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.

Footnotes:

170. From Arcana Coelestia:

Of sin or evil. There are innumerable kinds of evil and falsity (n. 1188, 1212, 4818, 4822, 7574). There is evil from falsity, there is falsity from evil, and evil and falsity again from thence (n. 1679, 2243, 4818). The nature and quality of the evil of falsity (n. 2408, 4818, 7272, 8265, 8279). The nature and quality of the falsity of evil (n. 6359, 7272, 9304, 10302). Of blamable evils, and of those which are not so blamable (n. 4171-4172). Of evils from the understanding and of evils from the will (n. 9009). The difference between transgression, iniquity and sin (n. 6563, 9156).

All evils adhere to man (n. 2116). Evils cannot be taken away from man, but man can only be withheld from them, and kept in good (n. 865, 868, 887, 894, 1581, 4564, 8206, 8393, 8988, 9014, 9333, 9446-9448, 9451, 10057, 10059). To be withheld from evil and kept in good, is effected by the Lord alone (n. 929, 2406, 8206, 10060). Thus evils and sins are only removed, and this is effected successively (n. 9334-9336). This is done by the Lord by means of regeneration (n. 9445, 9452-9454, 9938). Evils shut out the Lord (n. 5696). Man ought to abstain from evils, that he may receive good from the Lord (n. 10109). Good and truth inflow in proportion as man is withheld from evils (n. 2388, 2411, 10675). To be withheld from evil and kept in good, constitutes remission of sins (n. 8391, 8393, 9014, 9444-9450). The signs whether sins are remitted or not (n. 9449-9450). It is a consequence of the remission of sins to look at things from good and not from evil (n. 7697).

Evil and sin are a separation and turning away from the Lord; and this is signified by "evil" and "sin" in the Word (n. 4997, 5229, 5474, 5746, 5841, 9346); they are and signify separation and aversion from good and truth (n. 7589). They are and signify what is contrary to Divine order (n. 4839, 5076). Evil is damnation and hell (n. 3513, 6279, 7155). It is not known what hell is, unless it be known what evil is (n. 7181). Evils are as it were heavy, and fall of themselves into hell; and so also falsities that are from evil (n. 8279, 8298). It is not known what evil is unless it be known what the love of self and the love of the world are (n. 4997,7178, 8318). All evils are from those loves (n. 1307-1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488-7489, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742).

All men whatever are born into evils of every kind, even so that their proprium is nothing but evil (n. 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307-2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283-10284, 10731). Man must therefore be born again or regenerated, in order to receive a life of good (n. 3701).

Man casts himself into hell when he does evil from consent, afterwards from purpose, and at last from delight (n. 6203). They who are in evil of life, are in the falsities of their own evil, whether they know it or not (n. 7577, 8094). Evil would not be appropriated to man, if he believed, as is really the case, that all evil is from hell, and all good from the Lord (n. 4151, 6206, 6324-6325). In the other life evils are removed from the good and goods from the evil (n. 2256). All in the other life are let into their interiors, thus the evil into their evils (n. 8870).

In the other life evil contains its own punishment, and good its own reward (n. 696, 967, 1857, 6559, 8214, 8223, 8226, 9048). Man is not punished in the other life for hereditary evils, as he is not to blame for these, but for his actual evils (n. 966, 2308). The interiors of evil are foul and filthy, however they may appear otherwise in an external form (n. 7046).

Evil is attributed in the Word to the Lord, and yet nothing but good proceeds from Him (n. 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7677, 7926, 8227-8228, 8632, 9306). So also anger (n. 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 9306, 10431). Why it is so said in the Word (n. 6071, 6991, 6997, 7632, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8282, 9010, 9128). What is signified by "bearing iniquity," where it is predicated of the Lord (n. 9937, 9965). The Lord turns evil into good with the good who are infested and tempted (n. 8631). To leave man from his own liberty to do evil, is permission (n. 1778). Evils and falsities are governed by the laws of permission by the Lord; and they are permitted for the sake of order (n. 7877, 8700, 10778). The permission of evil by the Lord is not as of one who wills, but as of one who does not will, but who cannot bring aid on account of the end (n. 7877).