In this parashah, the forty-two stops the Yidden made in the desert are recorded, as it states (33:2) פי על למסעיהם מוצאיהם את משה ויכתב 'ה, "Moshe wrote..." מסעיהם, where they traveled to, מוצאיהם, and from where they traveled.
מוצאיהם means the departure location, from where they traveled. But מוצאיהם can also be translated as "what happened to them" (see Yehoshua 2:23). Accordingly, we can explain the pasuk as follows: People think that what happened to them (מוצאיהם) is due to their travels (מסעיהם). If they travel somewhere and succeed, they attribute their success to traveling there. The Torah corrects them. 'ה פי על ...מוצאיהם, what happened to them was due to Hashem's decree. It wasn't because of their travels.
To explain, we give the following example. One of the forty-two travels and stopovers the Yidden made in the desert was in Marah (see 33:8). Marah means bitter. It was called Marah because of the bitter, undrinkable water that was there (see Shemos 15:23). They thought they didn't have potable water because they came to Marah. But the truth is, they didn't have drinkable water because it was bashert for them not to have it. It wasn't the place that caused them the difficulty, rather, it was the decree, planned from Above. It was because of that decree that they arrived at Marah. Their next stop brought them to Eilam. The Torah says in this week's parashah (33:9) עינת עשרה שתים ובאילם שם ויחנו תמרים ושבעים מים, "In Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there." Here, they had plenty of water. Hashem could have brought them initially to Eilam, but it was all planned from above that they must first suffer the test of thirst.
We can now explain the pasuk, ֶׁהמֹש וַיִּכְת ֹּב לְמוֹצָא ֵיהֶם מַסְע ֵיהֶם וְא ֵלֶּה 'ה פִּי עַל לְמַסְע ֵיהֶם מוֹצָא ֵיהֶם אֶת. Take note to how the words לְמַסְע ֵיהֶם מוֹצָא ֵיהֶם changes their order in this pasuk. It can be explained as follows: People think מוֹצָא ֵיהֶם לְמַסְע ֵיהֶם, that what happens to them is because of where their travels take them to. Actually, לְמוֹצָא ֵיהֶם מַסְע ֵיהֶם וְא ֵלֶּה, it was destined for them to travel there, because this had to happen to them.
When Reb Eliyahu Meir Bloch zt'l was living in Telz, Lithuania, he would go to the stores on erev Shabbos to encourage the storeowners to close before Shabbos. Once, he smacked a non-religious Yid for keeping his store open on Shabbos. That person was eventually promoted and served in the government. Reb Bloch feared that now that he was a high-ranking official, he would take revenge on him, so Reb Eliyahu Meir fled from Telz to Cleveland, Ohio, and re-established the Telz Yeshiva. At the Chanukas Habayis, Reb Eliyahu Meir said, "I thought I was fleeing from the government official, but I discovered that Hashem sent me here to save me from the Holocaust, and so I can establish a yeshiva in America." He traveled to America for his own reasons, but Hashem had His plan.
Reb Eliyahu Meir added the following Dvar Torah: The Navi says that Yonason (the son of Shaul HaMelech) arranged a code with Dovid HaMelech so he would know if Shaul was planning to kill him. Yonoson said he would shoot an arrow and send his aide to fetch it. If Yonoson tells his aide that the arrow is ממך והלאה, "further away from you," that will be Dovid's sign that he should run away because Shaul wants to kill him. And if Yonason says, "Come towards me, the arrow isn't so far," this would be Dovid's sign that he can return home.
Let's focus on Yonason's words. He said (I Shmuel 20:22), והלאה ממך החצים הנה לעלם אמר כה ואם 'ה שלחך כי לך, "If I tell the lad, 'The arrows are further away,' go because Hashem is sending you." Yonason didn't say, "Go because my father wants to kill you." Instead, "Go because Hashem is sending you."
Similarly, Reb Eliyahu Bloch explained that Hashem wanted him to flee from Telz so he and his family would survive, and so he could open a Telz yeshiva in America. He thought he was fleeing from the government official, but that was just the tool Hashem used to get him to travel. Ultimately, he traveled because this was Hashem's will.
