915. I and Not a Messenger
As the ARI wrote, prior to the redemption, Israel were in forty-nine gates of Tuma’a [impurity] until He was revealed to them and redeemed them. That is, they were rewarded with “I and not a messenger.”
Baal HaSulam said that before the redemption they thought that there are messengers, so redemption means that they were rewarded with “I and not a messenger,” that there is none else besides Him. It follows that before the redemption they also believed that the Creator was helping, but there are messengers, while redemption means that they were rewarded with “I and not a messenger.”