7599. 'And [as for] you and your servants, I know that you do not yet fear the face of Jehovah God' means that those engaged in molestation do not yet live in fear of the Lord. This is clear from the representation of 'Pharaoh and his servants' as those who engage in molestation, dealt with before; and from the meaning of '[not yet] fearing the face of Jehovah' as having no fear of the Lord, the Lord being 'Jehovah' in the Word, see the places quoted immediately above in 7598. The expression 'the face of Jehovah' is used because it means mercy, and from this, peace and all good, 222, 223, 5585, and in the contrary sense the absence of mercy, peace, and good, 5585, 5592, 5816, 5823. The reason why the absence of mercy, peace, and good is meant by 'the face of Jehovah' is that the evil turn away from Jehovah or the Lord; for they turn away from the good of charity and the truth of faith in which the Lord is present. They then have what is the Lord's behind their back, and what is their own facing them; and what is behind their back they neither see nor care about. All evil stems from this, consequently human unhappiness and hell.

222. 'Hiding themselves from the face of Jehovah' is being afraid of this dictate, as people conscious of evil normally are. This is clear from their reply in verse 10, 'I heard Your Voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked'. 'The face of Jehovah', that is, of the Lord, is mercy, peace, and all good, as is quite clear from the blessing,

Jehovah make His face ¹ shine upon you and be merciful to you. Jehovah lift up His face ¹ upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:15, 26.

And in David,

God be merciful to us and bless us, and make His face ¹ shine upon us. Psalms 67:1.

And elsewhere in David,

Many are saying, Who will cause us to see good? Lift up the light of Your face ¹ upon us, O Jehovah. Psalms 4:6-7.

The Lord's mercy is for this reason called 'the angel of His face' ¹ in Isaiah,

I will cause the mercies of Jehovah to be remembered. He has rewarded them according to His mercies, and according to the abundance of His mercies; and He became their Saviour. In all their affliction there was no affliction, and the angel of His face ¹ saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them. Isaiah 63:7-9.

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