Kabbalah Library
Zohar for All, Volume 10
The Rest of the Prophets from Afar, and Moses from Up Close
92. It is written, “From afar, the Lord appeared to me.” When the Creator speaks with the prophets, He appears to them only from afar. This is why they see an image of things, like a person standing at a distance. The exception is Moses.
93. All the prophets besides Moses prophesied only from within a mirror that does not shine. Moses prophesied from within a mirror that shines. The rest of the prophets from a distance, and Moses from nearby, as it is written, “Not so is My servant Moses; in all My house, he is trusted.” A trusted one in the king’s house is close to the king.
94. Is the love of the Creator not on all the prophets because they prophesied from afar? However, it is written, “From afar the Lord appeared to me, and I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore, I have anointed you with mercy [Hesed].”
95. There is one who is far and grows near, and one who is near and grows far. There is one who is far and grows near is as it is written, “From afar she brings her bread,” written about Malchut. It means that after she brings the bread, she is near. Near and growing far is as it is written, “From afar, the Lord appeared to me,” implying that now He is seen from afar, and previously, He was near.
The fact that He is close in both verses is for the prophets, and the fact that He is far in both verses is for the kings, who receive from Malchut. And vise-versa, close to the kings who receive from Malchut, and far for the prophets, who see imaginations of above as a kind of body.
96. When the prophet sees with a clean light, it is known that the world is sentenced favorably. When they see in the dark, the world is sentenced for revenge. At that time, the text opens, “And it came to pass, in the days when the judges judged, and there was famine in the land.”
97. “And it came to pass, in the days…” Rabbi Bon was in Caesarea all his life. One day, he saw the people sinning, that poor were walking and they did not notice them. He said, “Indeed, it seems as though there is judgment here.” He got up and walked away.
