Another interpretation: “This month shall be for you” (Exodus 12:2) – that is what is written: “Behold, the former have come to pass and the new I declare” (Isaiah 42:9). Is there anything new in the future? Is it not written: “What was, that is what will be” (Ecclesiastes 1:9)? Rather, we find that there are ten things that the Holy One blessed be He is destined to introduce in the future.
The first is that He is destined to illuminate the world, as it is stated: “The sun will no longer be for you for light by day [and the glow of the moon will not illuminate for you; the Lord will be your eternal light and your God will be your glory]” (Isaiah 60:19). Is it possible for a person to gaze at the Holy One blessed be He? Rather, what does the Holy One blessed be He do to the sun? He has it illuminate forty-nine portions of light, as it is stated: “The light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold” (Isaiah 30:26).50The midrash assumes that there is a fixed ratio of 1:7 between the light of the moon and the light of the sun.
Therefore, if the light of the moon increases sevenfold and has seven portions of light and the light of the sun is seven times greater than that, the sun has 49 portions of light. Even [for] an ill person, the Holy One blessed be He will command the sun and it will heal, as it is stated: “But for you who fear My name, a sun of righteousness, and healing with its rays will shine” (Malachi 3:20). The second: He will bring spring water out of Jerusalem and heal everyone who has an illness, as it is stated: “Every living creature that swarms, any over whom the rivers will come, will live…” (Ezekiel 47:9).
The third: He will make trees produce their fruit every month, and a person will eat from them and will be healed, as it is stated: “Along the river on its bank, on this side and on that side…it will produce new fruit every month, because its waters emerge from the Temple, [and its fruit will be for food, and its leaf for healing]” (Ezekiel 47:12). The fourth: That they will rebuild all the ruined cities, and there will be never again be places in ruins.
Even Sodom and Gomorrah will be rebuilt in the future, as it is stated: “Your sisters Sodom and its daughters will return to their former state” (Ezekiel 16:55). The fifth: That He will build Jerusalem with sapphire stones, as it is stated: “I will set your stones in fair colors” (Isaiah 54:11), and it is written: “I will make your windows of rubies” (Isaiah 54:12). Those stones will shine like the sun, and the idolaters will come and see the glory of Israel, as it is stated: “Nations will walk by your light” (Isaiah 60:3).
The sixth: “Cow and bear will graze, [together will their young lie]” (Isaiah 11:7). The seventh: That He will bring all the beasts, all the birds, and all the creeping creatures and make a covenant with them and with all of Israel, as it is stated: “On that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens, [and with the creeping creatures of the ground]” (Hosea 2:20).
The eighth: That there will no longer be crying and wailing in the world, as it is stated: “The sound of weeping and the sound of crying will no longer be heard in it” (Isaiah 65:19). The ninth: There is no more death in the world, as it is stated: “He will eliminate death forever; and the Lord God will wipe tears from upon all faces; and the disgrace of His people He will remove” (Isaiah 25:8). The tenth: That there will be no sighing, no groaning, and no despair, but rather, everyone will rejoice, as it is stated: “The redeemed of the Lord will return, and will come to Zion with song [and everlasting joy]” (Isaiah 35:10).