Malbim on the Last Verses of Haftarat Shofetim

Verse 7

מַה-נָּאווּ עַל-הֶהָרִים רַגְלֵי מְבַשֵּׂר, מַשְׁמִיעַ שָׁלוֹם מְבַשֵּׂר טוֹב--מַשְׁמִיעַ יְשׁוּעָה; אֹמֵר לְצִיּוֹן, מָלַךְ אֱלֹהָיִךְ.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of good tidings, that announceth peace, the harbinger of good tidings, that announceth salvation; that saith unto Zion: 'Thy God reigneth!'

Malbim: this verse illustrates how [at the time of the coming of Mashiah,] the messenger of good tidings will ascend to the top of the mountains, as it's written, "O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem".  First, he "announceth peace" from the enemy.  Then, he is a "harbinger of good tidings", which is the building of the Beit Hamikdash and the sprouting of the horn of David (that he will explain in verse 8).  And then, he will "announceth salvation", which is the ingathering of the exiles (that he will explain in verse 9).  And then, he will "saith unto Zion: 'Thy God reigneth!'", which is the revelation of the Kingdom of heaven upon the entire earth and over all nations (that he will explain in verse 10).

Verse 8

קוֹל צֹפַיִךְ נָשְׂאוּ קוֹל, יַחְדָּו יְרַנֵּנוּ: כִּי עַיִן בְּעַיִן יִרְאוּ, בְּשׁוּב יְהוָה צִיּוֹן.

Hark, thy watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they shall see, eye to eye, the LORD returning to Zion.

Malbim: The watchmen are opposite the messenger of good tidings. It illustrates how the the messenger of good tidings stands upon the mountain and the watchman stands opposite him on the other side. And at the same moment that the messenger of good tidings delivers his message, the watchman will lift up his eyes and see the actualization of the message with his own eye. He will then lift up his voice toward the messenger of good tidings when he sees the matter with his eyes, and then, both the watchman and the messenger of good tidings will "together do they sing" (meaning the prophets who deliver the good tidings and the Jews who watch).

"for they shall see, eye to eye" - meaning that until now, the prophets foresaw the return to Zion through the lens of a vision, which is the inner eye that sees prophecy, but not through the physical eye and outer sense. However, now [at the time of the Redemption], they will see it eye to eye - the eye of prophecy will see with the physical eye that senses - the return of Hashem to Zion. (And I already wrote that "Zion" illustrates kingdom, priesthood, and the Beit Hamikdash - and this is what they will see with their eye. This corresponds to "the harbinger of good tidings").

Verse 9

פִּצְחוּ רַנְּנוּ יַחְדָּו, חָרְבוֹת יְרוּשָׁלִָם:  כִּי-נִחַם יְהוָה עַמּוֹ, גָּאַל יְרוּשָׁלִָם.

Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the LORD hath comforted His people, He hath redeemed Jerusalem.

Malbim: "Break forth" - when the watchmen will carry a sound of joy together with the messengers of good tidings, also the ruins of Yerushalayim will break forth their voices and will "sing together" with the earlier singers, who are the watchmen and the messengers of good tidings (and I already wrote that Yerushalayim notes the return of the masses and the ingathering of the exiles - "for the LORD hath comforted His people" which is the ingathering of the exiles, and through this, "He hath redeemed Jerusalem" - that it will be inhabited by its children. And this corresponds to "that announceth salvation").

Verse 10

חָשַׂף יְהוָה אֶת-זְרוֹעַ קָדְשׁוֹ, לְעֵינֵי כָּל-הַגּוֹיִם; וְרָאוּ, כָּל-אַפְסֵי-אָרֶץ, אֵת, יְשׁוּעַת אֱלֹהֵינוּ.

The LORD hath made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.

Malbim: "hath mad bare" (This corresponds to "that saith unto Zion: 'Thy God reigneth!'".)  "The LORD hath made bare His holy arm" which are the great miracles which the merit and righteousness of man cannot at all fathom.  And these miracles will be seen openly by all the nations until through them, "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God".  And through this, the Kingdom of Heaven will be revealed in the entire world, when they will see that the salvation is not happenstance or natural - it is purely the salvation of our G-d.

Verse 11

סוּרוּ סוּרוּ צְאוּ מִשָּׁם, טָמֵא אַל-תִּגָּעוּ; צְאוּ מִתּוֹכָהּ--הִבָּרוּ, נֹשְׂאֵי כְּלֵי יְהוָה.

Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, ye that bear the vessels of the LORD.

Malbim: "Depart ye, depart ye" - it illustrates how He will command them then that they should exit a land which serves the sun and the hosts of the heavens for 2 reasons:

1) because the earth of those lands itself is unclean, and for this he said, "go ye out from thence" because "touch no unclean thing" - so you don't touch an unclean thing. And this is because of purity of the body.

2) because of purity of the ideas and thoughts because it's impossible to cleanse their thoughts toward holiness while they're still among idol-worshippers, and for this he said, "go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean" your heart and thoughts as you are "ye that bear the vessels of the LORD".

Verse 12

 כִּי לֹא בְחִפָּזוֹן תֵּצֵאוּ, וּבִמְנוּסָה לֹא תֵלֵכוּן:  כִּי-הֹלֵךְ לִפְנֵיכֶם יְהוָה, וּמְאַסִּפְכֶם אֱלֹהֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

For ye shall not go out in haste, neither shall ye go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rearward.

Malbim: "For not in haste" One who is hasty is hasty toward something. One who flees flees from something. Behold, during the Exodus from Egypt, the exodus itself was done in haste as it is written "for in haste didst thou come forth out of the land of Egypt" because they were hasty toward the great benefits from the revelation of the Shechina in the Pillar of Fire and of Cloud and the rest of the salvations that they didn't attain until they reached the Mountain of Hashem in Horev. [On the other hand, when they actually left,] their going on the road afterwards was in flight because afterwards, the Egyptians pursued them.

However, in the future, it will not be so. And it explains, "For ye shall not go out in haste" "for the LORD will go before you" so toward whom will you be in haste? You won't need to go after Him until the Mountain of Hashem as Hashem will go before you! And also, "you shall not go" on the road "by flight" because of an enemy that is behind you because "the God of Israel will be your rearward" - He will go behind you like a gatherer who goes behind all the camps [like the Torah describes Shevet Dan], so from whom are you fleeing?