Midrash sobre Isaías 41:19

Rabbi Berekhya said: This verse, the wilderness said it.⁴Solomon wrote it from the perspective of the wilderness (Etz Yosef). The wilderness said: ‘I am the wilderness, yet I am beloved, as all the good in the world is shrouded in me, as it is stated: “I will place in the wilderness cedar, acacia…” (Isaiah 41:19). The Holy One blessed be He gave them to me so they would be protected in me. When the Holy One blessed be He asks me for them, I will return His deposit to Him with nothing lacking. I generate good deeds and sing songs before Him,’ as it is stated: “The wilderness and wasteland will be glad” (Isaiah 35:1).
In the name of the Rabbis they said: The earth said it. It said: ‘I am as I am, yet I am beloved, as all the dead of the world are shrouded in me, as it is stated: “Your dead will live, my corpses shall arise” (Isaiah 26:19). When the Holy One blessed be He asks me for them, I will return them to Him. I will generate good deeds like a lily and recite song before Him,’ as it is stated: “From the edge of the earth we heard songs” (Isaiah 24:16).

(Fol. 23) R. Jochanan said: "Every acacia tree which the nations have taken from Jerusalem, the Lord will cause to be restored to her; as it is said (Is. 41, 19) I will place in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia and the myrtle, and the oil tree, etc. Wilderness refers to Jerusalem; as it is said (Ib. 64, 9) Zion is become a wilderness, Jerusalem, a desolate place." Another thing said R. Jochanan: "Whoever studies the Torah but does not teach it to others is likened unto a myrtle in the desert, from which no one enjoys any benefit." Others contend that R. Jochanan said: "Whoever studies the Torah, and teaches it in a place where there is no other scholar, is likened unto a myrtle in the desert, which is very precious." Another thing said R. Jochanan: "Woe to the Romans, for whom there will be no remedy; as it is said (Ib. 60, 17) Instead of the copper will I bring gold, and instead of the iron will I bring silver, and instead of wood, iron. But what can they bring for R. Akiba and his associates, who were executed by the Romans? Concerning them it is said (Joel 4, 21) I will avenge, [but for] their blood I shall not avenge, fur the Lord dwelleth in Zion."

(Numb. 33:1:) “These are the stages of the Children of Israel.” [The matter] is comparable to a king whose son was ill.⁴Numb. R. 23:3. He brought him to a certain place to heal him. When they returned, his father began recounting the stages, “Here we slept. Here we cooled off. Here you had a headache.” Similarly the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, “Recount to them all the places where they provoked Me.” It is therefore stated (in Numb. 33:1), “These are the stages....” Another interpretation: Why did all these stages (places) merit to be written in the Torah? Since they received (accommodated) Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, will give them their reward in the future. It is so stated (in Is. 35:1-2), “The arid desert shall be glad.... It shall blossom abundantly, it shall also exult....” And if the desert [will receive] such for receiving Israel; one who receives a Torah scholar into his home, all the more so [will he be rewarded]. You find that in the future the desert will be a settlement and a settlement will be a desert. [That] a desert will be a settlement, as it states (Is. 41:8), “I will make a desert into a lake of water.” And where is it shown a settlement will be a desert in the future? It is so stated (Mal. 1:3), “And I have hated Esau....” Now there are no trees in the desert, but there will be trees there in the future, as stated (Is. 41:19), “I will put cedar and acacia in the desert....” Now there is no path there, as it is all sand and the caravan can only travel it at night with the light of the constellation.⁵To determine the direction of the journey, since there is no marked path. But there will be a path there in the future, as stated (Is. 43:19), “I will place a path in the desert.” And it is written (Is 35:8), “And there will be a highway there, and it shall be called the Sacred Way....”