We continue in Perek Shira and we are up to the song of the midbar/desert.
מִדְבַּר אוֹמֵר The desert says,
יְשֻׂשׂוּם מִדְבָּר וְצִיָּה וְתָגֵל עֲרָבָה וְתִפְרַח כַּחֲבַצָּלֶת: (ישעיהו לה א)
The desert and the dried land will be happy in the future and the valleys will rejoice and will blossom like roses.
The Mabit says that the desert is a place that's desolate; It's like a barren woman that did not give birth. There's no grass, there's no growth. And really there's no place for Shira, because what does the desert produce? But because of the promise that in future the deserts will be full of water and they will develop, that’s why the deserts sings the song- based on the future.
It's interesting that the Midrash Raba in Bamidbar 23,4 talks about the Masei, the travels of the Jewish people in the desert, and how all these different places are listed. Why are we listing them?
Says the Midrash, because the desert took care of the Jewish people during these years, it is going to turn into an oasis. Therefore the desert is going to be paid back. And that's the future guarantee of the desert. Although right now it looks as if it’s something empty. But based on what it did, it could rejoice on what's going happen in the future.
The Midrash continues: If this is what happens to a desert that took in the Jewish people, someone that takes a Torah scholar into his house, even if right now he look like a desert, in the end he will rejoice. Midrash Raba in Shir Hashirim 2,2 tells us that the desert says, I am the most dear because all the wonders are hidden inside of me.
As a pasuk in Yeshaya 41 says, God will put cedars in the desert. That means right now, they are hidden in the desert, and in the end, they will come out. And when that happens, the desert will sing a song. And it quotes our pasuk.
He says, Do you know what else is hidden inside the ground of the desert? All of the people that were buried are inside of me, and they too will come to life. I'll bring them back, and I will turn them into fresh living people and the earth will sing a song for that event as well.
So, the song of the Desert is really the song of the future. It's the ability to sing now, even though nothing has happened yet. 'cause we're counting on what will happen in the future. That's the song of the desert. And we all have that future hope, that future promise. We have greatness hidden inside of us. And although the desert looks like there's nothing going on, there are secrets hidden inside of the desert.
We who live in the modern age know that in the desert there's much oil, there is much energy, there are many things hidden inside the desert. This is the song of the people that don't yet see their value or their worth, but there something special will be coming out of them. And that's the shira they sing today, for the wonders of the future.