68. And His eyes as a flame of fire, signifies Divine Providence from His Divine love. This is evident from the signification of "eyes," as being the understanding (See above, n. 37); and in reference to the Lord, as meaning presence, and thus providence (See Arcana Coelestia 3869[1-14], 10569) of which in what follows; also from the signification of "a flame of fire," as meaning, in reference to the Lord, Divine love. "A flame of fire" means Divine love because from heaven the Lord appears as a sun, and the Divine that proceeds from Him as light, flaming light in the inmost or third heaven, and bright white light in the middle or second heaven. The Divine love itself is what thus appears. From this it is that in the Word "fire" and "flame" signify love (as can be seen from what is shown in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that in the Word "fire" signifies love in each sense, n. 934, 4906, 5215. That sacred and celestial fire is Divine love, and every affection which is of that love, see n. 934, 6314, 6832. That there are two origins of heat, one the sun of the world, from which all things vegetate upon the earth, the other the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, from which angels and men derive the all of life, see n. 3338, 5215, 7324. That love is the fire of life, and that life itself is actually therefrom, see n. 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314. That flame is truth from the good of the inmost heaven, and light truth from the good of the middle heaven, see n. 3222, 6832; the reason is, that light in the inmost heaven appears flaming, and in the middle heaven bright white, see n. 9570; and likewise in the work on Heaven and Hell 116-140. In reference to the Lord, "eyes" signify Divine Providence, because, in reference to man, they signify understanding; and the Divine understanding, because it is infinite, is Divine Providence. Nothing else is signified by the "eyes" of Jehovah in Isaiah:

Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; and open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see (Isaiah 37:17).

In Jeremiah:

I will set Mine eye upon them for good, and I will bring them again to their land, ¹ and I will build them (Jeremiah 24:6).

In David:

Behold the eye of Jehovah is upon them that fear Him (Psalms 33:18);

and in the same:

Jehovah is in the temple of His holiness, His eyes behold, and His eyelids prove the sons of man (Psalms 11:4);

and elsewhere. (What Divine Providence is, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 267-279.)

Footnotes:

6877. 'And they may say to me, What is His name?' means, What is His essential nature? This is clear from the meaning of 'name' as essential nature, dealt with in 1754, 1896, 2009, 2628, 2724, 3006, 6674. This question asked by Moses shows what the descendants of Jacob were like. It shows that not only had they forgotten the name Jehovah, but also that they acknowledged a number of gods, one of whom was greater than another; and that was why they wished to know that god's name. They also believed that it was enough if merely God's name was acknowledged. The reason why the descendants of Jacob were like this was that they were acquainted only with the outward aspects of things, not with their inner aspects; and people unacquainted with those inner aspects cannot have any other kind of belief with regard to God since they are unable to receive any light from heaven which would shine on more internal levels of their minds. To the end therefore that they might acknowledge Jehovah they were told that the God of their fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob - had appeared to Moses, and that He had sent him. Thus what led them to acknowledge Jehovah was blind veneration of their forefathers, not any inner perception. For that people it was enough if they did worship Jehovah merely in name, for the further reason that they were unable to accept anything other than the outer aspect of the Church, thus solely that which was to represent the inner aspect of it. That outer aspect, furthermore, was established among them to the end that the inward form of what they were to represent might be displayed in heaven; then in some kind of way heaven would still be joined to mankind.