9849. 'As stones of remembrance for the sons of Israel' means out of mercy, for evermore for the spiritual kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of 'stones of remembrance' on the shoulders of the ephod as the preservation of good and truth out of mercy, for evermore (the fact that the preservation of good and truth is meant by 'stones on the shoulders' is clear from what has been shown in 9836; and the fact that mercy is meant by 'remembrance', when attributed to the Lord, will be clear from what follows below); and from the meaning of 'the sons of Israel' as the Lord's spiritual kingdom, dealt with above in 9842. There are places in the Word which say of Jehovah, that is, the Lord, that He remembers or does not remember. When either is said of Him the meaning is that whatever takes place then, whether preservation or deliverance, is done out of mercy. The same applies to places saying that He sees, hears, or knows, or does not see, hear, or know; His pity or failure to pity are meant there. Such things are said of Him on account of His being likened to a human being and on account of what seems to happen. For when a person turns away from the Lord, as is the case when he does anything bad, it seems to that person, since the Lord is now behind his back, as though the Lord fails to see him, does not hear or know him, indeed fails to remember him, when in fact the failure is in the person. It is because of this appearance therefore that in the Word such things are said of the Lord. The situation is completely different however when a person turns towards the Lord, as is the case when he does what is right, see the places referred to in 9306. Anyone may recognize that the Lord cannot really be said to remember or call to mind, because in Him things that are past and those that are future are eternal, that is, they are ever present from eternity to eternity.

[2] The fact that 'remembering', when attributed to the Lord, means having compassion, and so preserving or delivering out of mercy, is clear from the following places: In David,

Jehovah has made known His salvation, before the eyes of the nations He has revealed His righteousness. He has remembered His mercy and His truth to the house of Israel. Psalms 98:2-3.

In the same author,

Jehovah has remembered us in our lowly state, for His mercy is forever. Psalms 136:23.

In the same author,

Do not remember the sins of my youth, ¹ nor my transgressions. According to Your mercy remember me, for Your goodness' sake, O Jehovah. Psalms 25:7.

In the same author,

For their sake He remembered His covenant, and relented because of the multitude of His mercies. Psalms 106:45.

In the same author,

He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; ² Jehovah is gracious and merciful. He has given food to those fearing Him; forever He remembers ³ His covenant. Psalms 111:4-5.

In the same author,

Do not remember former iniquities. Let Your tender mercies come to meet [us]. Psalms 79:8.

[3] In Luke,

God has accepted His servant Israel, so that He remembered His mercy ... to perform mercy to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant. Luke 1:54, 72.

In David,

What is man that You remember him? Psalms 8:4.

In the same author,

Remember me, O Jehovah, in the good pleasure of Your people. Psalms 106:4.

In the same author,

Jehovah has remembered us, He blesses [us]. Psalms 115:12.

In the first Book of Samuel,

If You will indeed look on the misery of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant ... 1 Samuel 1:11.

These words begin the vow made by Hannah, Samuel's mother; and verse 19 says that when she bore him Jehovah remembered her, that is, He looked on her misery and had mercy on her. 'Remember' has a similar meaning in many other places, such as Leviticus 26:41-42, 45; Numbers 10:9; Isaiah 43:25; 49:1; 64:9; Jeremiah 31:34.

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9306. 'Take notice of his face' means holy fear. This is clear from the meaning of 'taking notice of the face', when it has reference to the Lord, whom 'the angel' is used to mean to here, as fearing that He may be angry on account of evils, or provoked on account of transgressions, as below; and fearing these things is holy fear. Regarding this fear, see 2826, 3718, 3719, 5459, 5534, 7280, 7788, 8816, 8925. The words 'taking notice of his face' are used because 'the face' means the interior things that constitute a person's life, thus his thought and affection, and in particular his faith and love. The reason for this is that the face has been fashioned so that it can produce an image of a person's interiors. It has been so fashioned to the end that those things which belong to the internal man may appear within the external, thus to the end that those things which belong to the spiritual world can be visualized in the natural world and so have an effect on one's neighbour. It is well known that the face presents visually, or as if in a mirror, what a person thinks and loves. This is so with honest people's faces, and especially with angels' faces, see 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4326, 4796-4799, 5102, 5695, 6604, 8248-8250. For this reason 'face' in the original language is a general term that is used to describe the feelings a person has which reveal themselves, such as those of indulgence, favour, goodwill, helpfulness, or kindness, and also lack of pity, anger, or vengeance. So it is that in that language when this word is coupled with another it means beside, with, in front of, on account of, or else against, thus whatever is within, from, for, or against the person himself. For as has been stated, 'the face' is a person's true self, or that present within a person which reveals itself.

[2] All this enables one to know what is meant by the face of Jehovah, or 'the face of the angel', who in this instance is the Lord in respect of His Divine Human - namely the Divine Good of Divine Love, and the Divine Truth emanating from that Divine Good, since these reside within Jehovah or the Lord, come from Him, indeed are Himself, see 222, 223, 5585. From this it is evident what 'the face of Jehovah' means in the Blessing,

Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you. Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:25-26.

In David,

God be merciful to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us. Psalms 67:1.

The like may be seen in Psalms 80:3, 7, 19; 119:134-135; Daniel 9:17; and in other places.

[3] So it is that the Lord's Divine Human is called 'the angel of Jehovah's face' in Isaiah,

I will cause the mercies of Jehovah to be remembered. He has rewarded ¹ them according to His mercies, and according to the abundance of His mercies; and He became their Saviour. And the angel of His face saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them. Isaiah 63:7-9.

The reason why the Lord's Divine Human is called 'the angel of Jehovah's face' is that the Divine Human is the Divine Himself facially, that is, in outward form, as also the Lord teaches in John,

If you know Me you know My Father also, and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. John 14:7-11.

[4] 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' also means anger, vengeance, punishment, and ill. It does so because simple people, in accepting the general idea that all things come from God, believe that even ill, especially the misery of punishment, comes from Him. For this reason - in keeping with that general idea, and also with appearances - anger, vengeance, punishment, or ill is attributed to Jehovah the Lord, when in fact the Lord is not the source of them but man. Regarding this, see 1861, 2447, 5798, 6071, 6832, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7877, 7926, 8197, 8227, 8228, 8282, 8483, 8632, 8875, 9128. This kind of meaning appears here in 'take notice of his face, lest you provoke him, for he will not bear your transgression', and also in Leviticus,

Whoever eats any blood, I will set My face against the soul eating blood and will cut him off from among his people. Leviticus 17:10.

In Jeremiah,

I have set My face against the city for ill and not for good. Jeremiah 21:10.

And in David,

Jehovah's face is against evildoers, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. Psalms 34:16.

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