He said to Abram, 'Know with certainty that your children will be strangers in a land which is not theirs — they will serve them, and they will afflict

them — four hundred years.'

(Bereishis 15:13)

The 'Covenant Between the Pieces' between God and Avram demonstrated the power of offerings, brought with proper intent, to keep the Jewish people on the level at which they would deserve to retain control over Eretz Yisrael.

The climax of this covenant was God's announcement to Avram that, nonetheless, before his descendants would be able to enter the Land, they would first have to go through a purifying process of exile to bring them up to the necessary level. This would have three distinct stages, each one more difficult than the one before:

First, 'Your children will be strangers in a land which is not theirs,' without specific suffering, but subject to the whims of the local rulers. This stage would begin with Yitzchak Avinu himsel, who had strife with the Philistine king and his people, something that never happened to Avraham. The experience of being strangers would take away something of their sense of freedom, prompting them to turn their minds toward awareness of God, since they would perceive the limits of their own power.

Next, 'They will serve them.' After the deaths of the sons of Yaakov, the Jews in Egypt began to work for Pharaoh, first willingly as part of a general work tax imposed by the government, and afterward through coercion. Slavery would weaken their tendency to pursue material possessions as an end, and make them more spiritual in that aspect of their themselves.

The last stage would be, 'They

willaffict them,' this time phrased in terms of what the Egyptians would do to them, since it would be imposed on them involun-tarly. This suffering would help them to conquer the desire for physical pleasures, reaching the level of true sacrifice for God.

SEE MALBIM