Netzach Yisrael, Introduction

Behold, days are coming when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but rather, ‘As the Lord lives, who brought up and who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries where I had driven them’" (cf. Jeremiah 23:7-8). In the first chapter of Berakhot (12b), Ben Zoma said to the Sages: Will the Exodus from Egypt even be mentioned in the days of the Messiah? Does it not state, "Behold, days are coming, etc."? They replied to him: It is not that the Exodus from Egypt will be uprooted, but rather that the subjugation of the kingdoms will be primary and the Exodus from Egypt secondary to it. It is comparable to that which is stated (Genesis 35:10), "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name"—it is not that the name "Jacob" is uprooted from its place, but that the name "Israel" becomes primary and "Jacob" becomes secondary. And so it also says (Isaiah 43:18), "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old." "Remember not the former things" refers to the subjugation of the kingdoms; "nor consider the things of old" refers to the Exodus from Egypt. "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth" (ibid., 19)—Rav Yosef taught: this refers to the war of Gog and Magog. To what can this matter be compared? To a man who was walking on a road and was met by a wolf, and was saved from it, whereupon he went along recounting the story of the wolf. He was then met by a lion, and was saved from it, whereupon he went along recounting the story of the lion. He was then met by a snake, and was saved from it, whereupon he forgot the stories of the other two and went along recounting the story of the snake. So too it is with Israel: the later troubles cause the earlier ones to be forgotten. End of quote.