Kabbalah Library
Zohar for All, Volume 8
Moses Is the Dominion of the Sun; Joshua Is the Dominion of the Moon
5. The Creator said to Moses, “Behold, My angel shall go before you.” Moses said, “And what is that?” It is that the governance of the sun, the governance of ZA, shall end, and the moon shall govern. “I do not want the body of the moon,” meaning the governance of Malchut, who is called “an angel.” He said to ZA, “Your face does not go, do not lead us up from here, it is the body of the sun that I want, ZA, and not the moon, Malchut.” Then the body of the sun illuminated and Moses became like the body of the sun before Israel. When Moses passed away, the sun ended, the moon illuminated, and Joshua was using by the light of the moon. Woe to that shame.
6. “And he said, “I am a hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no longer go out and come in.” For forty years the sun illuminated for Israel. It ended at the end of the forty years, and the moon illuminated. This is why Moses said, “I can no longer go out and come in,” for it was time for the dominion of the moon, Joshua. It is written, “There is he who perishes without a trial.” The world needs everything for man’s benefit, so he will depart before his time arrives, meaning so he will perish without a trial.
7. All the spirits that come from above come out male and female, and part upon their arrival in this world to dress in bodies. Sometimes, a soul of a female comes out to the world before the soul of the male, her mate, comes out. Each time the time of the male to bond with his female has not arrived, and another, who is not her mate, comes and marries her, when the time of her mate to bond arrives—when Tzedek [justice] awakens in the world, meaning Midat ha Din [the quality of judgment], to count the iniquities of the world—it takes that man who married her, meaning takes his soul, he passes away from the world, and her mate marries her. This is why couplings are as hard for the Creator as the tearing of the Red Sea.
8. If the male, who is not her mate, has corrupted his works, he is taken from the world when it is time for her mate to take her. And even if he did not corrupt his works a lot by his iniquities, making it necessary that he be put to death by sentence, he still passes away at that time, before it is his time to die, and it is not done by sentence. It is written about him, “There is he who perishes without a trial.” The Dinim of Tzedek encounter him for his iniquities, meaning Malchut of Midat ha Din, since it is time for her mate to marry her, although by law, it is not mandatory that he should die.
9. So why did he die? Why would the Creator not separate the couple from one another so her mate will come and marry her? Indeed, it is to the man’s benefit; He is merciful with him, so he will not see his wife in the hands of another. And if her mate’s works are not upright, although this woman is his, the other—who is not her mate—is nonetheless not rejected before him.
10. King Saul took the kingship because it was still not David’s time for it, since the kingship was certainly David’s. This is why Saul came and took it. When it was time for David to inherit what was his, Tzedek [justice] awakened and took Saul for his iniquities, he was rejected from before David, and David came and took what was his.
11. Why did the Creator not remove Saul from the kingship to give it to David, so he would not have to die? The Creator was merciful with him in taking his soul while he was still a king, so he would not see his servant ruling over him, taking what was initially his. Similarly, one who marries another’s mate, and it is time for the other to marry her, He takes his soul and then gives his wife to her mate, so he will not see his wife in the hands of another. For this reason, when marrying a woman, one should ask the Creator for mercy that he may not be repelled by another.
12. “And the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.’” The Creator said to Moses: “Moses, do you wish for the world to change? Have you ever seen the sun worshiping the moon? Have you ever seen the moon governing while the sun is still present? Rather, your dying days have come; summon Joshua. Let the sun be taken and let the moon govern. Moreover, if you enter the land, the moon will be taken because of you and will not be able to govern. Indeed, the governance of the moon, Joshua, has arrived, and it cannot rule as long as you are in the world.”
13. “Call Joshua, and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” The Creator did not command Joshua, but Moses. He said all that to Moses, as it is written, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will arise … and will forsake Me and break My covenant… Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day. …Now therefore, write this singing for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it on their mouths.” All that was said to Moses. Thus, what is, “That I may commission him”? After all, He did not commission him anything.
14. Rather, the Creator said to Moses, although you will lie down with your fathers, you will always be poised to illuminate to the moon, Joshua, Malchut. Like the sun, even when he has set, he had set only in order to illuminate to the moon. It is so because then, once he had set, he illuminates to the moon. For this reason, you lie down to illuminate. This is the meaning of “That I may commission him.” By Moses’ departure, he illuminates the words of the Creator to Joshua, as the sun illuminates to the moon after its departure. It follows that then Joshua was told to illuminate. This is why it is written, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers,” meaning illuminate to Joshua. This is the meaning of what is written, “But charge Joshua … and strengthen him.” “Charge Joshua,” it is all to illuminate to him.
15. It is written, “And Moses called to Joshua and said to him before the eyes of all Israel, ‘Be strong and courageous, for you shall come.’” Afterwards it is written, “For you shall bring.” “Come” means inform him, so he may enter the land and be in it, and “Bring” means to inform him of the governance over Israel. It follows that he was told two things: He was told of his own existence in the land of Israel, and he was informed of the governance over Israel.
