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:

3679. 'Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob' means the thought which natural good had regarding the joining [to the Divine Rational] through the good of truth, represented by 'Jacob'. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as thinking, for thinking is nothing else than inward seeing, or internal sight; from the representation of 'Esau' as the good of the natural, dealt with in 3300, 3302, 3322, 3404, 3504, 3576, 3599; from the meaning of 'being blessed' as a joining together, dealt with in 3504, 3514, 3530, 3565, 3584; from the representation of 'Isaac' as the Lord's Divine Rational as regards Divine Good, dealt with already; and from the representation of 'Jacob' as the good of truth, dealt with in 3669, 3677. From all this it is evident that 'Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob' means the thought which natural good had regarding the joining through the good of truth.

[2] But as to what thought which natural good had regarding the joining through the good of truth may be, no wholly intelligible explanation is possible. Even so, let a brief explanation be given. The thought which natural good has is the thought which exists in the rational or internal man and from there in the natural or external man, in particular from the good of the rational man. It is the rational or internal man which thinks, not the natural or external; for the rational or internal man dwells in the light of heaven, a light which holds intelligence and wisdom from the Lord within it, 3195, 3339, 3636, 3643, whereas the external man dwells in the light of the world, a light which does not hold any intelligence or indeed life within it. Consequently unless the internal man thought within the external no thought at all could ever exist. Yet to the person himself it seems as though his thought were located within his external, for it is from things which have come in by way of the senses and belong to the world that he thinks.

[3] This matter is like the sight of the eye. A sensory-minded person imagines that the eye sees of itself, when in fact the eye is no more than an organ in the body by means of which the internal man sees things outside of the body, that is, things in the world. The same matter is also like speech. The sensory-minded person might imagine that the mouth and tongue spoke of themselves, and anyone who thinks somewhat more deeply that the larynx and interior organs activated by the lungs did so, when in fact it is the thought which speaks by means of those organic parts - for speech is nothing else than thought expressed in speech. Such delusions of the senses are very many. The matter under consideration is also similar to all the life manifested in the external man, in that the life of the internal is within it, as within its own material or physical organ. The same is so with thought.

[4] As long as he is living in the body a person thinks from the rational within the natural; but it is one thing when the natural corresponds to the rational, quite another when the natural does not correspond. When the natural does correspond a person is rational and thinks spiritually; but when the natural does not correspond, he is not rational, and is unable to think spiritually. For with one whose natural does correspond to his rational, a line of communication is open enabling the light of heaven to flow in from the Lord by way of the rational into the natural, and to enlighten it with intelligence and wisdom. As a consequence he is rational and thinks spiritually. But with one whose natural does not correspond to his rational the line of communication is closed, and no more than a limited amount of light exists in general round about which enters in through chinks by way of the rational into the natural. Consequently he is not rational and does not think spiritually. For as is the influx of the light of heaven into a person, so is his thinking. From this it is evident that the nature of every person's thought is determined by the way in which, as regards good and truth, the natural corresponds to the rational.

[5] But spirits and angels scarcely think in the same way as men do. Their thought, it is true, is likewise based ultimately in the natural; for they have with them the whole natural memory and its affections, though they are not allowed to use that memory, 2475-2479. But although they are not allowed to use this, it nevertheless serves them as the ground-work or foundation for the ideas comprising their thought. Consequently the ideas which comprise their thought are interior, and their speech does not take the form of verbal expressions as with men but the form of real things. From this it is evident that with them also the nature of their thought is determined by that of the correspondence of their natural with their rational. Evident also is the fact that there are some spirits who are rational and think spiritually, and others who are not rational and do not think spiritually, the difference between the two depending entirely on the nature of their affections and consequent thoughts of things during their lifetime, that is, depending on the state of the life which they have acquired to themselves in the world.

[6] Therefore what thought may be which natural good possesses is evident to some extent from what has just been said above. That is to say, it is thought existing within the good of the natural. (According to spirits' way of thinking it is called the thought which natural good has, but according to men's it is called thought within the good of the natural.) It is within the latter - within the good of the natural - that the rational thinks. When good is the end in view, the thought which natural good has regarding the joining through the good of truth is accordingly thought within the natural - regarding the end in view. That is to say, it is thought about how truth can be joined to it, and joined according to Divine order, by the ordinary way, which, as often stated already, comes from the kinds of things that are external and therefore exist - in the ordered sequence of things - as those that are last or outermost. The entire regeneration of the natural begins with these. These outermost or last things are initial cognitions, such as those learned by infants and children, dealt with in 3665 (end).

[7] At first the truth of good, represented by 'Esau', is not in outward form joined to the good of truth, represented by 'Jacob', for in relation to the truth of good the good of truth exists inversely, 3669. Nevertheless they are joined together inmostly, that is, as regards ends in view. For the end that truth springing from good has in view is, as has been stated that truths may be joined according to order to itself, while the end in view of good springing from truth is the same. And since it is the end in view that joins them together, those two also are therefore so joined together, 3562, 3565. The inversion of order in the early stages is merely the means to an attainment of the end in view.