Arcana Coelestia # 5585
5585. 'Saying, You will not see my face' means that no compassion will show itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'face', when used in reference to a person, as his interiors, that is to say, his affections and consequent thoughts, dealt with in 358, 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4796, 4797, 5102. But when used in reference to the Lord, for the Lord is represented in the highest sense by 'Joseph', 'face' means mercy and compassion, and therefore 'not seeing his face' means a lack of mercy or absence of compassion. Not that the Lord lacks any compassion, for He is pure mercy; but when the intermediary that effects the joining to Him is not present it does seem to a person as though there is no compassion in the Lord. The reason for this is that if no intermediary effecting the joining together is present, no acceptance of good takes place. And if there is no acceptance of good, evil is present instead. If at this time the person calls out to the Lord because evil prompts him to do so, thus for selfish reasons in defiance of anyone else's needs, he is not heard, in which case it seems as though no compassion shows itself.
[2] As regards 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' meaning mercy, this is evident from the Word; for understood properly 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' is Divine love itself, and being Divine love it is the face of mercy since mercy is the expression of love towards the human race set in such miseries. The truth that 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' is Divine Love may be seen from the Lord's face when He was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John; that is, when He displayed His Divinity to them,
His face shone like the sun. Matthew 17:2.
It has been shown already that 'the sun' is Divine Love, see 30-38, 1521, 1529-1531, 2441, 2495, 3636, 3643, 4060, 4321 (end), 4696. The Lord's actual Divinity had never previously appeared in any face; but His Divine Human had so appeared, through which, seemingly within which, Divine Love - which in relation to the human race is Divine Mercy - showed itself. This Divine Mercy within the Divine Human is called 'the angel of His 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 expression 'the angel' is used because 'angels' in the Word means in the internal sense some attribute of the Lord, 1925, 2821, 4085, in this case His mercy, which is why the phrase 'the angel of His face' is used.
[3] 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' is not only mercy but also peace and goodness since these are attributes of mercy, as may also be seen from the following places: 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.
Here it is quite evident that 'making His face shine' means showing mercy, and 'lifting up His face' means granting His peace. In David,
God be merciful to us and bless us, and make His face shine upon us. Psalms 67:1.
Here also 'face' stands for mercy. In the same author,
Turn us back, O God, and make Your face shine, that we may be saved. Psalms 80:3, 7, 19.
Here the meaning is similar. In the same author,
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and my pursuers. Make Your face shine upon Your servant. Psalms 31:15-16.
Likewise in Psalms 119:134-135. In Daniel,
Hear, our God, the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and make Your face shine upon Your sanctuary that has been made desolate. Daniel 9:17.
Here also 'making His face shine' stands for showing mercy.
[4] In David,
Many are saying, Who will cause us to see good? Lift up the light of Your face upon us. Psalms 4:6-7.
'Lifting up the light of His face' stands for His imparting good because of His mercy. In Hosea,
Let them seek My face; when they are in distress, in the morning let them seek Me. Hosea 5:15.
In David,
Seek My face! Your face, O Jehovah, will I seek. Psalms 27:8-9.
In the same author,
Seek Jehovah and His strength; seek His face continually. Psalms 105:4.
'Seeking Jehovah's face' stands for seeking His mercy. In the same author,
I, in righteousness, shall see Your face. Psalms 17:15.
And in Matthew,
See that you do not despise any of these tiny ones; for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 18:10.
'Seeing God's face' stands for the enjoyment of peace and good because of His mercy.
[5] But the contrary of this is the hiding or concealment and also the turning away of the face, by which showing no compassion is meant, as in Isaiah,
In an overflowing of My anger I hid My face from you for a moment; but with eternal mercy I will have mercy on you. Isaiah 54:8.
'An overflowing of anger' stands for temptation in which, because the Lord does not seem to show mercy, the words 'I hid My face from you for a moment' are used. In Ezekiel,
I will turn My face away from them. Ezekiel 7:22.
In David,
How long, O Jehovah, will You forget me [as if] for ever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalms 13:1
In the same author,
Do not hide Your face from me; do not cast aside Your servant in anger. Psalms 17:8, 9.
In the same author,
Why, O Jehovah, do You abandon my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? Psalms 88:14.
In the same author,
Make haste, answer me, O Jehovah. MY spirit is consumed. Do not hide Your face from me, lest I become like those going down into the pit. Cause me to hear Your mercy in the morning. Psalms 143:7-8.
And in Moses,
My anger will flare up against this people on that day, so that I forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they will be devoured. I will certainly hide My face on that day, because of all the evil which they have done. Deuteronomy 31:17-18.
'Anger flaring up' stands for turning oneself away, 5034, and 'hiding one's face' for not showing any compassion.
[6] These actions are attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, for the reason that although He is never angry and never turns away or hides His face He is said to do so because that is how it seems to someone under the influence of evil. For the person under the influence of evil turns himself away and hides the Lord's face from himself; that is, he removes His mercy from himself. The fact that it is the evils present with a person that do this is also clear from the Word, as in Micah,
Jehovah will hide His face from them at that time, inasmuch as they have rendered their deeds evil. Micah 3:4.
In Ezekiel,
Because they transgressed against Me, therefore I hid My face from them. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them and have hidden My face from them. Ezekiel 39:23-24.
In particular in Isaiah,
Your iniquities are what separate you from your God, and your sins what cause. His face to hide from you. Isaiah 59:2.
From these and many other places one may see the internal sense, which shows itself in various places and is discovered by one who is looking for it.
Poznámky pod čarou:
1. Reading retribuit (has rewarded), which Swedenborg has in his rough draft and also in 221, for retribuet (will reward)
Numbers 6
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: 'When either man or woman shall make a special vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself to Yahweh,
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he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of fermented drink, neither shall he drink any juice of grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
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All the days of his separation he shall eat nothing that is made of the grapevine, from the seeds even to the skins.
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"'All the days of his vow of separation no razor shall come on his head, until the days are fulfilled, in which he separates himself to Yahweh. He shall be holy. He shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long.
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"'All the days that he separates himself to Yahweh he shall not go near a dead body.
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He shall not make himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his sister, when they die; because his separation to God is on his head.
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All the days of his separation he is holy to Yahweh.
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"'If any man dies very suddenly beside him, and he defiles the head of his separation; then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing. On the seventh day he shall shave it.
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On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, to the door of the Tent of Meeting.
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The priest shall offer one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, and make atonement for him, because he sinned by reason of the dead, and shall make his head holy that same day.
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He shall separate to Yahweh the days of his separation, and shall bring a male lamb a year old for a trespass offering; but the former days shall be void, because his separation was defiled.
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"'This is the law of the Nazirite: when the days of his separation are fulfilled, he shall be brought to the door of the Tent of Meeting,
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and he shall offer his offering to Yahweh, one male lamb a year old without blemish for a burnt offering, and one ewe lamb a year old without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for peace offerings,
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and a basket of unleavened bread, cakes of fine flour mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and their meal offering, and their drink offerings.
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The priest shall present them before Yahweh, and shall offer his sin offering, and his burnt offering.
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He shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of peace offerings to Yahweh, with the basket of unleavened bread. The priest shall offer also its meal offering, and its drink offering.
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The Nazirite shall shave the head of his separation at the door of the Tent of Meeting, and shall take the hair of the head of his separation, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of peace offerings.
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The priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and shall put them on the hands of the Nazirite, after he has shaved the head of his separation;
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and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before Yahweh. This is holy for the priest, together with the breast that is waved and the thigh that is offered. After that the Nazirite may drink wine.
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"'This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his offering to Yahweh for his separation, besides that which he is able to get. According to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his separation.'"
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Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
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"Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.' You shall tell them,
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'Yahweh bless you, and keep you.
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Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you.
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Yahweh lift up his face toward you, and give you peace.'
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"So they shall put my name on the children of Israel; and I will bless them."
