. You are appointed to announce the great tidings, the future consolations about the general salvation that will be at the end of days. By the light of your prophecy many nations will walk. And here the Malbim says: here too the halves of the verse are parallel. "It is too light a thing that you should be My servant to raise up the tribes of Yaakov" - until now it was a light and simple thing for you to be My servant to raise up the tribes of Yaakov, what is called work here in the surroundings. "I will give you to be My salvation to the end of the earth" - not the tribes of Yaakov; your actions will have an effect on the entire world. And "it is too light a thing that you should be My servant to restore the preserved of Israel," as we explained that "the preserved of Israel," "Israel," speaks of the higher level. He says to him: "I will give you for a light to the nations," now you will have prophecies to be a light to the nations. What is the definition of "a light to the nations"? What does he mean by this? The Malbim explains that his work for all Israel was in two ways, in two matters. First, to raise up the tribes of Yaakov - the people of Israel in exile need to be redeemed; this exile is essentially the suffering of the body, it is a matter requiring physical action, to bring them out of the exile of Sancheriv, and the goal, in fact, of all the prophecies, that you come out of exile and return to the Land of Israel, this is the physical matter. But there was also a spiritual, inner matter. For how is it written, that it is easier to take Israel out of Egypt than to take Egypt out of Israel; it is easier to take Israel out of exile than to take exile out of Israel. That is, sometimes the exile takes hold in a person's soul, he becomes a man of exile, not a man who aspires to spirituality, not a man who aspires to greatness; he remains as in exile, with low aspirations, with a lack of will to act. It was necessary also to uplift them, to raise them also from the spiritual aspect; this is "to restore the preserved of Israel," therefore we said "Israel," which shows their level, to return them in teshuvah - this speaks of returning them to the high spiritual level they had. Here we speak of the redemption of the soul, not the redemption of the body. And since these two things I did not succeed - neither to return them from the physical redemption, to raise up the tribes of Yaakov, nor to return them to the redemption of the soul, to uplift their soul, to return them in teshuvah so that they would fear God, which is "to restore the preserved of Israel" - these two things did not come to fruition through me. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I will give you these two functions, that you will succeed in them, when we speak of all Israel in the future, who will be exiled throughout the entire world.
He says to him - and to this, assembly of Israel, pay attention - here it speaks of your success being also among the nations, for when the Holy One, blessed be He, speaks of perfecting the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty, then the aim is not only that the people of Israel return in teshuvah, but that all the peoples call upon Him with a clear language. The situation, in fact, will be that all Israel and all the world will accept His kingship: "let every creature know that You created it, let every formed being understand that You formed it." Not only Israel; "let everything that has breath say: Hashem, God of Israel, is King, and His kingship rules over all." That is, the main goal is that the entire world will recognize His kingship. Certainly, all the redemption depends on Israel; the individuals who have distinction are the people of Israel, the nations' level is inferior or lower, but do not think that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not want them; do not think that the Holy One, blessed be He, is interested in destroying all the nations. No - we are the chosen people, but there is also a goal, as the Rambam says, that part of the task of the King Mashiach will be to return the entire world to His service, the entire world - not speaking of all Israel, but in fact of the entire world. Certainly we will forever remain at our level, Israel forever; even then Israel will have the level of Israel, and all the world the level of the world. Certainly that is a lower or inferior level, but without any doubt the Holy One, blessed be He, desires them too. So the Holy One, blessed be He, says: until now you wanted activity on the micro level; from now you have activity on the macro level, you now perform global activity. And this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, now said to me: behold, the two things that I wanted - to uplift Israel, to bring them out of exile - now I did not succeed in uplifting them spiritually, in returning them in teshuvah I did not succeed. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: I now give you these two missions, that you will succeed in them, and they will be for the future. Corresponding to the spiritual success, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him "I will give you for a light to the nations," that you will merit to be a light to the nations. What is "a light to the nations"? To illuminate for them the way, complete faith in Hashem, blessed be He; all will walk by the light of Hashem. Corresponding to the bodily, physical success, then Hashem's salvation will spread "to the end of the earth." "The end of the earth" here speaks of something earthly, physical.
The Malbim explains that if we contemplate, we see that there were two exiles: there was the exile of the ten tribes, and on the other hand there was also the exile of Yehudah and Binyamin. The ten tribes were exiled eighteen years before Yehudah and Binyamin. Where are the ten tribes? Beyond the mountains of Sambatyon, in Chalach and Chavor, the river of Gozan, the mountains of darkness; their location is unknown to us. And then the prophets began to prophesy that these banished ones would be gathered, "He will return to the stronghold the prisoners of hope," and had they truly merited, they would have reached a state where the ten tribes would have been redeemed and would have come out of those places of darkness in which they are, and would have reached the redemption. When was this? The Malbim says: from the sixth year of Chizkiyahu. Had they then merited to return in complete teshuvah, the complete redemption would have arrived - when? In the fifteenth year of King Chizkiyahu. And this is what Chazal say: the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to make Chizkiyahu the Mashiach, but what happened? He did not sing a song, he did not sing a song, and for this he lost everything, for this he lost everything. They were already worthy of the redemption, but it was not only because of him; we too were not worthy, we too did not return in teshuvah. And whoever remembers, we explained then that what the Holy One, blessed be He, did with the matter of the sun - we explained then according to the Malbim that Chizkiyahu attributed it to himself: Hashem made a sign and wonder for me, for me, to prove that I would recover, as it seemingly appears from the plain meaning of the verses. But then the Malbim explained that Chizkiyahu had a mistake: it was not intended for you, it was intended for all those who are at the end of the world. For you, Hashem could have made a local miracle - the fleece will have dew or not have dew on it - He could have made a local miracle for you, He need not make a miracle that the sun would go back ten degrees, a miracle that the whole world sees. For whose sake was it done? For the sake of those who are there in exile, that they would awaken and understand: the Holy One, blessed be He, performs miracles, the Holy One, blessed be He, still reigns over us, there is something to look forward to, let us return in teshuvah - and they would have been redeemed. But they did not do it. Hashem made such a miracle for them, the whole world saw it, and even so, in the places of their settlement they heard of it, from the end of the world kings came to meet with Chizkiyahu, the king of Sancheriv, the king of Ashur, came to see what is happening here, sent a delegation. But the people of Israel, to our sorrow, did not awaken. So they lost the momentum. You had an opportunity - from the sixth year the prophecies begin, until the fifteenth year, prophecies about the redemption that was to be now - and they did not awaken properly. And then in the end they merited neither the physical redemption - Hashem would now have gathered their banished ones here - nor the spiritual redemption; had they returned in teshuvah they would have merited to return to Hashem, to be uplifted back to their spiritual level. So, as we explained, the aim was in fact to return the ten tribes, to return the banished ones, but then they did not merit. And not only did they not merit, but Yehudah and Binyamin, who were here, joined them. That is, there was an aim that the ten tribes would return here, and from here Yehudah and Binyamin, King Chizkiyahu; but not only did they not merit and did not come here, but the king and all the people, Yehudah and Binyamin, they too were exiled, exiled to Bavel. So seemingly "for emptiness I spent my strength," as we said. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: know that all these prophecies will be fulfilled at the end of days. That is, if I write a letter, and this letter is meant to return people in teshuvah, and people did not return in teshuvah, then seemingly what does one do with all the blank pages? At most one puts them in genizah, correct, if not in the trash - if there are no words of Torah on them one puts them in the trash. But if they tell him: no, no, sir, do not throw this out, it does not work now, in your time, it works in the future, it works in the future - ah, if that is so, it is fine, if that is so, it is fine. Once I gave a shiur, and there were, at its beginning, three or four people. They said to me: what is the point of giving a shiur to three or four people? I told them: there are here three or four people, and one more hidden listener. They asked me: who is that? I told them: behold, you see, this is a recording device, this is a hidden listener. And I told them: it seems to us like only one listener, but for the future, with Hashem's help, it will disseminate to many listeners. And so it truly was, that those very shiurim, which indeed began with a small audience, but these shiurim were recorded, and afterward were put on discs, and afterward were disseminated in thousands of copies, so that in fact it turns out that an act about which you say - well, what came of it, there were two or three people here, what benefit was there - it tells you: no, no, do not erase it, keep it, keep all of it, for it works in the future. So today, thank God, we merit this, but in the time of Yeshayahu it seemed to him that the act was temporary. The Holy One, blessed be He, says to him: no, everything is recorded, these acts are a prophecy for the future, do not throw out these blank pages, do not throw out these letters, these are letters that will yet accomplish an act and will merit to return the people in teshuvah, prophecies of the end of days. This is a prophecy about the general salvation, not about the private salvation of this generation. And this is what he says: in place of my wanting only to return the ten tribes - where? Chalach, Chavor, the river of Gozan, these are relatively close places to the Land of Israel, they are not the end of the earth, they are not the end of the earth, they are relatively close places to the Land of Israel, so it was a light thing, it was an easy thing to bring them back from there. But now that the people of Israel will be scattered throughout all the ends of the world, then the salvation will be "to the end of the earth," the salvation will be far greater, far more immense.
The river of Gozan. My salvation will be to the end of the earth. Not only them will I return; I will return all the people of Israel to the end of the earth, and also, as I said, the nations. And also what I wanted, to return them in teshuvah, "and the preserved of Israel," and which did not come to fruition through me - you will have success in uplifting the entire world spiritually. All will return in teshuvah to Hashem. And from what? From the prophecies that they will see in the books that you wrote, Yeshayahu. And if the prophecy, as we said, had been in the time of Yeshayahu - even if there had been prophecy, even if there had been redemption, it would have been a private, temporary redemption. But at the time that here I speak with you, says the Master of the world, about a future, eternal redemption - so, then, did your words go out in vain? Come see that with what you did, I designate for you a wondrous future.
So from now he will begin to tell us the prophecies regarding the future. From now he will begin to tell us what the Holy One, blessed be He, is preparing with all the things He did, with all the prophecies He spoke, how all this will have an effect for the future. But before that, let us pay attention: there is here an expression on which we will want to dwell: "to raise up the tribes of Yaakov, and to restore the preserved of Israel." The Malbim says: what is the difference between "the tribes of Yaakov" and "the preserved of Israel"? See what a wonderful explanation. The Malbim says: what is a "shevet" (tribe/rod)? A stick. Now, is the stick connected? No. It is detached, the stick is detached, correct. What is a "netzer" (shoot)? Something that comes out of the tree. "And a shoot shall grow forth from his roots," correct? A shoot is something planted in the ground, but it is still, what is called, tender, weak, yet connected in the ground. "The preserved (netzurei) of Israel" - the meaning is the shoot of Israel. And this is what he says here, the Malbim says, he refers in fact to the two groups of which we spoke.
The ten tribes were entirely torn from the root. They are the tribe (shevet) of Yaakov. What did we say, what is "Yaakov"? A low level. And what are they? A rod, that is detached, it is a stick that has already been detached, that is the tribe of Yaakov. In contrast, Yehudah and Binyamin are still connected in their root. For all of us, what are we? Yehudah and Binyamin, Yehudah and Binyamin. So it turns out that we are still connected to spirituality. What about those ten tribes? May Hashem have mercy on them. Perhaps some are in al-Qaeda. According to the calculations that people make, in Afghanistan and other places, there are signs that there too are found such who are roots of the people of Israel, but what are they? A rod, it is detached, it is a detached stick. But in contrast, we, even though a little distant, but still, what? We are still in the aspect of a shoot. Therefore them He calls "the preserved of Israel." We are still a shoot, a shoot that is still connected, and if they water it a little, it will grow, it will blossom, it will return to being a great, flourishing tree. We cleave to the root like a shoot that draws sustenance; this is called "the shoot of Israel."
So one who is raised up, the Malbim says, first fell, and one who returns, he did not fall, he only strayed from his way. Therefore pay attention: the tribes of Yaakov, they fell, they need to be raised up. "The tribes of Yaakov" is a rod, it is a stick, it was cut off, it is detached, those must be raised up. In contrast, "the preserved of Israel," they did not fall, they only strayed a little from the way, those must be returned in teshuvah, to bring them back and draw them near to His service, blessed be He.