Kabbalah Library

346) “Behold, a day of the Lord is coming,” “And there shall be one day which shall be known as the Lord’s.” But are the rest of the days not the Lord’s? This teaches that the rest of the days were given to the ministers, and that “day” is not the ministers’, but the Creator’s, to execute judgment on idolaters, since on that day, all the ministers will fall from their degree. This is why it is written, “And the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day,” since on that day there will be no rank to the ministers.

347) When the Creator passes judgment on the ministers above, it is written, “For My sword has drunk its fill in heaven.” But does the Creator have a sword? He has a sword, as it is written, “The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,” and it is written, “By His sword with all flesh.”

348) That sword is the judgment that He executes, as it is written, “And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord standing between the earth and the heaven, with his sword drawn in his hand.” But was there a drawn sword in the hand of the angel? He was given authority to execute judgment, and that authority is called a “sword.”

349) The angel of death said, “If I did not spare the dignity of people, I would reveal to them the slaughterhouse like a beast.” This means that there is a real sword in the hands of the angel of death, but wherever it writes, “sword,” in the upper ones, it means that he was given authority to complete the judgment, not a real sword. And disclosure of the slaughterhouse is that he would reveal the cause of death, the iniquity, which is like a slaughterhouse, the reason for the death of the beast, as it is written, “Having a drawn sword in his hand,” meaning the authority given to him to execute judgment. Why does it say, “And he put his sword back into its sheath”? It means that the judgment was given back to the litigant, and the authority to execute the judgment was returned to the one that the authority is His, to the Creator.