Kabbalah Library
Zohar for All, Volume 3
What He Did Was Bad in the Eyes of the Lord
181) “And what he did was bad in the sight of the Lord, and He put him to death also.” One should be so very careful with one’s sins and be wary of his actions before the Creator, for there are several emissaries and appointees in the world, who roam and wander and see the deeds of humans and testify to them.
182) Of all the sins that defile a person in this world, this is the sin that defiles one the most (in this world and in the next): who wastes one’s seed by hand or by foot, and is defiled in it, as it is written, “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil dwells with You.”
183) For this reason, he does not enter the presence of the Creator and does not see the face of Atik Yomin [the Most Ancient], for he did not see the face of the Creator. This is why it is written about one who wastes one’s seed, “Your hands are full of blood,” for he is as one who sheds blood. Happy is the lot of one who fears God. He is kept from the evil way and purifies himself to engage in fearing his Master.
184) “In the morning sow thy seed.” The morning is the time when one is strong, in youth. This is when one should strive to bear sons with a wife that is suitable for him.
185) This is the time to bear sons because then he can teach them the ways of the Creator and will have a good reward in the next world, as it is written, “Happy is the man who fills his quiver with them; he will not be put to shame when he confronts the enemies at the gate.” “He will not be put to shame” in the world of truth, when litigators come to prosecute him, for there is no such good reward in that world as the reward of one who teaches his son the fear of God in the ways of Torah.
186) Concerning Abraham, he said, “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice.” Hence, that merit worked in his favor in that world, against all the litigants.
187) This is why it is written, “In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening put not thy hand.” Even in your elder years, called “evening,” when a man is old, he should not leave his hand, that is, rest from begetting in this world because you do not know which will qualify before the Lord and protect you in the world of truth—this or that.
188) Hence, it is written, “Behold, children are a heritage of the Lord.” It is the soul’s bundle of life, as it is written, “Yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life,” the phase of the next world.
This is what the text calls, “heritage” [can also mean land in Hebrew]. And who awards man with coming to this land? Sons. The sons award him with the land of the Lord; hence, happy is the man who has been rewarded with sons, to teach them the ways of Torah.
