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:

5694. 'And he went to his bedchamber and wept there' means within itself, in an unseen manner. This is clear from the meaning of 'going to one's bedchamber' as within oneself, in an unseen manner. To say someone was 'entering his bedchamber' and also 'shutting the door' was a commonplace expression which the ancients used when they meant an action that should remain unseen. The expression had its origin in the meaningful signs which existed in the Ancient Church. For they would speak of 'the house', which they used in a spiritual sense to mean a person, 3128, and of its 'chambers' and 'bedchambers to mean the person's interiors. This is the reason why 'going to (or entering) one's bedchamber' meant within oneself, consequently so that one could not be seen. And since 'entering one's bedchamber' had this particular meaning, the expression is used in various places in the Word; as in Isaiah,

Go away, my people, enter your bedchambers, and shut your door behind you. Hide yourself, so to speak, for a little moment, until the anger passes over. Isaiah 26:20.

Quite clearly 'entering bedchambers' does not in this case mean entering bedchambers but keeping out of sight and within oneself.

[2] In Ezekiel,

He said to me, Have you not seen, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chambers of his own idol? For they say, Jehovah does not see us. Ezekiel 8:12.

'Doing in the dark, each in the chambers of his own idol' stands for within themselves inwardly, in their thoughts. The interior aspects of their thought and affection were being represented to the prophet by means of 'chambers', and they were called 'the chambers of an idol'.

[3] In Moses,

Outside the sword will bereave - and out of the chambers terror - both young man and virgin, suckling together with a man in old age. Deuteronomy 32:15.

'The sword' stands for the vastation of truth and the punishment of falsity, 2799. 'Out of the chambers terror' stands for a person's interiors; for here too it is self-evident that one should not take 'the chambers' to mean chambers.

[4] In David,

He waters the mountains from His chambers. Psalms 104:13.

In the spiritual sense 'watering the mountains' is blessing those in whom love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are present. For 'a mountain' means the celestial element of love, see 795, 1430, 4210, and therefore 'from His chambers' means from the interior parts of heaven. In Luke,

Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light; and what you have spoken in the ear in bedchambers will be proclaimed on the housetops. Luke 12:3.

Here also 'bedchambers' stands for a person's interiors - what he has thought, what he has intended, and what he has mulled over. In Matthew,

When you pray, enter your bedchamber, and shut your door, and pray in secret. Matthew 6:6.

'Entering one's bedchamber and praying' stands for acting in an unseen manner; for these words had their origin in things of a representative nature.