In the Torah section of Lekh Lekha, G-d appears to Abraham and reveals to him what He has in store for Abraham and his offspring. “And He said to Abram, ‘Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own, and they will serve them, and they will oppress them four hundred years. But also the nation that they will serve, I shall judge, and afterwards they will leave with great wealth’” (Bereshit 15:13-14). G-d foretells to Abraham of his offspring’s eventual long sojourn amongst the Egyptians who will persecute them but in the end will we saved at the hands of G-d in a glorious manner.
In commenting on the last aforementioned verse, the great medieval Torah giant R. Saadia Gaon (882 – 942) offers an intriguing thought: As a result of just a mere few words of “I shall judge”, the offspring of Abraham, the people of Israel, merited such tremendous miracles during their exodus and redemption from Egypt. How much more can be expected in the future redemption of the Jewish nation at the Messiah’s arrival, of which many many more words and sentences have been written in our Scriptures!
Imagine what the future has to offer! May we only merit seeing this future speedily in our time.
