When Things Get Worse Before They Get Better: A Hidden Sign of Redemption

In Parshat Shemot, God commands Moses to confront Pharaoh with a bold message: “Let My people go!” (Exodus 5:1). Moses follows through — he delivers the message, performs signs and wonders, and demonstrates God’s power. However, instead of softening, Pharaoh’s heart hardens. He intensifies the suffering of the Israelites. Until now, the people received bricks to work with; now they must gather the straw and make the bricks themselves. Taskmasters tighten their grip, the labor becomes brutal, and the people cry out in pain. They turn to Moses and Aaron with frustration and blame.

Moses, heartbroken by the deepening suffering of his people, turns to God and pleads: “Why have You brought this trouble on Your people? Why did You send me? Ever since I came to speak to Pharaoh, he has only made things worse — and You haven’t saved them!” (Exodus 5:22)

God responds: “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. Because of My mighty hand, he will let them go; because of My strong hand, he will drive them out of his land.”

At first glance, God’s answer doesn’t directly address Moses’ painful question. But as the Kli Yakar, a classic Torah commentator, explains, God was teaching Moses a deep truth about how redemption works.

Moses assumed that worsening conditions meant the redemption was moving further away. But God tells him: No, Moses, you’re mistaken. When the suffering increases, it’s not a sign of despair, but a sign that the breakthrough is near.

This is how the world works. Just before the dawn, the darkness is deepest. Just before healing, the illness often intensifies. In winter, right before sunrise, the cold reaches its peak, and then comes the warmth.

The Kli Yakar explains that everything in nature, when it senses its end is near, resists with all its remaining strength. Darkness fights hardest right before the light breaks through. The life force resists just before death. Cold strengthens just before the sun rises. And Pharaoh's grip tightens in desperation just before he is forced to let go.

The moment Pharaoh's oppression worsens is actually the clearest sign that the end of slavery is near. The power of exile is using its last breath to hold on, because the redemption is already approaching.

This isn’t only about ancient Egypt. It’s a truth that applies to every challenge, every personal exile, and every struggle in life. When it feels like things are getting worse, the burden feels heaviest and the darkness feels most intense, it may be a sign that the breakthrough is just around the corner.

If life feels especially hard right now, maybe it’s not a setback.
Perhaps it’s the beginning of the end of the pain. Perhaps the light is about to break through.