412# “把我们藏起来，躲避坐宝座者的脸面和羔羊的愤怒”表示免得他们因与从主发出的神性真理合一的神性良善的流注而遭受可怕的事物。这从“把我们藏起来”、“躲避坐宝座者的脸面”和“羔羊的愤怒”的含义清楚可知：“把我们藏起来”当由那些里面教会的良善和真理被生活的邪恶和由此而来的虚假摧毁的人来说时，是指免得他们遭受可怕的事物(对此，我们很快就会谈到)。“躲避坐宝座者的脸面”是指天上神性良善方面的主；“脸面”当论及主时，表示神性之爱，天上的神性良善来自神性之爱，这一点从稍后引用的圣言经文明显看出来；“坐宝座者”表示天上的神性良善方面的主(可参看AE 297, 343节)。“羔羊的愤怒”是指被从主发出的神性真理的流注投入地狱。“耶和华或主的愤怒”表示这一点，这从下面引用的圣言经文可以看出来。此外，从前面(AE 297, 343节)可以看出，“坐宝座者”和“羔羊”唯独是指主；“坐宝座者”表示神性良善方面的主，“羔羊”表示神性真理方面的主。经上提到“羔羊的愤怒”，意思不是说“坐宝座者”和“羔羊”所表示的主发怒，因为祂是神性良善本身，神性良善不可能发怒，愤怒与良善本身毫无关系；但经上按圣言的字义如此说的原因，我们会在别处予以解释；在此只说明，耶和华或主的“脸”表示神性之爱，因而表示天堂和教会中的神性良善；在反面意义上，“祂向人变脸”和“掩面或遮脸”与“愤怒和怒气”具有相同的含义；“脸”当论及人时，表示两种意义上的其心智的内层和情感。
“脸”当论及耶和华或主时，表示神性之爱和由此而来的神性良善，这一点从以下经文明显看出来。诗篇：
求你使你的脸向仆人发光，因你的怜悯拯救我。(诗篇31:16)
“使脸发光”表示以来自神性之爱的神性真理来光照；这由“使脸发光”来表示，因为从在天使天堂显为太阳的主发出的神性真理给予那里的一切光，也光照天使的心智，用智慧充满他们；因此，主的脸本义是指天使天堂的太阳；因为主向内层天堂的天使显为一轮太阳，这是由于祂的神性之爱；在天堂，爱当呈现在眼前时，就显为火，但神性之爱显为太阳。从这太阳既发出热，也发出光，热是神性良善，光是神性真理。由此可见，“使你的脸向仆人发光”表示以来自神性良善的神性真理来光照；因此，经上还补充说“因你的怜悯拯救我”；怜悯属于神性良善。关于天使天堂的太阳，它发出的热和光，可参看《天堂与地狱》一书；关于那里的太阳(HH 116–125节)；关于它发出的热和光(HH 126–140节)。
又：
有许多人说，谁能指示我们什么好处？耶和华啊，扬起你脸上的光来照我们。(诗篇4:6)
又：
耶和华啊，他们要在你脸上的光里行走。(诗篇89:15)
又：
神啊，求你使我们回转，使你的脸发光，我们就会得救！(诗篇80:3, 7, 19)
又：
愿神怜悯我们，赐福给我们，使祂的脸向我们发光。(诗篇67:1)
“耶和华或主脸上的光”表示来自神性之爱的神性真理，如前所述，以及由此而来的聪明和智慧，因为天使和世人都从神性真理，或天堂里的神性之光拥有其一切聪明和智慧；故在上述经文中，“使你的脸向我们发光”、“扬起你脸上的光来照我们”、“使你的脸发光”表示以神性真理来光照，并赋予聪明和智慧。
在摩西五经中，对以色列众子的祝福所表相同：
愿耶和华赐福给你，保护你；愿耶和华使祂的脸光照你，施恩给你；愿耶和华向你仰脸，赐你平安。(民数记6:24–26)
“使脸光照，施恩”表示以神性真理来光照，并赋予聪明和智慧；“仰脸，赐平安”表示充满神性良善，并赋予爱。若要使人变得智慧，这两者都是必要的，因为在灵界的每个人都被从显为太阳的主发出的光光照；然而，只有那些同时处于爱的人才变得聪明和智慧，因为爱之良善接受真理；事实上，它们结合在一起，因为它们彼此同意、彼此相爱。因此，只有那些拥有爱的人才能看见天堂里的太阳；而其他人只看见光。论及使脸发光或光照的“施恩”也论及圣言里的真理，论及仰脸的“平安”也论及良善。
412b. 由于主的神性之爱在天堂显为一轮太阳，那里的光就从这太阳发出，所以：
当主在彼得，雅各和约翰面前变了形像时，祂的脸明亮如太阳，衣裳如光。(马太福音17:2)
以及当约翰看到祂时：
祂的脸面像日头满有力地发光。(启示录1:16)
“如光的衣裳”表示神性真理，因为在圣言中，“衣裳”表示真理；这是因为所有天使都照着他们对神性真理的接受而被主穿上衣裳；此外，他们的衣裳来自天堂之光，由此发光和明亮；天堂之光，如前所述，就是神性真理。这清楚表明为何当主变了形像时，祂的衣裳“如光”一样。关于这些事，详情可参看《天堂与地狱》(177–182节)，以及前文(AE 64, 195, 271, 395节)。
马太福音：
耶稣论到祂放在门徒中间的孩子说，你们要小心，不可轻看这些小子中的一个；我告诉你们，他们的天使在天上，常见我在天上的父的面。(马太福音18:10)
此处说“他们的天使见”，是因为有灵人和天使与每个人同在，这个人如何，灵人和天使就如何。与婴孩同在的，是来自至内层天堂的天使；他们看见显为太阳的主，因为他们处于对主之爱和纯真；这是“他们的天使见我父的面”最近似的意义；“我父的面”表示在主里面的神性之爱，因而表示本质神性，也就是耶和华；因为父在祂里面，祂在父里面，他们为一，如祂自己所教导的。但这些话在纯粹的灵义上表示在其神性良善方面的主在纯真之良善中，因为“婴孩”在灵义上就表示纯真之良善，“父的面或脸”表示主的神性良善。启示录论到“主的仆人”的话也一样，“主的仆人”表示那些处于神性真理的人，因为他们处于爱与仁之良善：
神和羔羊的宝座必在新耶路撒冷；祂的仆人都要侍奉祂；他们必见祂的面。(启示录22:3–4)
关于这些话，可参看下文的解释。
以赛亚书：
在他们的一切苦难中，祂也同受苦难，并且祂面前的天使拯救他们；祂以慈爱和怜悯救赎他们；在永恒的一切日子扶持他们，怀抱他们。(以赛亚书63:9)
此处论述了主，主因来自祂的神性之爱的神性真理而被称为“耶和华面前的天使”；因为在圣言中，“天使或使者”表示神性真理，这就是为何天使被称为“神(gods)”(参看AE 130, 200, 302节)；“耶和华的面或脸”表示在主里面的神性之爱，故经上还说“祂以慈爱和怜悯救赎他们；在永恒的一切日子扶持他们，怀抱他们”，这一切都属于神性之爱。其人身方面的主就是神性真理，祂从神性真理与众地狱争战，并凭它征服它们；因此，祂被称为“天使或使者”，也就是在其神性人身方面的。这一章明显论述主，祂与众地狱的争战，以及对它们的征服。
诗篇：
你把他们藏在你面前的隐密处，免遭人的高傲；又把他们藏匿在你的罩棚下，免遭口舌的争闹。(诗篇31:20)
“把他们藏在你面前的隐密处”表示处于没有出现在其他人面前的神性良善；“把他们藏匿在你的罩棚下”表示处于神性真理；“人的高傲”和“口舌的争闹”表示虚假之邪恶和邪恶之虚假；“高傲”论及邪恶，因为邪恶属于自我之爱，“人”表示真理或虚假；“口舌的争闹”表示邪恶之虚假。至于什么叫虚假之邪恶和邪恶之虚假，可参看《新耶路撒冷及其属天教义》(21节)。
又：
你将我们的罪孽摆在你面前，将我们的秘密摆在你面光之中。(诗篇90:8)
“你面光”表示来自在天堂显为太阳的主的天堂之光。由于这光是神性真理本身，一切聪明和智慧都来自神性真理，所以凡进入这光的，其品质都如在晴天白日之下那样显而易见；因此，当恶人进入这光时，他们完全照其品质显现，照着隐藏在他们里面的邪恶显得畸形而可怕。这清楚表明，“你将我们的罪孽摆在你面前，将我们的秘密摆在你面光之中”是什么意思。
耶利米书：
你去向北方宣告这些话，说，背道的以色列啊，回来吧；我必不使我的脸色落在你们身上，因为我是怜悯的。(耶利米书3:12)
此处“我的脸色”也表示神性之爱，或属于爱的一切良善；“不使脸色落在”表示不允许它降下或停止，因为当脸色降下来时，它就不再看或不再关注了，这清楚表明“我必不使我的脸色落在你们身上”表示什么，故经上又说“因为我是怜悯的”，怜悯是指对可怜或不幸者的神性之爱。“向北方宣告”表示向那些处于虚假和由此而来的邪恶之人；所以经上又说：“背道的以色列啊，回来吧。”“北方”之所以表示这些人，是因为那些处于虚假和由此而来的邪恶之人住在灵界的北部。关于虚假和由此而来的邪恶，可参看《新耶路撒冷及其属天教义》(21节)。会幕中桌子上的饼被称为“脸饼(即陈设饼)”，这桌子本身被称为“脸桌(即陈设饼的桌子)”，因为那里的“饼”与“耶和华的脸”一样，都表示神性之爱的神性良善(可参看《新耶路撒冷及其属天教义》，212, 213, 218节)。
412c. 由于“耶和华或主的脸”表示与从祂的神性之爱出来并前行的神性真理合一的神性良善，所以“耶和华的脸”也表示教会、圣言和敬拜的内层，神性良善在这些事物的内层中；教会、圣言和敬拜的外层只是由此而来的结果和作为。“见、寻求、恳求耶和华的脸或面”表示教会、圣言和敬拜的内层。以赛亚书：
你们许多的祭物于我何益呢？你们来见耶和华的面时。(以赛亚书1:11–12)
撒迦利亚书：
这一城的居民必到那一城，说，我们快去恳求耶和华的面，寻求万军之耶和华；必有许多人民和众多民族来到耶路撒冷寻求万军之耶和华，恳求耶和华的面。(撒迦利亚书8:21–22)
诗篇：
我的心对你说，你们当寻求我的面；耶和华啊，你的面我正要寻求。(诗篇27:8)
又：
我们要向拯救我们的磐石发出欢乐的声音；我们要带着称谢来到祂面前。(诗篇95:1–2)
玛拉基书：
要恳求神的面，好让祂施恩给我们。(玛拉基书1:9)
诗篇：
我的灵魂渴慕神，渴慕永生神；我几时来见神的面呢？应当仰望神，因我还要称赞祂；祂的脸是救恩。(诗篇42:2, 5)
在这些经文中，“耶和华、神或主的脸或面”表示教会、圣言和敬拜的内层，因为神性良善和神性真理，因而主自己就在这些内层中，并从它们而在外在中，但不在没有它们的教会、圣言和敬拜的外在中。
由于所有去耶路撒冷过节的人都必须随身带着诸如属于敬拜的那类事物，而一切敬拜都来自内心和信仰的内层，这些内层由献给主的礼物来表示，所以经上吩咐，每个人都要献上某种礼物，这就是“他们不可空手朝见我的面”(出埃及记23:15)的意思。教会、圣言和敬拜的内层也由摩西五经中的这些话来表示：
耶和华对摩西说，我的脸必去，直到我赐给你安息。然后摩西说，你的脸若不走，就不要让我们从这里上去。(出埃及记33:14–15)
这话是对摩西说的，因为圣言是在犹太民族中间写的，而且圣言的历史部分论述了这个民族，还因为一个教会要在该民族中间建立，这个教会将是一个由对应于内在事物的外在事物构成的代表性教会；因此，经上说“我的脸必去”；对此，详情可参看《属天的奥秘》(10567, 10568节)，那里解释了它们。
但由于犹太民族只处于圣言、教会和敬拜的外在，根本不处于内在，所以根据摩西五经中的这些话，摩西未被准许见主的面，只看到后背：
摩西说，求你使我看见你的荣耀；祂对摩西说，我要使我的一切美善都在你面前经过，并要在你面前宣告耶和华的名；你不能看见我的面，因为人见我的面不能存活。我必将你放在磐石穴中，用我的手遮掩你，等我过去；然后我要将我的手掌收回，你就得见我的背部，却不得见我的面。(出埃及记33:18–23)
此处摩西代表犹太民族，该民族在对圣言的理解方面，因而在教会和敬拜方面是何品质，即：它只处于没有内在的外在。这些外在由摩西得见的“耶和华的背部”来代表和表示，内在由前部和“面”来代表和表示。将摩西放在磐石穴中，用耶和华的手遮掩他，等祂过去，表示这个民族没有看见，也不能看见在圣言、教会和敬拜的外在中的内在。关于这些事，可参看《属天的奥秘》(10573–10584节)中的充分解释。
412d. 此外，“耶和华或主的脸或面”因表示圣言、教会和敬拜的内在，故尤表内在所在的外在；因为内在使自己在外在中被看见，正如人的内在在他的脸和表情上被看见。但犹太民族具有这种性质：他们只看外在，根本不看内在；看外在，同时不看内在，或看没有内在的外在，就像看一个没有生命之人的形像；而看外在，同时看内在，或从内在看外在，就像看一个活生生的人；因此，这就是在上面所引用的经文中，“见耶和华的面”，或“恳求祂的面”的正确意义。
由于圣言、教会和敬拜的内在出现在外在中，或使自己在外在中被看见，相对来说就像人的内在呈现在脸上，所以明显可知在以下经文中，“面对面见耶和华或主”表示什么。摩西五经：
我面对面见了神，我的灵魂仍得保全。(创世记32:30)
雅各在与神摔跤之后说了这话，神向他显为一位天使。士师记：
基甸说，我面对面看见了耶和华的使者。耶和华对他说，愿你平安；不要怕，你不会死。(士师记6:22–23)
玛挪亚和他的妻子也是如此(士师记13:21–23)。关于以色列人：
耶和华从山上，从火中间，面对面与你们说话。(申命记5:4)
对此，经上进一步说：
耶和华使我们看见了祂的荣耀和伟大，我们又听见祂的声音从火中间出来；今日我们看到神与人交谈，人还活着。(申命记5:24)
关于摩西：
耶和华与摩西面对面说话，好像人与他的同伴说话一般。(出埃及记33:11; 申命记34:10)
然而，要知道，没有人，甚至没有任何天使能看主的脸，因为这脸是神性之爱，没有人能承受诸如在它自己里面的那种神性之爱；因为看主的脸就像让眼睛直视太阳的火焰本身，在这种情况下，它会瞬间灭亡。就本身而言，主的神性之爱也是如此；因此，主向内层天堂的天使显为一轮太阳，这太阳被许多光芒四射的圆形物围绕，这些圆形物形成一个在一个之上的遮盖物，好叫神性之爱可以调节并缓和地行进，以适合天上的天使，天使由此可以承受它；因此，主只向高层天堂的天使显为一轮太阳，而向低层天堂的天使仅显为光，向其余的人则显为一轮月亮。尽管如此，主的确向天上的天使显现，但以一位天使的形式显现；因为祂以自己的样子充满一位天使，因而从远处以祂的同在充满他；祂在各个地方如此行，但处处都适应祂所显现给的人们的爱与信之良善。基甸，玛挪亚和他的妻子，摩西，并以色列人，都是这样看见主的。因此，这就是“面对面见耶和华”、“见耶和华，不至于死”的意思。就祂的神性之爱的内层而言，脸本身是看不见的，这一点从对摩西说的话很清楚地看出来，即：
没有人能见耶和华的面而存活。(出埃及记33:20)
然而，经上却说“他们面对面见耶和华”；这清楚表明，在引用的上述经文中，“见耶和华的面”表示在圣言、教会和敬拜的内层里面看见祂，这是在来自内在的外在中看见祂。犹太民族处于没有内在的圣言、教会和敬拜的外在，可参看《新耶路撒冷及其属天教义》(248节)；什么叫没有外在的内在，什么叫其中有内在的外在，也可参看这本书(NJHD 47节)。
下面这句话也代表并表示犹太民族具有这种品质：
他们蒙住主的脸，打它，吐唾沫在它上面。(马太福音26:67; 马可福音14:65; 路加福音22:64)
因为圣言所记载关于主受难的一切事都代表并表示天堂和教会的奥秘，尤其代表并表示犹太人在圣言、教会和敬拜方面的品质。情况就是这样(可参看AE 64, 83, 195c节)。
412e. 从目前为止已经解释的经文可知，耶和华或主的“脸或面”表示什么，即表示神性之爱，以及由此而来的天堂和教会里的一切良善。由此也可知，当论及耶和华或主时，“掩面”或“遮脸”表示什么，即表示把人留在他的自我里，由此留在从他的自我涌出的邪恶和虚假中；因为就本身而言，人无非是邪恶和由此而来的虚假；为叫他可以处于良善，主留下他，不给这些邪恶和虚假，这是通过从自我中被提升出来实现的。由此可见，“掩面和遮脸”当论及主时，表示留在邪恶和虚假中；如以下经文。耶利米书：
因他们的一切恶，我就掩面不顾这城。(耶利米书33:5)
以赛亚书：
你们的罪使神向你们掩面，以至于不听。(以赛亚书59:2)
以西结书：
我必转脸不顾他们，他们亵渎我隐密之所，强暴者也必进去亵渎它。(以西结书7:22)
同一先知书：
列族必知道，以色列人被掳掠是因他们的罪孽；因此，我要向他们掩面。(以西结书39:23)
耶利米哀歌：
耶和华的脸将他们分散；祂不再看顾他们。(耶利米哀歌4:16)
弥迦书：
耶和华必照他们所行的恶事，向他们掩面。(弥迦书3:4)
诗篇：
你掩了面，我就惊惶。(诗篇30:7)
又：
你为何掩面，忘记了我们的苦难和压迫呢？(诗篇44:24)
又：
你掩面，它们便惊惶；你收回它们的灵，它们就死亡，归于尘土。(诗篇104:29)
摩西五经：
到那日，我的怒气必向百姓发作，我也必离弃他们，掩面不顾他们。到那日，因他们所行的一切恶，我必定掩面。(申命记31:17–18)
申命记：
我要向他们掩面；他们是乖僻的一代。(申命记32:20)
以赛亚书：
虽然耶和华掩面不顾雅各家，但我仍要等候祂。(以赛亚书8:17)
诗篇：
耶和华啊，你忘记我要到几时呢？你掩面不顾我要到几时呢？(诗篇13:1)
又：
不要向我掩面；不要发怒赶逐你的仆人。(诗篇27:9)
又：
不要掩面不顾你的仆人，因为我是在急难之中；求你速速地应允我。(诗篇69:17)
又：
耶和华啊，你为何丢弃我的灵魂？为何掩面不顾我？(诗篇88:14)
又：
我在急难的日子，求你不要向我掩面。(诗篇102:2)
又：
耶和华啊，求你应允我；不要向我掩面，免得我像那些下坑的人一样。(诗篇143:7)
以西结书：
我把他们聚拢在本地的时候，不再掩面不顾他们，因我要将我的灵倾倒在以色列人身上。(以西结书39:28–29)
诗篇：
祂没有藐视、厌恶以色列的苦难；也没有向他掩面；他向祂大声呼求的时候，祂就垂听。(诗篇22:24)
在这些经文中，经上说，耶和华，也就是主，由于罪孽和罪而掩面和遮脸；祂也被恳求不要掩面或遮脸；而事实上，祂从不掩藏或遮盖它们所表示的东西，也就是说，不掩藏或遮盖祂的神性良善和神性真理，因为主就是神性良善本身，怜悯本身，渴望拯救所有人；因此，祂与所有人和每个人同在，甚至与那些处于罪孽和罪的人同在，并通过这种同在将接受祂，也就是接受来自祂的真理和良善的自由赐予他们；因此，他们若出于自由想去接受，也的确能接受。接受必须是在自由中，好叫良善和真理可以与人同住，并且如他自己的那样与他同在；人在自由中所做的，都是出于情感而做的，因为一切自由都属于情感，情感就是人的意愿；因此，凡在自由中，或出于人的情感被接受的，都进入他的意愿，并持久存在。那时它之所以持久存在，是因为意愿就是这个人自己，他的生命主要居于意愿，其次居于思维或理解力。因此，这就是为何人应当接受神性良善和神性真理，主始终与神性良善和神性真理同在。
这也是下面这句话的意思：
看哪，我站在门外叩门；若有人听见我的声音就开门，我要进到他那里去，我与他，他与我一同坐席。(启示录3:20)
但当人在自由中选择邪恶时，他就向自己关上了门，因而不让来自主的良善和真理进来；因此，那时主看似不在场。正是由于这种表象，经上才说耶和华掩面、遮脸，尽管祂并不掩面、遮脸。此外，那时就其灵而言，人转身离开主，从而感知不到来自主的良善，或看不见来自主的真理；这就是为何主好像没有看见他；然而，主看见属于人的一切和每一个事物。也正是由于这种表象，经上才说主掩面、遮脸，还说祂向他们变脸，以及以后颈，而不是以脸看他们，如以下经文。耶利米书：
我向这城变脸，是为恶，不是为善。(耶利米书21:10)
同一先知书：
我为恶向你们变脸，以致剪除犹大众人。(耶利米书44:11)
以西结书：
我必向那人变脸，使他荒废，我要将他从我民中间剪除。(以西结书14:8)
同一先知书：
我必向他们变脸；让他们从火中出来，火必烧灭他们，我向他们变脸的时候。(以西结书15:7)
摩西五经：
吃任何血的，我必向那灵魂变脸，把他剪除。(利未记17:10)
耶利米书：
在仇敌面前，我必如东风刮散他们；我要以后颈，不以脸看他们。(耶利米书18:17)
正是人向主变脸，并转身离开主，邪恶由此临到他，这一点从圣言也明显看出来。如耶利米书：
他们将后颈，不将脸转向我。(耶利米书32:33)
同一先知书：
他们使脸刚硬过于磐石；不肯回头。(耶利米书5:3)
又：
他们竟随从自己的计谋和刚硬的恶心，向后不向前。(耶利米书7:24)
以赛亚书：
你们的罪使神向你们掩面。(以赛亚书59:2)
恶人向主转过脸去，倒不是说把他们身体的脸转过去，而是说把他们灵的脸转过去。人能随心所欲地转动自己的脸，因为他处于要么转向天堂，要么转向地狱的自由状态，人的脸还被教导在世人面前伪装；但当人变成灵时(他死后随即变成灵)，活在邪恶中的人就向主完全转过脸去(这从《天堂与地狱》一书的阐述和说明可以看出来，17, 123, 142, 144, 145, 151, 153, 251, 272, 511, 552, 561节)。这就是“他们将后颈，不将脸转向我”、“他们向后不向前”的意思。由于此时这些人将自己暴露给惩罚的恶人和地狱，所以那些转身离开的人就以为这是从主发出的，主以严厉的表情看待他们，并把他们投入地狱，惩罚他们，就像一个发怒的人所做的那样；而事实上，主从不以其它任何方式，只出于爱和怜悯来看待任何人。正是由于这种表象，圣言才说下面这些话。以赛亚书：
你行了可畏的事，是我们料想不到的，那时群山必在你面前流下来。(以赛亚书64:3)
诗篇：
这树已经被火焚烧，被砍伐，因你脸上的斥责就灭亡了。(诗篇80:16)
又：
耶和华的脸敌对作恶的人，要从地上除灭他们的纪念。(诗篇34:16)
摩西五经：
看哪，我差遣使者在你前面。你们要在他面前谨慎；因为他必不容忍你们的过犯。(出埃及记23:20–21)
以西结书：
我必带你们到万民的旷野，面对面地审判你们。(以西结书20:35)
摩西五经：
约柜往前行的时候，摩西说，耶和华啊，求你兴起，愿你的仇敌四散，愿恨你的人从你面前逃跑。(民数记10:35)
启示录：
我看见一个又高又大的宝座与坐在上面的，地和天从祂面前逃避了。(启示录20:11)
412f. 所说的这些话是关于当论及耶和华或主时，脸的含义的。当论及人时，脸表示他的心智和情感，因而表示他心智的内层，这是因为心智及其情感，或人心智的内层在脸上变得可见，或说呈现在脸上；这就是为何说脸是心智或心灵的标志。脸也是人内层的肖像，因为它代表它们，他的表情对应于它们。当论及人时，“脸”表示各种情感，这一点从以下经文清楚看出来。以赛亚书：
他们说，离弃这道，偏离这路，使以色列的圣者从我们面前止息。(以赛亚书30:11)
“使以色列的圣者从我们面前止息”表示使主，因而使教会的一切从思维和情感上止息，或从思维和情感中除去，“以色列的圣者”表示主；“离弃这道，偏离这路”表示远离教会的真理和良善，“道”和“路”表示教会的真理和良善。
耶利米哀歌：
他们不接受祭司的脸面，不恩待老人的脸面。(耶利米哀歌4:16)
又：
首领手被吊起来；也不尊敬老人的面。(耶利米哀歌5:12)
“不接受祭司的脸面”表示视教会的良善为虚无，或说把教会的良善估价得一文不值，教会的良善是爱与信的良善；因为“祭司”代表神性良善方面的主，因而表示教会的良善，“脸或面”表示与爱和信有关的教会的一切事物。“不尊敬老人的面”表示视智慧的一切事物为虚无，“老人”表示智慧，“面”表示智慧的一切事物，因为“脸或面”表示内层；“首领手被吊起来”表示一切聪明都被弃绝，“首领”表示首要真理，从这些真理而有聪明。
摩西五经：
关于以扫，雅各说，我藉着在我前面去的礼物安抚他的脸，然后再见他的面，或许他会接受我的脸面。(创世记32:19–20)
“安抚他的脸”表示迷住或吸引住他的心智；“然后再见他的面”表示了解他心智的品质；“或许他会接受我的脸面”表示或许他会以友善的态度接待我；“接受脸面”表示出于情感向任何人拥有善意，或向任何人意愿良善。申命记：
你不可歪曲审判；不可看脸面，也不可受贿赂。(申命记16:19)
“不可看脸面”表示不可具有倾向于上级、富人和朋友，而不是下级、穷人和敌人的心思，因为公义和正直要得到关注，不要考虑人。
玛拉基书：
我使你们在众百姓面前变得可鄙、卑贱，因你们不守我的道，在律法上接受脸面。(玛拉基书2:9)
“在律法上接受脸面”与前面引用的“在审判上看脸面”所表相同，即表示倾向于偏袒上级、富人和朋友，而不是下级、穷人和敌人。以赛亚书：
你们压碎百姓，搓磨贫穷人的脸，是什么意思呢？(以赛亚书3:15)
“搓磨贫穷人的脸”表示摧毁那些处于对真理的无知，却又渴望被教导的人对认识真理的情感；“搓磨”表示摧毁，“脸”表示对认识真理的情感，“贫穷人”表示那些处于对真理的无知，却又渴望被教导的人，因为这些人是属灵地贫穷。
诗篇：
推罗女子必来送礼，百姓中富足的人也必恳求你的面。君王的女儿在宫里极其荣华，她的衣服是金线绣的。(诗篇45:12–13)
“君王的女儿”表示对真理的属灵情感；“推罗女子或女儿”表示对真理和良善的知识或认知的情感；“送礼”表示富有这些；“百姓中富足的人”表示聪明人，在抽象意义上表示对真理和良善的理解；“恳求他的面”表示被赋予这些；因为聪明的一切事物都住在对真理的属灵情感中，因此这由他的“面”来表示。其余的可参看前面的解释(AE 195b节)。
又：
我还要称谢祂，我脸的拯救，我的神。(诗篇42:11; 43:5)
“我脸的拯救”表示在里面的一切事物，因而那些属于心智和情感的事物，相应地表示那些属于爱和信的事物；这些就是那拯救人的，所以它们被称为“拯救”。邪恶的情感，也就是欲望，也由“脸”来表达，因为它们显现在脸上，脸是内在和外在心智的内层的外在或属世形式；在灵界，它们成为一体；因为在那里，披上其它脸，而不是披上来自情感的脸，因而披上对应于心智内层的脸，是不允许的。这就是为何天堂天使脸上光彩照人、秀丽标致，而地狱灵脸上黝黑变形。
这就是“脸”的含义，这一点从以下经文明显看出来。以赛亚书：
疼痛与痛苦抓住他们，他们阵痛，好像临产的妇人一样；他们彼此惊奇对看，他们的脸是火焰的脸。(以赛亚书13:8)
此处论述的是最后的审判，那时恶人被允许进入他们的内层。“他们的脸是火焰的脸”表示那些处于对自我和世界的爱，由此处于仇恨和报复之人的内层；他们也是如此显现的。“疼痛与痛苦抓住他们，他们阵痛，好像临产的妇人一样”表示他们因神性良善和神性真理的流注所受的折磨。他们所受的折磨好比临产妇人的疼痛和痛苦，因为创世记(3:16)用了这种对比；事实上，那时邪恶和虚假结合在一起；等到这种情况发生，当神性良善和真理流入时，“疼痛就抓住了”。
以西结书：
对南方的森林说，猛烈的火焰必不熄灭，从南到北，所有脸都必在其中被烧。(以西结书20:47)
“南方的森林”表示教会里的虚假，因而表示那些处于虚假的人；“南方”表示教会，因为教会能处于来自圣言的真理之光；“森林”表示来自邪恶的虚假；必烧所有脸的“猛烈的火焰”表示教会因对来自邪恶的虚假的爱而荒废和毁灭；“所有脸”表示在对真理和良善的情感，以及由此而来的思维方面，教会之人的一切内层；“从南到北”表示教会的一切事物，从初至末，或内层和外层；“南”表示教会的内层或最初事物，“北”表示教会的外层或最末事物；这就是“南”和“北”的含义，因为那些处于来自主的真理之光的人在灵界的南部；而那些处于他们用来使自己确认虚假的属世之光的人在他们之下的地狱中；那些处于来自主的真理之模糊的人在北部；而那些处于虚假，但未处于他们用来确认自己虚假的任何属世之光的人住在他们之下的地狱中。
约珥书：
在他面前，众民颤抖；所有脸都聚集了黑暗。(约珥书2:6)
此处论述了摧毁教会的邪恶和虚假，还论述了临到那些处于其中之人的审判；“颤抖的众民”表示那些处于虚假的人；“聚集了黑暗的脸”表示他们那处于邪恶之虚假的内层；“脸”表示内层，“黑暗”表示邪恶之虚假。处于邪恶之虚假的地狱人在天堂之光中显得漆黑。
但以理书：
在他们国的末期，犯法的人贯满的时候，必有一王兴起，脸上刚硬。(但以理书8:23)
这些话论及山羊的四角，这四角在此表示四国；但此处的“国”不是指国家，而是指教会的状态，因为母山羊中的“一只公山羊”表示与仁分离之信，这信被称为唯信。“他们国的末期”表示教会的末期，就是当因没有仁而没有信的时候；“犯法的人贯满的时候”表示当不再有真理和良善，而是有邪恶和虚假时；这些话与“当罪孽完结和满盈时”(对此，参看AE 397节)所表相同。“脸上刚硬的王”表示他们的内层里面没有真理，只有虚假；“王”表示真理，在反面意义上表示虚假；“脸”表示内层，“脸上刚硬”表示没有良善的内层；因为哪里没有良善，哪里的真理就刚硬；而来自良善的真理因是活的，所以是温和的；没有良善的真理甚至在他们的内层或思维中变成虚假，因为他们不属灵地思想它，而是物质地思想它，因他们从肉体和世俗事物，并由此从感官谬误来思考。
以西结书：
众子脸上坚硬，心里刚硬。(以西结书2:4)
“脸上坚硬的众子”表示那些处于没有良善的真理之人，在抽象意义上表示没有良善的真理，这些真理本身是虚假，如前所述；“心里刚硬”表示那些不准许良善进入，因而处于邪恶的人，因为哪里良善不能进入，哪里邪恶就会进入；“心”在圣言中也表示爱之良善，“刚硬的心”与“石心”所表相同，即表示不准许爱之良善进入之处；但“肉心”表示准许这良善进入之处。
以赛亚书：
他们的舌头和行为反对耶和华，背叛祂荣耀的眼目。他们脸上的坚硬作证反对他们。(以赛亚书3:8–9)
“反对耶和华的他们的舌头和行为”表示思维和情感；“舌头”表示思维，因为舌头说出人所思想的事，“作为”表示情感，因为人作出属于他情感的事。当这些反对神性良善，反对神性真理时，它们就“反对耶和华，背叛祂荣耀的眼目”；因为在圣言中，“耶和华”表示从主的神性之爱发出的神性良善方面的主，“祂的荣耀”表示神性真理；“背叛祂荣耀的眼目”表示反对这神性真理；“作证反对他们的他们脸上的坚硬”表示拒绝神性真理和神性良善，而不是准许它们进入他们的思维和情感，也就是他们的内层。
以西结书：
看哪，我使你的脸坚硬，对抗他们的脸，使你的额坚硬，对抗他们的额。(以西结书3:8)
这些话是对先知说的，先知表示与虚假和邪恶争战的真理和良善的教义；因此，“使他的脸坚硬，对抗他们的脸”表示通过真理对虚假的弃绝，“使他的额坚硬，对抗他们的额”表示通过良善对邪恶的弃绝；因为“脸”表示对真理的情感，或对虚假的情感，“额”表示对良善的情感，或对邪恶的情感。当对真理和良善的情感与虚假和邪恶争战时，这情感就会变硬，并且外在因热情而变得坚硬；否则，它无法击退它们；但它内在不是这样。由此可见，当如何理解这些话。由于“脸”表示人的内层，或他思维和情感的事物，所以在希伯来语，表示“脸”的这个词表示内层。
412g. 若没有进一步的解释，在这些解释中，关于“脸”所说的各种话几乎是无法理解的；所以我想补充《属天的奥秘》一书关于脸的阐述和说明，即：脸被形成是为了与人的内层相对应(AC 4791–4805 5695节)；关于脸和表情与心智情感的对应关系(AC 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 9306节)；因此，内层从脸上闪耀出来(AC 3527, 4066, 4796节)；对古人来说，脸与内层构成一体(AC 3573, 4326, 5695节)；对天上的天使和世上的诚实人来说，它也与内层构成一体(AC 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250节)；在来世，所有人的脸都变成如他们内层那样的品质(AC 4798, 5695节)；关于脸照着内层变化的经历(AC 4796, 6604节)；关于心智内层，或理解力和意愿进入脸及其肌肉的流注(AC 3631, 4800节)；对阿谀奉承者、伪君子、假冒为善的人和骗子来说，脸不与内层行如一体(AC 4799, 8250节)；对这些人来说，脸被教导伪装真诚、诚实和虔诚(AC 4326节)；随着时间推移，从脑进入脸的流注是如何发生变化的，随即在其与内层的对应关系方面的脸本身又是如何发生变化的(AC 4326, 8250节)；人的属世部分就像属灵心智及其视觉的一张内层脸(AC 5165, 5168节)。关于脸，也可参看《天堂与地狱》(46–48, 142–144, 457–459, 553节)中的阐述和说明。
412. And hide us from the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb. That this signifies, lest they should suffer direful things from the influx of Divine good united to the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is plain from the signification of, "hide us," when it is said by those in whom the goods and truths of the church are destroyed by evils of life and the falsities thence, as denoting, lest they should suffer direful things, concerning which we shall speak presently; from the signification of, "from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne," as denoting the Lord as to Divine good in heaven; that face, when said of the Lord, denotes the Divine love, from which the Divine good in heaven is, will be plain from the passages in the Word to be adduced presently, and that, "Him that sitteth upon the throne" denotes the Lord as to Divine good in heaven, may be seen above (n. 297, 343); and from the signification of, "the anger of the Lamb," as denoting the casting into hell by the influx of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. That the anger of Jehovah or the Lord signifies this, is evident from the passages in the Word to be adduced in the following article. Moreover, that the Lord alone is meant by Him that sitteth upon the throne, and by the Lamb; the Lord as to Divine good by Him that sitteth upon the throne, and the Lord as to Divine truth by the Lamb, may be seen above (n. 297, 343). That the anger of the Lamb is mentioned, is not that the Lord, who is meant by Him that sitteth on the throne and by the Lamb, is angry, for He is the Divine good itself, and this cannot be angry, for anger can have no place in essential good; but it is thus said in the sense of the letter of the Word for reasons which we shall explain elsewhere; here it shall only be shown that the face of Jehovah or of the Lord signifies the Divine love, and thence the Divine good in heaven and in the church; and, in the opposite sense, by setting His face against any one, and by concealing and hiding His face, is meant the same as by wrath and anger; also, that by the face, when said of man, are meant the interiors of his mind, and affection in both senses.
[2] That the face, when said of Jehovah or the Lord, signifies the Divine love, and thence the Divine good, is plain from the following passages.
In David:
"Make thy faces to shine upon thy servant; save me for thy mercy's sake" (116-125, and concerning the heat and light thence, n. 126-140.)
[3] In the same:
"Many say, Who will shew us good? lift up upon us the light of thy faces, O Jehovah" (Psalms 4:6).
In the same:
"They shall walk, O Jehovah, in the light of thy faces" (Psalms 89:15).
In the same:
"Bring us back, O God, and cause thy faces to shine, that we may be saved" (Psalms 80:3, 7, 19).
And in the same:
"God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his faces to shine upon us" (Psalms 67:1).
By the light of the faces of Jehovah or of the Lord, is meant the Divine truth from the Divine love, as said above, and thence intelligence and wisdom, for from the Divine truth, or the Divine light in the heavens, are all the intelligence and wisdom, both of angels and men; hence by making Thy faces to shine upon us, by lifting up upon us the light of Thy faces, and by causing Thy faces to shine, is signified to enlighten in Divine, truth, and to gift with intelligence and wisdom.
[4] The same is signified in the blessing of the sons of Israel, in Moses:
"Jehovah bless thee, and keep thee; Jehovah make his faces shine upon thee, and be merciful unto thee; Jehovah lift up his faces upon thee, and give thee peace" (Num. 6:24-26).
By, making His faces shine, and being merciful, is signified to enlighten in Divine truth, and to impart intelligence and wisdom; and by lifting up His faces, and giving peace is signified to fill with Divine good, and to gift with love. Both are necessary to make man wise; for all those who are in the spiritual world are enlightened by the light which [proceeds] from the Lord as a Sun, but still they alone become intelligent and wise, who are at the same time in love, because the good of love receives truth, for they are conjoined since they mutually agree with and love each other. They only, therefore, see the Sun in heaven who are in love; others [see] only the light. To be merciful, which is said of the enlightenment of the faces, is also said of truth in the Word, and peace, which is said of the lifting up of the faces, is said of good.
[5] Because the Lord's Divine love appears as a Sun in heaven, and thence proceeds the light there, therefore:
"When the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment became as the light" (Heaven and Hell 177-182; also above, n. 64, 195, 271, 395).
[6] In Matthew:
Jesus said of the boy whom he had placed in the midst of his disciples, "Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; I say unto you, That their angels in the heavens do always behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens" (18:10).
Here it is said that their angels behold, because there are spirits and angels with every man, and according to the quality of the man, such are the spirits and angels. With infant boys there are angels from the inmost heaven, who see the Lord as a Sun; for they are in love to Him, and in innocence; this is meant in a proximate sense by, their angels behold the face of His Father. By the face of the Father is meant the Divine love which was in the Lord, consequently, the essential Divine, which is Jehovah, for the Father was in Him, and He in the Father, and they were one, as He Himself teaches. But these same words in the purely spiritual sense signify, that the Lord, as to His Divine good, is in the good of innocence, for this is signified by an infant boy in the spiritual sense, and by the face of the Father [is signified] the Lord's Divine good. The same thing is taught in the Apocalypse concerning the Lord's servants, by whom are meant those who are in Divine truths, from their being in the good of love and charity:
"The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem; and his servants shall serve him; and they shall see his face" (22:3, 4).
But concerning these words see the explanation in the following chapters.
[7] In Isaiah:
"In all their straitness he was straitened, and the angel of his faces delivered them; for his love and his pity be redeemed them; and he took them, and carried them all the days of eternity" (130, 200, 302); and by the faces of Jehovah is meant the Divine love which is in the Lord, whence it is also said, "for his love and his pity he redeemed them; and he took them, and carried them all the days of eternity," these things being of the Divine love. The Lord, as to His Human, was the Divine truth, from which He fought with the hells, and by which He subjugated them. Hence it is that He is called an angel, that is as to His Divine Human. The Lord is evidently treated of in that chapter, and His combats with the hells, and the subjugation of them.
[8] In David:
"Thou hidest them in the secret of thy faces from the loftiness of man; thou concealest them in thy pavilion from the strife of tongues" (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21.)
[9] In the same:
"Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret in the light of thy faces" (Psalms 90:8).
"The light of thy faces," denotes the light of heaven from the Lord as the Sun there. Because this light is the very Divine truth from which are all intelligence and wisdom, therefore the quality of whatever comes into this light is manifested as in clear day; hence it is, that when the evil come into this light, they appear entirely according to their quality, deformed and monstrous according to the evils concealed in them. From these things it is evident what is meant by, "Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, and our secret in the light of thy faces."
[10] In Jeremiah:
"Proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, [and] I will not cause my faces to fall upon you; for I am merciful" (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 212, 213, 218).
[11] Because by the faces of Jehovah or the Lord, is signified the Divine good united with the Divine truth, going forth and proceeding from His Divine love, therefore by the faces of Jehovah are also signified the interior things of the church, of the Word, and of worship, for that [Divine good] is in the interiors of those things; the exterior things of the church, of the Word, and of worship, being only the effects and works thence. The interior things of the church, of the Word, and of worship, are signified by seeing, seeking, and beseeching the faces of Jehovah, Isaiah:
"What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? when ye come to see the faces of Jehovah" (1:11, 12).
In Zechariah:
"The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying In going let us go to beseech the faces of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of hosts; thus many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah of hosts in Jerusalem, and supplicate the faces of Jehovah" (8:21, 22).
In David:
Unto thee my heart hath said, Seek my faces; thy faces, O Jehovah, I do seek" (Psalms 27:8).
In the same:
"Let us make a joyful noise unto the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before his faces with confession" (Psalms 95:1,2).
In Malachi:
"Beseech the faces of God, that he may be merciful unto us" (1:9).
In David:
"My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come that I may behold the faces of God? Wait thou for God; for I shall yet confess to him; his faces are salvation" (42:2, 6).
In these passages, by the faces of Jehovah and God, or the Lord, are meant the interior things of the church, of the Word, and of worship; because Divine good, and Divine truth, thus the Lord Himself, are in them, and from them in externals, but not in the externals, namely, of the church, of the Word, and of worship, without them.
[12] Because all those who went to the feast at Jerusalem were bound to carry with them such things as pertained to worship, and all worship is from the interior things of the heart and the faith, and these are signified by the gifts that were offered to the Lord, it was therefore commanded that every one should offer some gift, which is meant by,
"They shall not see my faces empty" (Arcana Coelestia 10567, 10568, where they are explained).
[13] But because that nation was only in the externals of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and not at all in the internals, therefore it was not granted to Moses to see the Lord's face, but the back only, according to these words in Moses:
"Moses said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory; to whom he said, I will make all my goodness to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; thou canst not see my faces; for there shall no man see me and live. I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and when I take away my hand, thou shalt see my back parts; but my faces shall not be seen" (Arcana Coelestia 10573-10584).
[14] Moreover, the faces of Jehovah or the Lord, because they denote the internals of the Word, of the church, and of worship, are especially external things in which are internal things, because internals make themselves to be seen in externals, as the internals of man do in his face and look. But the Jewish people were of such a nature that they beheld externals only, and not at all the internals; and to behold externals and not at the same time internals, or externals without internals, is as it were to behold the image of a man which is without life; but to behold externals, and at the same time internals, or externals from internals, is as it were to behold a living man; this, therefore, is, in the proper sense, to see the face of Jehovah, or to beseech His faces, in the passages adduced above.
[15] Because the internals of the Word, of the church, and of worship, appear in externals, or cause themselves to be seen in externals, comparatively as the internals of man do in the face, it is evident what is signified, in the internal sense, by seeing Jehovah or the Lord face to face, in the following passages.
In Moses:
"I have seen God face to face, and yet my soul is preserved" (Genesis 32:30).
Jacob said these words after he had wrestled with God, who had appeared to him as an angel. In the book of Judges:
"Gideon said, I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not; thou shalt not die" (6:22, 23).
In the same manner Manoah and his wife (Judg. 13:22, 23). And concerning the Israelitish people:
"Jehovah spake with you face to face from the mount, out of the midst of the fire" (Deuteronomy 5:4);
concerning which circumstance it is thus said more fully:
"Jehovah hath caused [us] to see his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire; we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he continueth to live" (Deuteronomy 5:24).
And concerning Moses:
"Jehovah spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his companion" (Exodus 33:11; 34:10).
[16] It should, however, be known, that no man, nor even any angel, can see the Lord's face, because it is Divine love, and no one can bear the Divine love, such as it is in itself; for to see the Lord's face would be like letting the eye into the very fire of the sun, in which case it would instantly perish; such also is the Divine love viewed in itself; therefore the Lord appears to those in the interior heavens as a Sun, and that Sun is encompassed with many radiant circles, which form coverings one above another, in order that the Divine love may proceed tempered and moderated to the angels in heaven, and that the angels may thereby bear it; the Lord therefore appears as a Sun only to the angels of the higher heavens, but to the angels of the lower heavens He appears only as light, and to the rest as a moon. Still, however, the Lord does appear to the angels in heaven, but then it is under an angelic form; for He fills an angel with His own aspect, and thus with His presence afar off, and this in various places, but everywhere accommodated to the good of love and faith with those to whom He appears; thus the Lord was seen by Gideon, also by Manoah and his wife, likewise by Moses, and by the Israelitish people. This therefore is what is meant by their seeing Jehovah face to face, and by their seeing Jehovah and not dying. That the face itself, as to the interiors of His Divine love, was not seen, is plainly evident from what was said to Moses, namely,
"That no one can see Jehovah's face and live" (Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248. (What the external is without the internal; and what the external is in which is the internal, in n. 47 of the same work.)
[17] That the Jewish nation was of such a quality, was represented and signified by,
"They covered the Lord's face, beat him, and spat upon him" (64, 83, 195 at the end).
[18] From the passages that have been already explained, it may be known what the face of Jehovah or the Lord signifies, namely, the Divine love, and all the good in heaven and in the church thence. From this also it may be known what is signified by hiding or covering the faces, where it is said of Jehovah or the Lord, namely, that it is to leave man in his proprium, and thence in the evils and falsities that flow from his proprium; for man viewed in himself is nothing but evil and the falsity thence, and he is withheld from these by the Lord, that he may be in good, which is effected by an elevation from his proprium. Hence it is evident that by hiding and covering the faces, when said of the Lord, is signified to leave in evils and falsities; as in the following passages. In Jeremiah:
"For all their perverseness I have hid my faces from this city" (33:5).
In Isaiah:
"Your sins have hid God's faces from you, that he will not hear" (59:2).
In Ezekiel:
"My faces will I turn from them, that they may profane my secret [place]; and the violent may enter into it, and defile it" (7:22).
In the same:
"The nations shall know that for their iniquity the sons of Israel went into captivity; and therefore will I hide my faces from them" (39:23).
In Lamentations:
"The face of Jehovah hath divided them; he will no more regard them" (4:16).
In Micah:
"Jehovah will hide his faces from them, even as they have made their works evil" (3:4).
In David:
"Thou hast hid thy faces, I was troubled" (Psalms 30:7).
In the same:
"Wherefore hidest thou thy faces, [and] forgettest our wretchedness and our oppression?" (Psalms 44:25).
In the same:
"Thou hidest thy faces, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust (Psalms 104:29).
In Moses:
"My anger shall be kindled against the people in that day, and I will forsake them, and will hide my faces from them. In hiding I will hide my faces in that day, for all the evil which they have wrought" (Deuteronomy 31:17, 18).
In the same:
"I will hide my faces from them; they are a generation of perversions" (Deuteronomy 32:20).
In Isaiah:
"I will wait upon Jehovah, though he hideth his faces from the house of Jacob" (8:17).
In David:
"How long wilt Thou forget me, O Jehovah? how long wilt thou hide thy faces from me?" (Psalms 13:1).
In the same:
"Hide not thy faces from me; reject not thy servant in anger" (Psalms 27:9).
In the same:
"Hide not thy faces from thy servant, for I am in trouble; answer me speedily" (Psalms 69:17).
In the same:
"O Jehovah, wherefore forsakest thou my soul? wherefore hidest thou thy faces from me?" (Psalms 88:14).
In the same:
"Hide not thy faces from me in the day when I am in distress" (Psalms 102:2).
In the same:
"Answer me, O Jehovah; hide not thy faces from me, lest I become like them that go down into the pit" (Psalms 143:7).
In Ezekiel:
"When I shall gather together the sons of Israel upon their own land, then will I no longer hide my faces from them, for I will pour out my spirit upon the sons of Israel" (Ezekiel 39:27-29).
In David:
"He hath not despised nor turned away from the affliction of Israel; neither hath he hid his faces from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard" (Psalms 22:24).
[19] In these passages it is said that Jehovah, that is, the Lord, covers and hides His faces on account of iniquities and sins; He is also entreated not to hide or cover [them], when nevertheless He never hides or covers [what they signify], namely, His Divine good and His Divine truth, for the Lord is Divine love itself, and mercy itself, and desires the salvation of all; wherefore He is present with all and each, even with those who are in iniquities and sins, and by this presence He gifts them with the liberty of receiving Him, that is, the truth and good from Him, therefore they receive if in freedom thy desire it. The reason why [reception must be] in freedom is, in order that goods and truths may remain with man, and be with him as his own; for what a man does in freedom he does from affection, for all freedom is of the affection, the affection also is his will, therefore what is received in freedom, or from man's affection, enters his will, and remains. The reason why it then remains is, because the will is the man himself, for therein his life primarily resides, but secondarily in the thought or the understanding. This, therefore, is the reason that man ought to receive the Divine good and the Divine truth, with which the Lord is always present.
[20] This also is meant by:
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in unto him, and will sup with him" (Apoc. 3:20).
But when man in freedom chooses evil, then he shuts the door against himself, and thus does not admit the good and truth which are from the Lord; therefore the Lord then appears as absent, and it is from this appearance that it is said that Jehovah covers and hides His faces, although He does not cover and hide [them]. Moreover, man, then, as to his spirit, turns himself away from the Lord, and, consequently, does not perceive the good or see the truth which are from the Lord; hence also it appears as if the Lord did not see him, when nevertheless He sees all and everything pertaining to him. From this appearance also it is that He is said to cover and hide His faces, indeed, that He is said to set (ponere et dare) His faces against them, also that He beholds them in the back of the neck (cervice), and not in the faces, as in the following passages.
In Jeremiah:
"I have set my faces against this city for evil, and not for good" (21:10).
In the same:
"I set my faces against you for evil, to cut off all Judah" (44:11).
In Ezekiel:
"I will set my faces against that man, and I will lay him waste, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people" (14:8).
In the same:
"I will set my faces against them; they shall go out from a fire, and a fire shall devour them; when I shall have set my faces against them" (15:7).
In Moses:
"He that shall eat any blood, I will set my faces against that soul, and I will cut him off" (Leviticus 17:10).
In Jeremiah:
"As an east wind will I scatter them before the enemy; I will look at them in the back of the neck, and not in the face" (18:17).
That it is man who sets (ponit et dat) his face against the Lord, and who turns himself away from the Lord, whence evil overtakes him, is plain also from the Word. As in Jeremiah:
"They have turned unto me the back of the neck, and not the faces" (32:33).
In the same:
"They have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return" (5:3).
In the same:
"They have gone away in their own counsels, in the hardening of their evil heart, they are become turned backwards and not turned forwards" (7:24).
And in Isaiah:
"Your sins have hid God's faces from you" (Isaiah 59:2).
[21] That the wicked turn away the face from the Lord, is not done as to the bodily face, but the face of their spirit. Man can turn his face whichever way he pleases, because he is in a state of freedom to turn himself either towards heaven or towards hell, and also a man's face has been taught to counterfeit before the world; but when man becomes a spirit, which he does immediately after death, then he who had lived in evils, turns away the face entirely from the Lord (as is evident from what has been said and shown in the work concerning 64:3). 1
In David:
"It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they have perished at the rebuke of thy faces" (Psalms 80:16).
In the same:
"The faces of Jehovah are against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth" (Psalms 34:16).
In Moses:
"Behold I send an angel before thee. Take heed of his faces; for he will not bear your prevarication" (Exodus 23:20, 21).
In Ezekiel:
"I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and I will judge with you face to face" (20:35).
In Moses:
"When the ark set forward, Moses said, Arise, O Jehovah, let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thy faces" (Num. 10:35).
In the Apocalypse:
"I saw a throne high and great, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away" (20:11).
[22] These things are now said respecting the signification of the face, when said of Jehovah or the Lord; but the face, where it is said of man, signifies his mind and affection, consequently, the interiors of his mind, and this because the mind and its affections, or the interiors of the man's mind, become visible in the face, whence it is that the face is called the index of the mind. The face also is an effigy of the interiors of man, for it represents them, and the countenance corresponds to them. That by the faces, when said of man, are signified affections of various kinds, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:
"They say, Retire from the way, turn aside from the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from our faces" (30:11).
Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from our faces, signifies, [to remove] the Lord from the thought and affection, thus everything of the church, the Holy One of Israel denoting the Lord; to recede from the truth and good of the church, which is from the Lord, and in which the Lord is, is signified by "Retire from the way, turn aside from the path," the way and the path denoting the truth and good of the church.
[23] In Lamentations:
"They have not accepted the faces of the priests, and they have not had pity upon the old" (Lamentations 4:16).
And elsewhere:
"Princes were hanged up by their hand; the faces of the old were not honoured" (Lamentations 5:12).
Not to accept the faces of the priests, signifies to esteem as nothing the goods of the church, which are [those] of love and faith; for the priests represented the Lord as to Divine good, and thence signified the good of the church, and faces all things thereof, which have reference to love and faith. Not to honour the faces of the old, signifies to account as nothing all things of wisdom, the old signifying wisdom, and their faces all things thereof, because interior. The princes hanged up by their hand, signify that all intelligence was rejected, princes denoting the primary truths, from which there is intelligence.
[24] In Moses:
"Jacob said concerning Esau, I will appease his faces with a present, that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his faces; peradventure he will accept my faces" (Genesis 32:20).
To appease his faces, signifies to engage his mind; afterward to see his faces, signifies to know the quality of his mind; peradventure he will accept my faces, signifies, peradventure he shall receive me with a favourable mind, to accept the faces denoting to will good to any one from affection. In the same:
"Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not regard faces, neither take a gift" (Deuteronomy 16:19).
Not to regard faces, signifies [not] to be of a mind disposed towards superiors, the rich, and friends, more than towards inferiors, the poor, and enemies, because justice and rectitude are to be regarded without any respect to person.
[25] In Malachi:
"I have made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye keep not my ways, and receive faces in the law" (2:9).
To receive faces in the law, here signifies the same thing as above, to regard faces in judgment; namely, to be disposed to favour superiors, the rich, and friends, rather than inferiors, the poor, and enemies.
In Isaiah:
"What mean ye, that ye beat the people, and grind the faces of the poor?" (3:15).
To grind the faces of the poor, signifies to destroy the affections of knowing truth with those who are in ignorance of truths, and yet desire to be instructed, to grind signifying to destroy; faces signifying the affections of knowing truths, and the poor, those who are in ignorance of truth and desire to be instructed, for these are those who are spiritually poor.
[26] In David:
"The daughter of Tyre shall bring a gift; the rich among the people shall intreat thy faces. The king's daughter is all glorious within; her clothing is of interwoven [materials] of gold" (195).
[27] In the same:
"Yet do I trust in him, the salvations of my faces, and my God" (Psalms 42:11; 43:5).
The salvations of my faces, signify all things that are within, thus those of the mind and affections, consequently, those of love and faith, which, because they save, are called salvations. Evil affections, which are lusts, are also expressed by faces, because they appear in the faces, for the face is the external or natural form of the interiors of the internal and external mind (animi et mentis); and in the spiritual world they make one; for there it is not permitted to counterfeit other faces than those of the affections, thus which correspond to the interiors of the mind; hence it is, that the angels of heaven are lustrous and comely in face, whereas infernal spirits are dark and deformed in face.
[28] That these things are also meant by faces, is evident from the following passages. In Isaiah:
"Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, as a travailing woman they bring forth; they shall be amazed [every] man towards his companion; their faces [are] faces of flames" (13:8).
The Last Judgment is here treated of, when the evil are let into their interiors. The interiors of those who are in the love of self and the world, and thence in hatred and revenges, are meant by their faces are as faces of flames; such also do they appear; their torment from the influx of Divine good and Divine truth is signified by, "Pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, as a travailing woman they bring forth. Their torments are like the pangs and sorrows of travailing women for the same reason as [is given] in Genesis (3:16); for evils and falsities are then conjoined, and until this take place, sorrows take hold when the Divine good and truth flow in.
[29] In Ezekiel:
"Say to the forest of the south, The flame of a grievous flame shall not be quenched, whence all faces shall be burned therein from the south even to the north" (20:47).
By the forest of the south is meant falsity within the church, consequently, those therein who are in falsities. The church is signified by the south because it may be in the light of truth from the Word, and falsity from evil is signified by the forest; the vastation and destruction of the church by the love of falsity from evil, are signified by, "The flame of a grievous flame, whence all faces shall be burned"; all faces denote all the interiors of the men of the church as to the affections of truth and good, and the thoughts thence; from the south even to the north, signifies all things of the church from primaries to ultimates, or the interiors and exteriors; the south denotes the interior or first things of the church, and the north denotes the exterior or ultimate things of the church. The reason why such things are signified by the south and the north is, that those who are in the light of truth from the Lord are in the southern quarter of the spiritual world, and, in the hells under them there, are those who are in natural light, by which they have confirmed themselves in falsities; and in the northern quarter are those who are in an obscure [state] of truth from the Lord, and in the hells under them there, those who are in falsities, but not in any natural light by which they have confirmed their falsities.
[30] In Joel:
"Before him the peoples tremble; all faces have gathered blackness" (2:6).
The evils and falsities devastating the church are here treated of; also the judgment upon those who are in them; those who are in falsities, are signified by the peoples who tremble; their interiors, which are in the falsities of evil, are signified by the faces that have gathered blackness, faces denoting the interiors, and blackness denoting the falsity of evil; the infernals also who are in the falsity of evil appear black in the light of heaven.
[31] In Daniel:
"In the end of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king hard in faces shall rise up" (397). "A king hard in faces," signifies [that there was] no truth in their interiors, but falsity; for a king signifies truth, and, in the opposite sense, falsity, faces signifying the interiors, and hard in faces, such things without good; for where there is no good, there truth is hard, whereas truth from good is mild, because living; and that truth [without good] is even falsity in their interiors or in their thought, because they do not think concerning it spiritually but materially, because from corporeal and worldly things, and thence from fallacies of the senses.
[32] In Ezekiel:
"Sons hard in their faces, and hardened in heart" (2:4).
By sons hard in their faces are signified those who are in truths without good, and abstractedly truths without good, which in themselves are falsities, as said above; and by, hardened in heart, are signified those who do not admit good, consequently, who are in evil, for evil enters where good cannot. The heart, in the Word, also signifies the good of love, and a hardened heart signifies the same as a stony heart, namely, where the good of love is not admitted; but a heart of flesh signifies, where it is admitted.
[33] In Isaiah:
"Their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to rebel against the eyes of his glory. The hardness of their faces doth witness against them" (3:8, 9).
By their tongue and their doings which are against Jehovah, are signified the thought and affection; by the tongue, the thought, because the tongue utters what the man thinks; and by the doings, affection, because a man does what is of his affection. These are against Jehovah, and rebel against the eyes of His glory, when they are against the Divine good, and against the Divine truth, for by Jehovah in the Word is meant the Lord as to the Divine good proceeding from His Divine love, and by His glory is meant the Divine truth; to be against this is signified by rebelling against the eyes of His glory. The hardness of their faces, which witnesses against them, signifies the refusal and non-admission of the Divine truth and the Divine good into their thoughts and affections, which are their interiors.
[34] In Ezekiel
"Behold, I have made thy faces hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their foreheads" (Ezekiel 3:8).
These words are spoken to the prophet, by whom is signified the doctrine of truth and good fighting against falsities and evils; therefore by his faces being hard against their faces is signified the rejection of falsities by truths, and by his forehead being hard against their foreheads is signified the rejection of evil by good; for faces signify the affections of truth and the
affections of falsity, and the forehead signifies the affection of good and the affection of evil. The affection of truth and good hardens and becomes hard outwardly from zeal, when it combats against falsity and evil, otherwise it could not repulse them; not however inwardly. Hence it is evident how those words are to be understood. Because by the faces are signified the interiors of man, or the things of his thought and affection, hence also, in the Hebrew tongue, interiorly is expressed by the same word as face.
[35] As various observations are made in [these] explanations concerning faces, which perhaps, without further exposition, can scarcely be understood, therefore I desire to add what has been said and shown concerning faces in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that the face is formed to a correspondence with a man's interiors, n. 4791-4805, 5695; concerning the correspondence of the face and countenance with the affections of the mind, n. 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 9306. That hence the interiors shine forth from the face, n. 3527, 4066, 4796. That with the ancients the face made one with the interiors, n. 3573, 4326, 5695. That they also make one with the angels in heaven, and with sincere men in the world, n. 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250. That the faces of all in the other life become of such a quality as their interiors, n. 4798, 5695. Experiences of the changes of the face according to the interiors, n. 4796, 6604. Concerning the influx of the interiors of the mind, or of the understanding and will into the face and its muscles, n. 3631, 4800. That the face does not act as one with the interiors of flatterers, counterfeiters, hypocrites, and deceitful men, n. 4799, 8250; that with such the face is taught to counterfeit what is sincere, honest, and pious, n. 4326. How the influx from the brains into the face became changed in process of time, and therewith the face itself as to correspondence with the interiors, n. 4326, 8250. That the natural part of man is as an interior face to the spiritual mind and its sight, n. 5165, 5168. See also what has been said and shown concerning faces, in the work on Heaven and Hell 46-48, 142-144, 457-459, 553.
Footnotes:
1. This passage has been quoted because it appears to include the word "face," but although it includes the Latin word for "face" it does not include the thing. The Latin of this passage is: "Quando facies formidabilis, non spectemur"; but here facies is not the noun meaning "face," but the verb meaning "thou shalt do"; and formidabilis is evidently a misreading for formidabilia.-TR.
412. And hide us from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb, signifies lest they should suffer direful things from the influx of Divine good united to the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "hide us," when it is said by those in whom the goods and truths of the church are destroyed by evils of life and falsities therefrom, as being lest they should suffer direful things (of which presently); also from the signification of "from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne," as being the Lord in respect to Divine good in heaven; that "face," in reference to the Lord, means the Divine love, from which is Divine good in heaven, will be evident from the passages in the Word that will be cited presently; and that "He that sitteth upon the throne" means the Lord in respect to Divine good in heaven may be seen above (n. 297, 343). Also from the signification of "the anger of the Lamb," as being the casting into hell by the influx of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord.
That "the anger of Jehovah" or of the Lord signifies this, can be seen from passages in the Word to be cited in the following article. Moreover it may be seen above (n. 297, 343) that the Lord alone is meant by "Him that sitteth upon the throne," and by "the Lamb;" the Lord in respect to Divine good by "Him that sitteth upon the throne," and the Lord in respect to Divine truth by "the Lamb." The expression "the anger of the Lamb" does not mean that the Lord (who is meant by "Him that sitteth upon the throne" and by "the Lamb") is angry, for He is Divine good itself, and that cannot be angry, for anger has nothing to do with good itself; but it is so expressed in the sense of the letter of the Word, for reasons explained elsewhere; let it be merely shown here that "the face" of Jehovah, or of the Lord, signifies the Divine love, and thence Divine good in heaven and in the church; and in the contrary sense "to set His face against anyone," and "to hide or conceal His face," has a similar meaning as "wrath" and "anger;" also that "the face," in reference to man, means in both senses the interiors that belong to his mind and affection.
[2] That "the face," in reference to Jehovah or the Lord, signifies the Divine love and the Divine good therefrom is evident from the following passages. In David:
Make Thy faces to shine upon Thy servant; save me because of Thy mercy (116-125; and of The Heat and Light from it, n 126-140)
[3] In the same:
Many say, Who will show us good? Jehovah, lift up the light of Thy faces upon us (Psalms 4:6).
In the same:
They shall walk, O Jehovah, in the light of Thy faces (Psalms 89:15).
In the same:
Turn us back, O God, and cause Thy faces to shine, that we may be saved (Psalms 80:3, 7, 19).
And in the same:
God be merciful unto us and bless us, and cause His faces to shine upon Us (Psalms 67:1).
"The light of the faces" of Jehovah or of the Lord means Divine truth from Divine love (as above) and intelligence and wisdom therefrom, for both angels and men have all their intelligence and wisdom from Divine truth, or the Divine light in the heavens, therefore "make Thy faces to shine upon us," "lift up the light of Thy faces upon us," and "cause Thy faces to shine," in the above passages signify to enlighten in Divine truth, and to bestow intelligence and wisdom.
[4] The like is signified in the blessing of the sons of Israel in Moses:
Jehovah bless thee and keep thee; Jehovah make His faces to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee; Jehovah lift up His faces upon thee and give thee peace (Numbers 6:24-26).
"To make the faces to shine and to be gracious" signifies to enlighten in Divine truth, and to bestow intelligence and wisdom; and "to lift up the faces and give peace" signifies to fill with Divine good and to bestow love. Both are necessary to make man wise, for everyone that is in the spiritual world is enlightened by the light that is from the Lord as a sun, and yet those only become intelligent and wise who are at the same time in love, because the good that is of love is what receives truth; for they are conjoined because they agree and love one another. Only such, therefore, as have love see the sun in heaven, the rest see merely the light. "To be gracious," which is said of making the faces to shine, is predicated in the Word of truth; and "peace," which is said of lifting up the faces, is predicated of good.
[5] Since the Lord's Divine love is seen as a sun in heaven, from which is the light there, so:
When the Lord was transfigured before Peter, James, and John, His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as the light (Heaven and Hell 177-182; also above, n. 64, 195, 271, 395.)
[6] In Matthew:
Jesus said of the child whom He had placed in the midst of the disciples, See that ye despise not one of these little ones; I say unto you, that their angels in the heavens do always behold the face of My Father who is in the heavens (Matthew 18:10).
It is said "their angels behold," because with every man there are spirits and angels, and the spirits and angels are such as the man is. With infant children there are angels from the inmost heaven; these see the Lord as a sun, for they are in love to Him and in innocence; this is meant in the nearest sense by "their angels behold the face of My Father;" "the face of the Father" meaning the Divine love which was in the Lord, consequently the essential Divine which is Jehovah; for the Father was in Him, and He in the Father, and they were one, as He Himself teaches. But these same words in the purely spiritual sense signify that the Lord in respect to His Divine good is in the good of innocence, for this is signified by "infant child" in the spiritual sense, and "the face of the Father" signifies the Lord's Divine good. Of "the servants of the Lord," by whom are meant those who are in Divine truths because they are in the good of love and charity, the same is said in Revelation:
The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem; and His servants shall do Him service; and they shall see His face 1(Revelation 22:3-4).
But on this see the explanation in the following.
[7] In Isaiah:
In all their distress He was distressed, and the angel of His faces saved them; because of His love and His pity He redeemed them; and He carried them and lifted them up all the days of eternity (130, 200, 302); and "the faces of Jehovah" mean the Divine love which is in the Lord, therefore it is also said, "because of His love and His pity He redeemed them; and He carried them and lifted them up all the days of eternity;" all this is of the Divine love. The Lord in respect to His Human was Divine truth, and from this He combated with the hells, and by it subjugated them; for this reason He is called "an angel," that is, in respect to His Divine Human. This chapter evidently treats of the Lord, and of His combats with the hells and of their subjugation.
[8] In David:
Thou hidest them 2in the hiding place of Thy faces from the elations of man; Thou concealest them in Thy covert from the strife of tongues (The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21.)
[9] In the same:
Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, and our hidden things in the light of Thy faces (Psalms 90:8).
"The light of Thy faces" means the light of heaven from the Lord as the sun there. Because this light is Divine truth itself, from which is all intelligence and wisdom, whatever comes into this light has its quality exhibited as in clear day; for this reason when the evil come into this light they appear just as they are, deformed and monstrous according to the evils concealed with them. This makes clear what is meant by "Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, and our hidden things in the light of Thy faces."
[10] In Jeremiah:
Proclaim these words towards the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel; I will not cause My faces to fall upon you, for I am merciful (The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 212-213, 218).
[11] Because "the faces of Jehovah," or of the Lord, signify the Divine good united to Divine truth going out and proceeding from His Divine love, therefore also "the faces of Jehovah" signify the interiors of the church, of the Word, and of worship, for Divine good is in the interior of these; the exteriors of the church, of the Word, and of worship are only the effects and works therefrom. The interiors of the church, of the Word, and of worship are signified by "seeing," "seeking," and "entreating the faces of Jehovah." In Isaiah:
What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? when ye shall come to see the faces of Jehovah? (Isaiah 1:11-12)
In Zechariah:
The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, In going let us go to entreat the faces of Jehovah, and to seek Jehovah of Hosts; thus many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to entreat the faces of Jehovah (Zechariah 8:21-22).
In David:
My heart said unto thee, Seek ye my faces; Thy faces, O Jehovah, I do seek (Psalms 27:8).
We will make a joyful noise unto the Rock of our salvation; we will come before His faces with confession (Psalms 95:1, 2).
In Malachi:
Entreat the faces of God that He may be gracious unto us (Malachi 1:9).
In David:
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come to appear before the faces of God? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet confess to Him; His faces are salvations (Psalms 42:2, 5).
In these passages, "faces of Jehovah," "of God," or "of the Lord," mean the interiors of the church, of the Word, and of worship, because Divine good and Divine truth, thus the Lord Himself, are in these interiors, and from them in externals; but are not in externals, namely, of the church, of the Word, and of worship apart from these.
[12] As it was the duty of all who went to Jerusalem to the feasts to carry with them such things as pertained to worship, and all worship is from the interiors which are of the heart and faith, and these interiors are signified by the gifts offered to the Lord, so it was commanded that everyone should offer some gift, which is meant by:
They shall not see My faces empty (Arcana Coelestia 10567-10568, where it is explained.)
[13] But because that nation was only in the externals of the Word, of the church, and of worship, and not at all in the internals, therefore it was not granted to Moses to see the Lord's face, but only His back, according to these words in Moses:
Moses said, I pray Thee show me Thy glory; to whom He said, I will make all My good to pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; thou canst not see My faces, for man shall not see Me and live. I will put thee in a hole of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand until I shall have passed by; and when I shall take away My hand thou shalt see My hinder parts, but My faces shall not be seen (Arcana Coelestia 10573-10584.)
[14] Furthermore, since "the faces of Jehovah" or the Lord mean the internals of the Word, of the church, and of worship, they mean especially the externals in which are internals; since internals make themselves to be seen in externals, as the internals of man do in his face and features. But the Jewish nation was such that it looked to externals only, and to internals not at all; and to look at externals and not at the same time at internals, or at externals without internals, is like looking at the image of a man that is without life; but to look at externals and at the same time at internals, or at externals from internals, is like looking at a living man; this therefore is, in the proper sense, "to see the face of Jehovah," or "to entreat His faces," in the passages cited above.
[15] Since the internals of the Word, of the church, and of worship, appear in the externals, or present themselves to be seen in externals, comparatively as the internals of man do in the face, it is evident what is signified in the internal sense by "seeing Jehovah" or the Lord "face to face," in the following passages. In Moses:
I have seen God face to face, and yet my soul is delivered (Genesis 32:30).
Jacob said this after he had wrestled with God, who appeared to him as an angel. In the book of Judges:
Gideon said, I have seen the angel of Jehovah face to face. And Jehovah said unto him, Peace be unto thee; fear not, thou shalt not die (Judges 6:22-23).
So, too, with Manoah and his wife (Judges 13:21-23).
And respecting the Israelitish people:
Jehovah spoke with you face to face from the mount, out of the midst of the fire (Deuteronomy 5:4).
Respecting which it is further said:
Jehovah hath made [us] to see His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice out of the midst of the fire; we have seen this day that God doth talk to man and he remaineth alive (Deuteronomy 5:24).
And respecting Moses:
Jehovah spoke unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh to his companion (Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomy 34:10).
[16] But it should be known that no man, nor even any angel, can see the Lord's face, since it is Divine love, and no one can sustain the Divine love such as it is in itself; for to see the Lord's face would be like letting the eye into the very fire of the sun, whence it would instantly perish. Such also is the Lord's Divine love viewed in itself; therefore to those in the interior heavens the Lord appears as a sun, and that sun is encompassed by many radiant circles, which are envelopments one after another, in order that the Divine love may proceed to the angels in heaven tempered and moderated, and thus the angels may sustain it; the Lord therefore appears as a sun to the angels of the higher heavens only, while to the angels of the lower heavens He appears merely as light, and to the rest as a moon. Nevertheless, in heaven the Lord appears to the angels, but under an angelic form; for He fills an angel with His aspect, and thus with His presence from afar, and this He does in various places, but everywhere in accommodation to the good of love and of faith with those to whom He appears. Thus the Lord was seen by Gideon, and by Manoah and his wife, also by Moses, and the Israelitish people. This, therefore, is what is meant by "seeing Jehovah face to face," and by "seeing Jehovah and not dying." It is clearly evident that the face itself in respect to the interiors which are of His Divine love was not seen, for it was said to Moses:
That no one can see Jehovah's face and live (The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248); what the external is apart from the internal, and what the external is in which is the internal, see n. 47).
[17] That the Jewish nation was such, was also represented and signified by:
Their covering the Lord's face, striking it, and spitting in it (64, 83, 195 c.)
[18] It can be known from what has been thus far explained, what "the face" of Jehovah or the Lord signifies, namely, the Divine love, and all good in heaven and in the church therefrom; and from this it can be known what is signified by "hiding" or "concealing the faces," in reference to Jehovah or the Lord, namely, that it is to leave man in what is his own [proprium] and thus in the evils and falsities that spring forth from what is his own [proprium]; for man viewed in himself is nothing but evil and falsity therefrom, and that he may be in good he is withheld from these by the Lord, which is effected by being elevated out of what is his own [proprium]. From this it can be seen that "hiding and concealing the faces," in reference to the Lord, signifies to leave in evils and falsities; as in the following passages. In Jeremiah:
For all their evil I have covered My faces from this city (Jeremiah 33:5).
In Isaiah:
Your sins have hid God's faces from you, that He hath not heard (Isaiah 59:2).
In Ezekiel:
My faces will I turn away from them, that they may profane My secret, and that the violent may enter into it and profane it (Ezekiel 7:22).
The nations shall know that for their iniquity the sons of Israel were carried away; and therefore will I hide My faces from them (Ezekiel 39:23).
In Lamentations:
The face of Jehovah hath divided them; He will no more regard them (Lamentations 4:16).
In Micah:
Jehovah will hide His faces from them, even as they have made their works evil (Micah 3:4).
In David:
Thou didst hide Thy faces, I was troubled (Psalms 30:7).
Wherefore hidest Thou Thy faces, and forgettest our affliction and our oppression? (Psalms 44:24).
Thou hidest Thy faces, they are affrighted; Thou gatherest in their spirit, they expire, and return to their dust (Psalms 104:29).
In Moses:
My anger shall glow against the people in that day, and I will forsake them, and will hide My faces from them. In hiding I will hide My faces in that day because of all the evil which they have done (Deuteronomy 31:17-18).
I will hide My faces from them; they are a generation of perversions (Deuteronomy 32:20).
In Isaiah:
I will tarry for Jehovah, although He hideth His faces from the house of Jacob (Isaiah 8:17).
In David:
How long wilt Thou forget me, O Jehovah? how long wilt Thou hide Thy faces from me? (Psalms 13:1).
Hide not Thy faces from me; put not Thy servant away in anger (Psalms 27:9).
Hide not Thy faces from Thy servant, for I am in distress; hasten, answer me (Psalms 69:17).
O Jehovah why casteth Thou off my soul? Why hidest Thou Thy faces from me? (Psalms 88:14).
Hide not Thy faces from me in the day of my distress (Psalms 102:2).
Answer me, O Jehovah; hide not Thy faces from me, lest I become like them that go down into the pit (Psalms 143:7).
In Ezekiel:
When I shall have brought together the sons of Israel upon their own ground, then will I not hide My faces any more from them, for I will pour out My spirit upon the sons of Israel (Ezekiel 39:28-29).
In David:
He hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of Israel; neither hath He hid His faces from him; but when he cried aloud unto Him He heard (Psalms 22:24).
[19] In these passages it is said that Jehovah, that is, the Lord, conceals and hides His faces on account of iniquities and sins, and He is entreated not to conceal or hide them, and yet He never conceals or hides, that is, His Divine good and His Divine truth; for the Lord is Divine love itself and mercy itself, and desires the salvation of all; therefore He is present with all and with each one, even with those who are in iniquities and sins, and by this presence He gives them the freedom to receive Him, that is, truth and good from Him, consequently they also do receive if from freedom they desire to. Reception must be from freedom, in order that goods and truths may abide with man, and be with him as his own; for what a man does from freedom he does from affection, for all freedom is of affection, and affection is man's will; therefore what is received in freedom, or from man's affection, enters his will and endures. It then endures because the will is the man himself and in the will his life primarily resides, but secondarily in the thought or the understanding. This therefore is why man ought to receive Divine good and Divine truth, with which the Lord is always present.
[20] This is what is meant by:
Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him (Revelation 3:20).
But when man from freedom chooses evil he shuts the door to himself, and thus does not let in the good and truth that are from the Lord; consequently the Lord then appears to be absent. It is from this appearance that it is said that Jehovah conceals and hides His faces, although He does not conceal and hide. Moreover man as to his spirit then turns away from the Lord, and consequently does not perceive the good or see the truth, which are from the Lord; this is why it appears as if the Lord did not see him; and yet the Lord sees each and every thing pertaining to man. It is from this appearance also that the Lord is said to conceal and hide His faces, and also is said to set [ponere et dare] His faces against them, also that He regards them with the back of the neck and not with the faces, as in the following passages. In Jeremiah:
I have set My faces against this city for evil, and not for good (Jeremiah 21:10).
In the same:
I set My faces against you for evil, to cut off all Judah (Jeremiah 44:11).
In Ezekiel:
I will set My faces against that man, and I will lay him waste, and I will cut him off from the midst of My people (Ezekiel 14:8).
In the same:
I will set My faces against them; let them go forth from the fire and the fire shall devour them, when I shall have set My faces against them (Ezekiel 15:7).
In Moses:
He that shall eat any blood, I will set My faces against that soul, and I will cut him off (Leviticus 17:10).
In Jeremiah:
As the east wind will I scatter them before the enemy; with the back of the neck, and not with the face, will I regard them (Jeremiah 18:17).
That it is man who sets his face against the Lord and who turns himself away from the Lord, whence evil comes to him, is evident also from the Word. As in Jeremiah:
They have turned unto Me the back of the neck, and not the faces (Jeremiah 32:33).
In the same:
They have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return (Jeremiah 5:3).
In the same:
They have gone away in their own counsels, in the hardening of their evil heart, and they have become turned backwards and not forwards (Jeremiah 7:24).
And in Isaiah:
Your sins have hid God's faces from you (Isaiah 59:2).
[21] That the evil turn away their face from the Lord does not mean that they do it with the face of the body, but with the face of their spirit. Man can turn his face whatever way he pleases, since he is in a state of freedom to turn himself either towards heaven or towards hell, and moreover a man's face is taught to deceive for the sake of the appearance before the world; but when man becomes a spirit, which he does immediately after death, then he who had lived in evils turns the face altogether away from the Lord (as can be seen from what has been said and shown in the work on Isaiah 64:3).
In David:
It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they have perished at the rebuke of Thy faces (Psalms 80:16).
In the same:
The faces of Jehovah are against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth (Psalms 34:16).
In Moses:
Behold I send an angel before thee. Take ye heed of his faces; for he will not bear your transgression (Exodus 23:20-21).
In Ezekiel:
I will lead you into the wilderness of the peoples, and I will have judgment with you face to face (Ezekiel 20:35).
In Moses:
When the ark set forward, Moses said, Arise O Jehovah, let Thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Thee flee before Thy faces (Numbers 10:35).
In Revelation:
I saw a throne high and great, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away (Revelation 20:11).
[22] These things are said respecting the signification of the face in reference to Jehovah or the Lord. The face in reference to man signifies his disposition and affection, and consequently the interiors which belong to his mind, and this because the disposition and affections, or the interiors that belong to man's mind, present themselves to be seen in the face; this is why the face is said to be an index of the mind; the face also is an effigy of the interiors of man, for it represents them, and his countenance corresponds to them. That "faces" in reference to man signify affections of various kinds, can be seen from the following passages. In Isaiah:
They say, Turn aside out of the way, decline out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from our faces (Isaiah 30:11).
"Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from our faces" signifies to cause the Lord to cease from the thought and affection, thus everything of the church, "the Holy one of Israel" meaning the Lord; to withdraw from the truth and good of the church, which is from the Lord and in which is the Lord, is signified by "Turn aside out of the way, decline out of the path," "way" and "path" meaning the truth and good of the church.
[23] In Lamentations:
They have not accepted the faces of the priests, and they were not gracious unto the faces of the old (Lamentations 4:16).
Again:
Princes were hanged up by their hand; the faces of the old were not honored (Lamentations 5:12).
"Not to accept the faces of the priests" signifies to value as nothing the goods of the church, which are of love and faith; for "the priests" represented the Lord in respect to Divine good, and thus signified the good of the church, and "faces" signify all things thereof that have reference to love and faith. "Not to honor the faces of the old" signifies to account as nothing all things of wisdom, "the old" signifying wisdom, and "faces" all things thereof, because they signify interior things; "the princes hanged up by their hand" signify that all intelligence was rejected, "princes" meaning the primary truths from which there is intelligence.
[24] In Moses:
Jacob said respecting Esau, I will appease his faces with the present that goeth before me, and afterwards I will see his faces; peradventure he will accept my faces (Genesis 32:19-20).
"To appease his faces," signifies to captivate his mind; "afterwards to see his faces" signifies to know what the disposition is; "peradventure he will accept my faces" signifies, peradventure he will receive me with a kindly disposition; "to accept the faces" meaning to have good will towards anyone from affection. In the same:
Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shall not regard faces, neither take a gift (Deuteronomy 16:19).
"Not to regard faces" signifies not to have the mind better disposed towards superiors, the rich, and friends, than towards inferiors, the poor, and enemies, because what is just and right is to be regarded without respect to person.
[25] In Malachi:
I have made you contemptible and lowly unto all the people, according as ye keep not My ways, and accept faces in the law (Malachi 2:9).
"Accepting faces in the law" has a similar signification as "regarding faces in judgment," quoted above, namely, to have the mind better disposed towards, and to show more favor to superiors, the rich, and friends, than to inferiors, the poor, and enemies. In Isaiah:
What mean ye? Ye crush the people, and grind the faces of the poor (Isaiah 3:15).
"To grind the faces of the poor" signifies to destroy the affections of knowing truths with those who are in ignorance of truth and yet wish to be instructed; "to grind" signifying to destroy, "faces" signifying the affections of knowing truths, and "the poor" those who are in ignorance of truth but wish to be instructed, for these are the spiritually poor.
[26] In David:
The daughter of Tyre shall bring an offering; the rich of the people shall entreat thy faces. The king's daughter is all glorious within; her vesture is inwrought with gold (195)
[27] In the same:
Yet do I confess 3Him, the salvations of my faces, my God (Psalms 42:11; 43:5).
"The salvations of my faces" signify all things that are within, thus those that are of the mind and the affections, accordingly those that are of love and faith; because these are what save they are called "salvations." Evil affections, which are lusts, are expressed by the same term, "faces," because they appear in the face, for the face is the external or natural form of the interiors, which are of the disposition and mind; and in the spiritual world these make one, for there it is not permitted to put on other faces than those that are from the affections, thus that correspond to the interiors which are of their mind. This is why the angels of heaven are radiant and lovely in face, while infernal spirits are dusky and misshapen in face.
[28] This, too is evidently the meaning of "faces" in the following passages. In Isaiah:
Throes and pangs seize them, they travail like a woman bringing forth; they are amazed every man at his companion; their faces are faces of flames (Isaiah 13:8).
This treats of the Last Judgment, when the evil are let into their interiors. The interiors of those who are in the love of self and the world, and thence in hatreds and revenges, are meant by "their faces are faces of flames;" and such also do they appear. Their torments from the influx of Divine good and Divine truth are signified by "throes and pangs seize them, they are in travail like a woman bringing forth." Their torments are likened to the throes and pangs of women bringing forth for the same reason that the comparison is used in Genesis 3:16; for evils and falsities are then conjoined; and when this is the case "pangs seize" when Divine good and truth flow in.
[29] In Ezekiel:
Say to the forest of the south, The flame of the grievous flame shall not be quenched, wherefore all faces from the south even to the north shall be burned therein (Ezekiel 20:47).
"The forest of the south" means falsity within the church, consequently those there who are in falsities; the church is signified by "the south" because it can be in the light of truth from the Word; and falsity from evil is signified by "forest;" the vastation and destruction of the church by the love of falsity from evil is signified by "the flame of the grievous flame, by which all faces shall be burned;" "all faces" meaning all the interiors of the men of the church in respect to the affections of truth and good, and the thoughts therefrom; "from the south even to the north" signifies all things of the church from first to last, or interior and exterior; "the south" meaning the interior or first things of the church, and "the north" the exterior or last things of the church; this is the signification of "the south" and "the north" because those who are in the light of truth from the Lord are in the southern quarter in the spiritual world; while in the hells under them are those who are in natural lumen by means of which they have confirmed themselves in falsities; and in the northern quarter are those who are in obscurity of truth from the Lord, and in the hells under them are those who are in falsities, but not in any natural lumen whereby they have confirmed their falsities.
[30] In Joel:
Before him the peoples tremble; all faces have gathered blackness (Joel 2:6).
This treats of evils and falsities devastating the church, and of the judgment upon those who are in them; those who are in falsities are signified by "the peoples who tremble;" their interiors which are in the falsities of evil are signified by "the faces that have gathered blackness;" "faces" meaning the interiors, and "blackness" the falsity of evil. The infernals who are in falsities from evil appear black in the light of heaven.
[31] In Daniel:
In the latter end of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king hard in faces shall rise up (397). "A king hard in faces" signifies no truth but only falsity in their interiors; "king" signifying truth, and in the contrary sense falsity; "faces" the interiors, and "hard in faces" the interiors without good; for where there is no good, truth is hard, while truth from good is mild, because living; and truth without good even becomes falsity in their interiors or thought, since they do not think about it spiritually but materially, because they think from things corporeal and worldly, and thus from the fallacies of the senses.
[32] In Ezekiel:
Sons hard in their faces, and hardened in heart (Ezekiel 2:4).
"Sons hard in their faces" signify those who are in truths without good, and in an abstract sense truths without good, which in themselves are falsities (as has been said above); and "hardened in heart" signifies those who do not admit good, and who are therefore in evil, for where good cannot enter evil enters; "the heart" signifies also in the Word the good of love, and "a hardened heart" signifies the same as "a stony heart," namely, where the good of love is not admitted; but "a heart of flesh" signifies where it is admitted.
[33] In Isaiah:
Their tongue and their doings are against Jehovah, to rebel against the eyes of His glory; the hardness of their faces answereth against them (Isaiah 3:8-9).
"Their tongue and their doings which are against Jehovah" signify thought and affection; "the tongue" thought, because the tongue utters what man thinks, and "doings" affection, because man does what is of his affection; these "are against Jehovah, and rebel against the eyes of His glory" when they are against Divine good and against Divine truth; for "Jehovah" in the Word means the Lord in respect to Divine good proceeding from His Divine love, and "His glory" means Divine truth; to be against this is signified by "rebelling against the eyes of His glory;" "the hardness of their faces which answers against them" signifies to refuse Divine truth and Divine good, and not to admit them into their thoughts and affections, which are their interiors.
[34] In Ezekiel:
Behold I have made thy faces hard against their faces, and thy forehead hard against their forehead (Ezekiel 3:8).
This was said to the prophet, by whom is signified the doctrine of truth and good combating against falsities and evils; therefore "his faces made hard against their faces" signifies the rejection of falsities by truths, and "his forehead hardened against their forehead" signifies the rejection of evil by good; for "faces" signify the affections of truth, or the affections of falsity, and "forehead" signifies the affection of good or the affection of evil. The affection of truth and good is hardened and becomes outwardly hard from zeal, when it is combating against falsity and evil, otherwise it could not repulse them; but it is not so inwardly. From this it can be seen how these words must be understood. Since "faces" signify man's interiors, or the things that are of his thought and affection, the same word in the Hebrew that means "face" means what is interior.
[35] (In these explanations various things have been said respecting "faces" which cannot be easily understood, perhaps, without further exposition; I will therefore add what has been said and shown respecting faces in the Arcana Coelestia, namely, that the face is formed to a correspondence with man's interiors, n. 4791-4805, 5695; on the correspondence of the face and countenance with the affections of the mind, n. 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 9306; consequently the interiors shine forth from the face, n. 3527, 4066, 4796; with the ancients the face made one with the interiors, n. 3573, 4326, 5695; it also makes one with the interiors with the angels in heaven, and with sincere men in the world, n. 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250; in the other life the faces of all become such as their interiors are, n. 4798, 5695; experiences respecting changes of the face there according to the interiors, n. 4796, 6604; on the influx of the interiors of the mind, or of the understanding and will into the face and its muscles, n. 3631, 4800; with flatterers, dissemblers, hypocrites, and the deceitful, the face does not act as one with the interiors, n. 4799, 8250; with such the face is taught to feign sincerity, honesty, and piety, n. 4326; how influx from the brains into the face became changed in process of time, and with it the face itself in respect to its correspondence with the interiors, n. 4326, 8250; the natural of man is like an interior face to the spiritual mind and its sight, n. 5165, 5168. See also what has been said and shown respecting faces in the work on Heaven and Hell 46-48, 142-144, 457-459, 553.)
Footnotes:
1. The photolithograph has "faces;" the Greek has "face," which is also found in AE 148; Apocalypse Revealed 938; but the former reading is found in AC 9936, 10579.
2. The photolithograph has "us," but this is rectified in the explanation.
3. The photolithograph has "trust;" Hebrew has "confess." IB, IV n. 107, 767 have the latter translation.
412. "Et abscondite nos a facie Sedentis super throno, et ab ira Agni." - Quod significet ne dira patiantur ab influxu Divini Boni uniti Divino Vero procedentis a Domino, constat ex significatione "Abscondite nos", cum dicitur ab illis apud quos deperdita sunt bona et vera ecclesiae per mala vitae et falsa inde, quod sit ne dira patiantur (de qua sequitur); ex significatione "a facie Sedentis super throno", quod sit Dominus quoad Divinum Bonum in caelo: quod "facies", cum de Domino, sit Divinus Amor ex quo Divinum Bonum in caelo, constabit ex locis in Verbo quae mox adducentur; et quod "Sedens super throno" sit Dominus quoad Divinum Bonum in caelo, videatur supra (n. 297, 343): et ex significatione "irae Agni", quod sit conjectio in infernum per influxum Divini Veri procedentis a Domino; quod "ira Jehovae" aut Domini id significet, constare potest ex locis in Verbo in articulo sequente adducendis: praeterea quod per "Sedentem super throno" et per "Agnum", solus Dominus intelligatur, per "Sedentem super throno" Dominus quoad Divinum Bonum, et per "Agnum" Dominus quoad Divinum Verum, videatur supra (n. 297, 343). Quod dicatur "ira Agni", non est quod Dominus, qui per "Sedentem super throno" et per "Agnum" intelligitur, irascatur; est enim ipsum Divinum Bonum, et hoc non potest irasci, ira enim non cadit in ipsum Bonum; sed ita dicitur in Verbi sensu litterae, ob causas de quibus alibi; hic modo ostendetur quod "facies Jehovae" seu Domini significet Divinum Amorem, et inde Divinum Bonum in caelo et in ecclesia; et in opposito sensu per "ponere faciem contra aliquem", et per abscondere et occultare faciem", intelligatur simile quod per "excandescentiam et "iram"; tum quod per "faciem", cum de homine, intelligantur interiora quae mentis et affectionis ejus sunt, in utroque sensu.
[2] Quod "facies", cum de Jehovah seu Domino, significet Divinum Amorem, et inde Divinum Bonum, constat ex sequentibus his locis:
Apud Davidem,
"Illumina facies tuas super servum tuum, serva me propter benignitatem tuam" (Psalms 31:17 [B.A. 16]):
"illuminare facies" significat illustrare Divino Vero ex Divino Amore; quod hoc significetur per "illuminare facies" est quia Divinum Verum, quod procedit a Domino ut Sole in caelo angelico, dat omnem lucem ibi, et quoque illustrat mentes angelorum, ac implet illos sapientia: quare "facies Domini" in proprio sensu est Sol caeli angelici, nam Dominus apparet angelis interiorum caelorum ut Sol, et hoc ex Divino Ipsius Amore; nam Amor in caelis, dum sistitur ante oculos, apparet ut ignis, Divinus autem Amor ut Sol. Ex illo Sole procedit et calor et lux; ac calor ille est Divinum Bonum, et lux illa est Divinum Verum. Ex his conStare potest quod per "illuminare facies tuas super servum tuum" significetur illustrare Divino Vero ex Divino Bono; quare etiam additur, "Serva me propter benignitatem tuam"; benignitas est Divini Boni. (Sed de Sole in Caelo Angelico, et de Calore et Luce inde, videatur in opere De Caelo et Inferno: De Sole ibi, n. 116-125; et De Calore et Luce inde, n. 126-140.)
[3] Apud eundem,
"Multi dicunt, Quis ostendet nobis bonum? Tolle super nos lucem facierum tuarum, Jehovah" (Psalms 4:7 [B.A. 6]);
apud eundem,
"Jehovah, in luce facierum tuarum ambulabunt" (Psalms 89:16 [B.A. 15]);
apud eundem,
"Deus, reduc nos, et lucere fac facies tuas, ut servemur" (Psalms 80:4, 8, 20 [B.A. 3, 7, 19]);
et apud eundem,
"Deus misereatur nostri, et benedicat nobis, illuminet facies suas nobis" (Psalms 67:2 [B.A. 1]):
per "lucem facierum Jehovae" seu Domini intelligitur Divinum Verum ex Divino Amore (ut supra), et inde intelligentia et sapientia; nam ex Divino Vero seu ex Divina luce in caelis est omnis intelligentia et sapientia tam angelis quam hominibus; inde per "illuminare facies nobis, n per "tollere super nos lucem facierum tuarum", et per "facere lucere facies tuas", in illis locis, significatur illustrare in Divino Vero, ac donare intelligentia et sapientia.
[4] Simile significatur in Benedictione filiorum Israelis, apud Mosen,
"Benedicat tibi Jehovah, et custodiat te, illuminet Jehovah facies suas super te et misereatur tui; tollat Jehovah facies suas super te, et det tibi pacem" (Num. 6:24-26 1
[5] Quoniam Divinus Domini Amor apparet at Sol in caelo, et inde est lux ibi, ideo
Dominus cum transformatus est coram Petro, Jacobo et Johanne", splenduit facies Ipsius sicut Sol, et vestimenta Ipsius facta sunt... sicut lux" (Matthaeus 17:2):
et quoque cum visus est Johanni,
"Fulsit facies Ipsius sicut sol in potentia sua" (Apocalypsis 1:16):
per "vestimenta quae facta sunt sicut lux" significatur Divinum Verum; nam "vestimenta" in Verbo significant verum, et hoc ex causa quia omnes angeli vestiuntur a Domino secundum receptionem Divini Veri; sunt quoque vestes eorum ex luce caeli, inde splendentes et candidae, et lux caeli est, ut dictum, Divinum Verum: inde constat, unde est quod vestimenta Domini, cum transformatus, "facta sint sicut lux." (Sed de his videantur plura in opere De Caelo et Inferno 177-182; ac supra, n. 64, 195, 271, 395.)
[6] Apud Matthaeum,
Jesus dixit de puero quem statuit in medio discipulorum, "Videte ne contemnatis ullum ex pusillis his; dico vobis quod angeli eorum in caelis semper videant faciem Patris mei qui in caelis est" (18:10):
dicitur quod "angeli eorum videant", quia apud unumquemque hominem sunt spiritus et angeli, ac tales spiritus et angeli qualis homo est: apud infantes pueros sunt angeli ex intimo caelo; hi vident Dominum ut Solem, sunt enim in amore in Ipsum et in innocentia; hoc intelligitur in sensu proximo per quod "angeli eorum videant faciem Patris" sui; per "faciem Patris" intelligitur Divinus Amor qui fuit in Domino, proinde Ipsum Divinum quod Jehovah, nam Pater fuit in Ipso, et Ipse in Patre, ac erant unum, ut Ipse docet: at eadem illa verba in puro sensu spirituali significant quod Dominus quoad Divinum suum Bonum sit in bono innocentiae: hoc enim per "infantem puerum" in sensu spirituali significatur, et per "faciem Patris" Divinum Bonum Domini. De servis Domini, per quos intelliguntur qui in Divinis veris sunt ex eo quod in bono amoris et charitatis sunt, simile dicitur in Apocalypsi,
"Thronus Dei et Agni in" Nova Hierosolyma "erit, et servi Ipsius ministrabunt Ipsi, et videbunt 2
sed de his videatur explicatio in sequentibus.
[7] Apud Esaiam,
"In omni angustia eorum Ipsi angustia, et Angelus facierum Ipsius liberavit eos, ob amorem suum et clementiam suam Hic redemit eos, et assumpsit eos, et portavit omnibus diebus aeternitatis" (63:9):
agitur ibi de Domino, qui "Angelus facierum Jehovae" vocatur ex Divino Vero quod ex Divino Amore Ipsius; per "angelum" enim in Verbo significatur Divinum Verum, unde etiam angeli dicuntur "dii" (videatur supra, n. 130, 200, 302): et per "facies Jehovae" intelligitur Divinus Amor qui in Domino; inde etiam dicitur, "Ob amorem suum et clementiam suam Hic redemit illos, et assumpsit illos, et portavit omnibus diebus aeternitatis"; haec Divini Amoris sunt. Erat Dominus quoad Humanum suum Divinum Verum, ex quo pugnavit cum infernis, et per quod subjugavit illa; inde est quod Hic appelletur "Angelus", quod est quoad Divinum Humanum suum. Agitur in eo capite manifeste de Domino, ac de pugnis Ipsius cum infernis et de subjugatione eorum.
[8] Apud Davidem,
"Occultas 3
eos in abdito facierum tuarum prae elationibus Viri, abscondis eos in tentorio tuo a lite linguarum" (Psalms 31:21 [B.A. 20]):
"occultare eos in abdito facierum tuarum" est in Divino Bono non apparente coram aliis; et "abscondere in tentorio tuo" est in Divino Vero: "elationes viri" et "lis linguarum" sunt mala falsi et falsa mali; "elationes" enim dicuntur de malis quia sunt amoris sui, et "vir" significat verum et falsum; "lis linguarum" est falsum mali. (Quid malum falsi et falsum mali, videatur in Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae, n. 21.)
[9] Apud eundem,
"Posuisti iniquitates nostras coram Te, occultum nostrum in lucem facierum tuarum" (Psalms 90:8):
"lux facierum tuarum" est Lux caeli a Domino ut Sole ibi; haec lux quia est ipsum Divinum Verum, ex quo omnis intelligentia et sapientia, ideo quodcunque in hanc lucem venit manifestatur quale est ut in claro die; inde est, cum mali in hanc lucem veniunt, quod appareant prorsus quales sunt, deformes et monstrosi secundum occulta mala apud illos: ex his patet quid intelligitur per "Posuisti iniquitates nostras coram Te, et occultum nostrum in lucem facierum tuarum."
[10] Apud Jeremiam,
"Clamato verba haec septentrionem versus, et dicito, Revertere, aversa Israel, ... non faciam cadere facies meas super vos, quoniam misericors Ego" (3:12):
per "facies meas" etiam hic significatur Divinus Amor et omne bonum quod est amoris; et per "non facere cadere facies" significatur non demittere et cessare, nam cum facies cadit tunc cessatur ab intuendo; inde patet quid significatur per "Non faciam cadere facies meas super vos": quare etiam dicitur, "quoniam misericors Ego"; "misericordia" est Divinus Amor erga miseros: per "Clamato ad septentrionem" significatur ad illos qui in falsis et inde malis sunt; quare etiam dicitur, "Revertere, aversa Israel": quod, "septentrio" illos significet, est quia illi qui in falsis et inde malis sunt, in septentrionali plaga in mundo spirituali habitant. (De falsis et inde malis, videatur in Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae, n. 21.)
Quod panes super mensa in Tabernaculo dicti fuerint "panes facierum", ac ipsa mensa "mensa facierum" (Exod. 4
25:30; Numeri 4:7),
erat quia per "panes" ibi aeque ac per "facies Jehovae" significatum est Divinum Bonum Divini Amoris (videatur Doctrina Nova Hierosolymae, n. 212, 213, 218).
[11] Quoniam per "facies Jehovae" seu Domini significatur Divinum Bonum unitum Divino Vero exiens et procedens ex Divino Amore Ipsius, ideo quoque per "facies Jehovae" significantur interiora ecclesiae, Verbi et cultus, nam in interioribus illorum est illud; exteriora ecclesiae, Verbi et cultus sunt modo effectus et opera inde. Interiora ecclesiae, Verbi et cultus significantur per "videre", "quaerere" et "deprecari facies Jehovae": - Apud Esaiam,
"Quid mihi multitudo sacrificiorum?... quando veneritis ad videndum facies" Jehovae (1:11, 12);
apud Sachariam,
"Ibunt habitatores unius ad alteram, dicendo, Eamus eundo ad deprecandum facies Jehovae, et ad quaerendum Jehovam Zebaoth:... sic venient populi multi et gentes numerosae ad quaerendum Jehovam Zebaoth in Hierosolyma, et ad deprecandum facies Jehovae" (8:21, 22);
apud Davidem,
"Tibi dixit cor meum, Quaerite facies meas; facies tuas Jehovah quaero (Psalms 27:8);
apud eundem,
"Jubilabimus Petrae salutis nostrae, Veniemus ante facies Ipsius in confessione" (Psalms 95:1, 2);
apud Malachiam,
"Deprecamini facies Dei, ut misereatur nostri" (1:9);
apud Davidem,
"Sitit anima mea Deum, Deum vivum; quando venero ut videar faciebus Dei?... Exspecta Deum, nam adhuc confitebor Ipsi salutes facies Ipsius" (Psalms 42:3, 6 [B.A. 2, 5]):
in his locis per "facies Jehovae" ac "Dei" seu Domini intelliguntur interiora ecclesiae, Verbi et cultus, quia in illis est Divinum Bonum ac Divinum Verum, ita Ipse Dominus; et in externis est ex illis, et non in externis nempe ecclesiae, Verbi et cultus absque illis.
[12] Quia omnes qui Hierosolymam ibant ad festa, secum afferre debebant talia quae cultus erant, et omnis cultus est ex interioribus quae sunt cordis et fidei, et haec per "munera", quae offerrentur Domino, significantur, ideo mandatum est, ut unusquisque aliquod munus offeret; quod intelligitur per quod
"Non videbuntur facies meae vacue" (Exodus 23:15).
Interiora ecclesiae, Verbi et cultus etiam significantur per haec apud Mosen,
Locutus est Jehovah ad Mosen, "Facies meae ibunt, donec quietem dedero tibi": tunc dixit Moses, "Si non facies tuae eunt, ne ascendere facias nos exhinc" (Exodus 33:14, 15):
hoc dictum est ad Mosen, quia apud gentem illam Verbum conscribendum erat, et quoque in historicis Verbi de gente illa; quia apud illam ecclesia instituenda erat, quae foret Ecclesia Repraesentativa, consistens in externis quae correspondebant internis; propter haec dicitur quod "facies meae ibunt" (de quibus plura videantur in Arcanis Caelestibus, n. 10567, 5
10568, ubi illa explicata sunt).
[13] Sed quia gens illa solum in externis Verbi, ecclesiae et cultus erat, et prorsus non in internis, ideo Mosi non datum est videre faciem Domini, sed solum tergum, secundum haec apud Mosen,
"Dixit" Moses, "Ostende mihi quaeso gloriam tuam; cui dixit, Ego praeterire faciam omne bonum meum coram te, et praedicabo nomen Jehovae coram te;... non poteris videre facies meas, quia non videbit Me homo et vivet:... ponam te in foramine petrae, et obtegam manum meam super te usque dum praeterivero, et cum removero manum meam videbis posteriora mea, at facies meae non videbuntur" (Exod 33:18-23):
hic repraesentabat Moses gentem illam, qualis est quoad intellectum Verbi, et inde quoad ecclesiam et cultum, quod nempe solum in externis absque internis. Externa repraesentabantur et significabantur per "posteriora" Jehovae quae visa Mosi, ac interna per anteriora et per "faciem." Quod interna quae insunt externis Verbi, ecclesiae et cultus, non visa sint nec videri potuerint genti illi, repraesentabatur et significabatur per quod "Moses positus fuerit in foramine petrae", et per "obtectionem manus usque dum praeteriverit Jehovah." (Sed haec amplius explicata sunt in Arcanis Caelestibus, n. 10573-10584.)
[14] Praeterea "facies Jehovae" seu Domini, quia sunt interna Verbi, ecclesiae et cultus, sunt praecipue externa in quibus interna, quoniam interna se spectari faciunt in externis, sicut interna hominis in facie et vultibus ejus: sed gens Judaica talis erat ut modo externa spectaverit, et prorsus non interna; et externa spectare et non simul interna, seu externa absque internis, est sicut spectare simulachrum hominis quod absque vita; at externa spectare et simul interna Seu externa ab internis, est sicut spectare hominem vivum: hoc itaque est in proprio sensu "videre faciem Jehovae", seu "deprecari facies Ipsius", in locis supra adductis.
[15] Quoniam interna Verbi, ecclesiae et cultus apparent in externis, seu sistunt se videri in externis, comparative sicut interna hominis in facie, patet quid significatur in sensu interno per "videre Jehovam" seu Dominum "facie ad faciem" in sequentibus his locis:
Apud Mosen,
"Vidi Deum facie ad faciem, et salva tamen est anima mea" (Genesis 32:31 [B.A. 30]):
haec dixit Jacobus postquam luctatus est cum Deo, qui illi apparuit ut Angelus. In Libro Judicum,
"Guideon dixit... Vidi Angelum Jehovae facie ad faciem; et dixit illi Jehovah, Pax tibi, noli timere, non morieris" (6:22, 23):
Pariter Manoachus et uxor ejus (Judic. 13 [21,] 22, 23).
Et de populo Israelitico,
"Facie ad faciem locutus est Jehovah vobiscum e monte e medio ignis" (Deuteronomius 5:21):
de qua re amplius ita dicitur,
"Videre fecit (nos) Jehovah... gloriam suam, et magnitudinem suam, et vocem Ipsius audivimus e medio ignis: hoc die vidimus quod loquatur Deus ad hominem, et vivus maneat" (Deuteronomius 5:21 [B.A. 24]).
Et de Mose,
"Locutus est Jehovah ad Mosen facie ad faciem, sicut loquitur vir ad socium suum" (Exodus 33:11; Deuteronomius 34:10).
[16] At sciendum est quod non ullus homo, ne quidem ullus angelus, possit videre faciem Domini, quoniam est Divinus Amor; ac nemo sustinet Divinum Amorem, qualis est in se: foret enim videre faciem Domini sicut immittere oculum in ipsum ignem solis; inde enim momento periret. Talis quoque est Divinus Amor Domini in se spectatus; quapropter Dominus illis in caelis interioribus apparet ut Sol, et Sol ille circumdatus est circulis radiosis multis, qui circuli sunt involucra unum post alterum, ut Divinus Amor temperatus et moderatus procedat ad angelos in caelo, et sic angeli sustineant illum: quapropter Dominus ut Sol apparet solum angelis superiorum caelorum, at angelis inferiorum caelorum modo apparet ut Lux; et reliquis ut Luna. At usque apparet Dominus in caelo angelis, sed tunc sub forma angelica, implet enim angelum suo visu et sic sua praesentia e longinquo, et hoc in variis locis, at ubivis accommodate ad bonum amoris et fidei apud illos ubi apparet: ita visus est Dominus Guideoni, ac Manoacho et uxori ejus, tum Mosi, et populo Israelitico; hoc itaque est quod intelligitur per "videre Jehovam facie ad faciem", et per "videre Jehovam et non mori." Quod ipsa facies, quoad interiora quae sunt Divini Amoris Ipsius, non visa sit, patet manifeste ex eo, quod Mosi dictum sit
Quod nemo possit videre faciem Jehovae et vivere (Exodus 33:20);
et usque tamen dicitur, quod "viderint Jehovam facie ad faciem"; ex quo manifeste patet quod "videre facies Jehovae", in locis supra adductis, significet videre Ipsum in interioribus Verbi, ecclesiae et cultus, quod tamen est videre Ipsum in externis ab internis. Quod gens Judaica fuerit in externis Verbi, ecclesiae et cultus absque internis, videatur in Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae (n. 248: quid externum absque interno, et quid externum in quo internum, n. Doctrina Novae Hierosolymae 47, ibi).
[17] Quod gens Judaica talis fuerit, etiam repraesentatum et significatum est per
Quod obvelaverint faciem Domini, caederint illam, et exspuerint in illam (Matthaeus 26:67; Marcus 14:65; Luca 22:64);
nam omnia quae in Verbo memorantur de Passione Domini, repraesentant et significant arcana caeli et ecclesiae, ac in specie quales Judaei fuerunt quoad Verbum, ecclesiam et cultum. (Quod ita sit, videatur supra, n. 64, 83, 195(c).)
[18] Ex illis quae hactenus explicata sunt, sciri potest quid significat "facies Jehovae" seu Domini, quod nempe Divinum Amorem ac omne Bonum in caelo et ecclesia inde; ex hoc etiam Sciri potest quid significatur per "abscondere" seu "occultare facies", ubi de Jehovah seu Domino, quod sit relinquere hominem in suo proprio, et inde in malis et falsis quae ex proprio ejus scaturiunt; nam homo in se spectatus non est nisi quam malum et inde falSum, et ab illis detinetur a Domino ut in bono sit, quod fit per elevationem a proprio; inde constare potest quod per "abscondere" et "occultare facies", cum de Domino, significetur relinquere in malis et falsis; ut in sequentibus his locis:
Apud Jeremiam,
"Propter eorum omnem malitiam occultavi facies meas ab urbe hac" (33:5):
apud Esaiam,
"Peccata vestra absconderunt facies" Dei "a vobis, ut non audiverit" (59:2):
apud Ezechielem,
"Avertam facies meas ab illis, ut profanent arcanum meum, et veniant in illud violenti, et profanent illud" (7:22);
apud eundem,
"Cognoscent gentes quod propter iniquitatem suam in captivitatem abiverint" filii "Israelis, ... et ideo absconderim facies meas ab illis" (39:23);
in Threnis,
"Facies Jehovae divisit illos, non addet respicere illos" (4:16);
apud Micham,
Jehovah "occultabit facies suas ab illis quemadmodum mala reddiderunt opera sua" (3:4);
apud Davidem,
"Abscondisti facies tuas, perturbatus sum" (Psalms 30:8 [B.A. 7]);
apud eundem,
"Quare facies tuas abscondis, oblivisceris miseriae nostrae et oppressionis nostrae?" (Psalms 44:25 [B.A. 24);)
apud eundem,
"Abscondis facies tuas, conturbantur; colligis spiritum eorum, exspirant, et ad pulverem suum revertuntur" (Psalms 104:29);
apud Mosen,
"Excandescet ira mea contra" populum "in die illo, et deseram eos, et occultabo facies meas ab illis, ... occultando occultabo facies meas in die illo propter omne malum quod fecerunt" (Deuteronomius 31:17, 18);
apud eundem,
"Occultabo facies meas ab illis, ... generatio perversionum illi" (Deuteronomius 32:20);
apud Esaiam,
"Exspectabo Jehovam, tametsi abscondit facies suas a domo Jacobi" (8:17);
apud Davidem,
"Quousque, Jehovah, oblivisceris mei...? quousque occultabis facies tuas a me?" (Psalms 13:2 [B.A. 1);)
apud eundem,
"Ne abscondas facies tuas a me, ne rejicias in ira servum tuum" (Psalms 27:8, 9);
apud eundem,
"Ne abscondas facies... a servo tuo, quia angustum mihi, festina, responde mihi" (Ps. 69 6
18 [B.A. 17]);
apud eundem,
"Quare, Jehovah, deseris animam meam? abscondis facies tuas a me?" (Psalms 88:15 [B.A. 14);)
apud eundem,
"Ne abscondas facies tuas a me, in die quo angustia mihi" (Psalms 102:3 [B.A. 2]);
apud eundem,
"Responde mihi Jehovah, ... ne abscondas facies tuas a me, et similis fiam descendentibus in foveam" (Psalms 143:7);
apud Ezechielem,
Cum collegero filios Israelis super terram suam, "tunc non abscondam amplius facies meas ab iis, quia effundam spiritum meum super filios Israelis" (39:28, 29);
apud Davidem,
"Non sprevit neque aversatus est miseriam" Israelis, "neque abscondidit facies suas ab eo, sed quando clamavit ad Ipsum, exaudivit" (Psalms 22:25 [B.A. 24]).
[19] Dicitur in his locis quod Jehovah, hoc est, Dominus, occultet et abscondat facies suas propter iniquitates et peccata, ac rogatur ne occultet et abscondat; cum tamen nusquam occultet et abscondit, nempe Divinum suum Bonum ac Divinum suum Verum: est enim Dominus ipse Divinus Amor et ipsa Misericordia, ac vult omnium salutem; quare est praesens apud omnes et singulos, etiam apud illos qui in iniquitatibus et peccatis sunt; per quam praesentiam dat illis liberum recipiendi Ipsum, hoc est, verum et bonum ab Ipso; quare si ex libero volunt, etiam recipiunt. Causa quod ex libero, est ut bona et vera maneant apud hominem, ac sint apud illum sicut ipsius; quod enim homo ex libero facit, hoc ex affectione facit, nam omne liberum est affectionis; affectio etiam est voluntas ejus; quare quod recipitur in libero seu ex affectione hominis, hoc intrat voluntatem ejus, et permanet. Quod tunc permaneat, est quia voluntas est ipse homo; nam in illa residet primario vita ejus, at in cogitatione seu in intellectu secundario. Haec itaque est causa quod homo recipere debeat Divinum Bonum et Divinum Verum, cum quibus Dominus semper est praesens.
[20] Hoc quoque intelligitur per
"Ecce sto ad ostium et pulso; si quis audiverit vocem meam, et aperuerit ostium, intrabo ad illum et cenabo cum illo" (Apocalypsis 3:20).
Verum cum homo ex libero eligit malum, tunc occludit sibi ostium, et sic non admittit bonum et verum quod a Domino; quare Dominus tunc apparet ut absens. Ex hac apparentia est quod dicatur quod Jehovah occultet et abscondat facies suas, tametsi non occultat et abscondit. Praeterea homo tunc quoad spiritum suum avertit se a Domino; unde etiam non percipit bonum nec videt verum quod a Domino: inde etiam apparet sicut Dominus non videat illum, cum tamen videt omnia et singula ejus. Ex hac apparentia etiam est, quod dicatur occultare et abscondere facies suas, immo quod dicatur ponere et dare facies suas contra eos, tum quod cervice et non faciebus respiciat illos, ut in sequentibus locis:
Apud Jeremiam,
"Posui facies meas contra urbem hanc in malum et non in bonum" (21:10);
apud eundem,
"Pono facies meas contra vos in malum, ad exscindendum totam "Jehudam" (44:11);
apud Ezechielem,
"Dabo facies meas contra Virum illum, et devastabo illum, et exscindam eum e medio populi mei" (14:7, 8);
apud eundem,
"Dabo facies meas contra illos; ex igne exeant, et ignis comedet eos, ... cum posuero facies meas contra illos" (15:7);
apud Mosen,
"Qui comederit ullum sanguinem, dabo facies meas contra animam hanc, et exscindam eam" (Leviticus 17:10);
apud Jeremiam,
"Sicut ventus orientalis dispergam eos coram hoste, cervice et non facie respiciam eos" (18:17).
Quod homo sit qui facies suas ponit et dat contra Dominum, et quod avertat se a Domino, unde ei malum, constat etiam ex Verbo:
Ut apud Jeremiam,
"Obverterunt Mihi cervicem et non facies" (32:33);
apud eundem,
"Obfirmarunt facies suas prae petra, renuerunt reverti" (5:3);
apud eundem,
"Abiverunt in consiliis suis, in obfirmatione cordis sui mali, factique sunt retrorsum, et non antrorsum" (7:24);
et apud Esaiam,
"Peccata vestra absconderunt facies" Dei "a Vobis" (59:2).
[21] Quod mali avertant faciem suam a Domino, hoc non fit quoad faciem corporis, sed quoad faciem spiritus eorum. Homo potest vertere faciem suam quocunque libet, quoniam in statu libero est ad se convertendum vel ad caelum vel ad infernum; et quoque facies hominis docta est mentiri ut appareat coram mundo: quando autem homo fit spiritus, quod fit statim post mortem, tunc qui in malis vixerat, prorsus avertit faciem a Domino (ut constare potest ex illis quae in opere De Caelo et Inferno 17, 123, 142, 144, 145, 151, 153, 251, 272, 511, 552, 561 7
, dicta et ostensa sunt): hoc itaque intelligitur per quod "obverterint Mihi cervicem et non faciem", et per quod "facti sint retrorsum et non antrorsum." Quoniam tunc illis malum poenae ac infernum, ideo putatur ab illis qui se averterunt quod hoc a Domino, et quod aspiciat illos facie dura, ac dejiciat in infernum, et puniat, plane sicut homo qui in ira est; cum tamen Dominus nusquam aliquem respicit nisi ex amore et misericordia. Ex apparentia illa etiam haec in Verbo dicuntur:
Apud Esaiam,
" 8
Quando facies 9
formidabilia.. non exspectamus;... coram Te montes diffluent" (64:2 [B.A. 3]);
apud Davidem,
"Combusta igne, succisa, ab increpatione facierum tuarum perierunt" (Psalms 80:17 [B.A. 16]);
apud eundem,
"Facies Jehovae contra facientes malum, ad exscindendum e terra memoriam eorum" (Psalms 34:17 [B.A. 16]);
apud Mosen,
"Ecce mitto Angelum coram te;... caveto tibi a faciebus Ejus, ... quia non sustinet praevaricationem vestram" (Exodus 23:20, 21);
apud Ezechielem,
"Ducam vos in desertum populorum, et judicabor vobiscum facie ad faciem" (20:35);
apud Mosen,
"Cum proficiscebatur arca, dixit Moses, Surge Jehovah, dispergantur inimici tui, et fugiant osores tui coram faciebus tuis" (Num. 10:35);
in Apocalypsi,
Vidi thronum altum et magnificum, et Sedentem super eo, a cujus facie fugit terra et caelum" (20:11).
[22] Haec nunc dicta sunt de significatione "faciei", ubi de Jehovah seu Domino. At "facies", ubi de homine, significat animum et affectionem ejus, proinde interiora quae mentis ejus; et hoc quia animus et affectiones, seu interiora quae mentis hominis sunt, se videnda sistunt in facie; unde est quod facies dicatur "index animi"; est quoque facies effigies interiorum hominis, repraesentat enim illa, ac vultus ejus correspondent illis. Quod per "facies", ubi de homine, significentur affectiones varii generis, constare potest a sequentibus his locis:
Apud Esaiam,
Dicunt, "Recedite a via, declinare facite a semita, cessare facite a faciebus nostris Sanctum Israelis" (30:11):
"cessare facite a faciebus nostris Sanctum Israelis." significat a cogitatione et affectione Dominum, ita omne quod est ecclesiae; "Sanctus Israelis" est Dominus: recedere a vero et bono ecclesiae, quod a Domino, et in quo est Dominus, significatur per "Recedite a via, declinare facite a semita"; "via" et "semita" sunt verum et bonum ecclesiae.
[23] In Threnis,
"Facies sacerdotum non acceptarunt, et senum non miserti sunt" (4:16);
et alibi,
"Principes manu eorum suspensi sunt, facies senum non honoratae sunt" (Threni 5:12):
"facies sacerdotum non acceptare" significat nihili aestimare bona ecclesiae, quae sunt amoris et fidei; "sacerdotes" enim repraesentabant Dominum quoad Divinum Bonum, et inde significabant bonum ecclesiae, ac "facies" omnia ejus, quae se referunt ad amorem et fidem: "facies senum non honorare" significat nihili facere omnia sapientiae; "senes" significant sapientiam, et "facies" omnia ejus quia interiora: "principes manu eorum suspensi" significat quod rejecta sit omnis intelligentia; "principes" sunt primaria vera ex quibus intelligentia.
[24] Apud Mosen,
Dixit Jacob de Esavo, "Expiabo facies ejus munere eunte ante me, et postea Videbo facies ejus; forte acceptabit facies meas" (Genesis 32:20 [, [21] [B.A. 19, 20]):
"expiare facies ejus" significat captare animum ejus; "postea videre facies ejus" significat cognoscere quali animo est; "forte acceptabit facies meas" significat forte benigno animo me recipiet; "acceptare facies" est ex affectione velle alicui bene.
Apud eundem,
"Non inclinabis judicium, non agnosces facies, nec munus accipies" (Deutr. 16:19):
"non agnoscere facies" significat (non) propenso animo esse erga superiores, divites ac amicos, plus quam erga viliores, pauperes et inimicos; quia justum et rectum absque ullo respectu ad personam spectabitur.
[25] Apud Malachiam,
"Dedi vos contemptos et viles omni populo, eo quod vos non custodientes vias meas, et accipitis facies in lege" (2:9):
"accipere facies in lege" simile hic significat quod supra "agnoscere facies in judicio", nempe propenso animo esse et favere superioribus, divitibus et amicis, prae vilioribus, pauperibus et inimicis.
Apud Esaiam,
"Quid vobis? Conteritis populum, et facies pauperum commolitis" (3:15):
"commolere facies pauperum" significat destruere affectiones cognoscendi vera apud illos qui in ignorantia veri sunt et usque desiderant instrui; "commolere" significat destruere, "facies" significant affectiones cognoscendi vera, et "pauperes" illos qui in ignorantia veri sunt et desiderant instrui, hi enim sunt qui spiritualiter pauperes sunt.
[26] Apud Davidem,
"Filia Tyri afferet munus, facies tuas deprecabuntur divites populi tota gloriosa filia Regis intus, de implexis auri vestis ejus" (Psalms 45:13, 14 [B.A. 12, 13]):
per "filiam Regis" significatur ibi affectio veri spiritualis; "filia Tyri" significat affectionem cognitionum veri et boni; his ditari significatur per quod "munus afferet": per "divites populi" significantur intelligentes, et abstracte intelligentia veri et boni; his donari significatur per "deprecari facies ejus", omnia enim intelligentiae habitant in affectione veri spirituali, quae itaque per "facies" ejus significatur. (Reliqua videantur explicata supra, n. 195(b).)
[27] Apud eundem,
"Adhuc 10
Psalms 42:12 [B.A. 11); Psalms 43:5):
"salutes facierum mearum" significant omnia quae intus, ita quae sunt mentis et affectionum, proinde quae amoris et fidei, quae quia salvant vocantur "salutes." Affectiones malae, quae sunt cupiditates, etiam exprimuntur per facies, quia in faciebus apparent; nam facies est forma externa seu naturalis interiorum quae animi et mentis: etiam in mundo spirituali unum faciunt, non enim ibi licet mentiri alias facies quam quae sunt affectionum, ita quae correspondent interioribus quae mentis illorum. Inde est quod angeli caeli sint facie illustri et venusta, at spiritus infernales sint facie atra et deformi.
[28] Quod haec quoque per "facies" intelligantur, patet a sequentibus his locis:
Apud Esaiam,
"Tormina et dolores apprehendunt, sicut pariens parturiunt, vir erga socium suum obstupescunt, facies flammarum facies illorum" (13:8):
agitur ibi de ultimo judicio, quando mali immittuntur in interiora sua; interiora illorum qui in amore sui et mundi sunt, et inde in odiis et vindictis, intelliguntur per quod "facies flammarum facies illorum"; tales etiam illi apparent: cruciatus illorum ex influxu Divini Boni et Divini Veri significantur per "tormina et dolores apprehendunt, sicut pariens parturiunt"; cruciatus illorum assimilantur "torminibus et doloribus parturientium", ex simili causa qua Genesis 3:16, nam mala et falsa tunc conjunguntur; hoc dum fit, cum influit Divinum Bonum et Verum, "dolores apprehendunt."
[29] Apud Ezechielem,
"Dic silvae meridiei, ... Non exstinguetur flamma flammae gravis; unde comburentur in ea omnes facies, a meridie usque ad septentrionem" (21:3 [B.A. 20:47]):
per "Silvam meridiei" intelligitur falsum intra ecclesiam, proinde illi qui in falsis sunt ibi; ecclesia significatur per "meridiem", quia in luce veri potest esse ex Verbo, et falsum ex malo significatur per "silvam": ecclesiae vastatio et destructio per amorem falsi ex malo, significatur per "flammam flammae gravis, unde comburentur omnes facies": "omnes facies" sunt omnia interiora hominum ecclesiae quoad affectiones veri et boni, et inde cogitationes: "a meridie usque ad septentrionem" significat omnia ecclesiae a primis ad ultima, seu interiora et exteriora; "meridies" sunt interiora seu prima ecclesiae, et "septentrio" sunt exteriora seu ultima ecclesiae; causa quod illa per "meridiem et septentrionem" significentur, est quia in mundo spirituali in plaga meridionali sunt qui in luce veri ex Domino sunt, et sub illis in infernis ibi qui in lumine naturali per quod se confirmaverunt in falsis; et in plaga septentrionali sunt illi qui in obscuro veri a Domino sunt, et sub illis in infernis ibi qui in falsis, sed non in aliquo lumine naturali per quod confirmaverunt sua falsa.
[30] Apud Joelem,
"Coram illo trepidant populi, omnes facies contraxerunt atrorem" (2:6):
agitur ibi de malis et falsis vastantibus ecclesiam, ac de judicio super eos qui in illis; illi qui in falsis sunt, significantur per "populos qui trepidant"; interiora eorum quae in falsis mali significantur per "facies quae contraxerunt atrorem"; "facies" sunt interiora, et "atror" est falsum mali; etiam infernales qui in falsis ex malo sunt, apparent atri in luce caeli.
[31] Apud Danielem,
"In extremitate regni eorum, cum ad summum pervenerunt praevaricatores, exsurget rex durus faciebus" (8:23):
haec dicta sunt de quatuor cornibus hirci, per quae intelliguntur ibi "quatuor regna"; sed per "regna" ibi non intelliguntur regna, sed status ecclesiae; nam per "hircum caprarum" intelligitur fides separata a charitate, quae sola fides vocatur: "extremitas regni eorum" significat finem ecclesiae, quando non fides quia non charitas: "cum ad summum pervenerunt praevaricatores" significat quando non amplius verum et bonum sed falsum et malum; simile per illa verba significatur quod per "cum consummata et completa est iniquitas", de qua supra (n. 397): "rex durus faciebus" significat non verum sed falsum in interioribus eorum, "rex" enim significat verum et in opposito sensu falsum, "facies" significant interiora, et "durus faciebus" significat illa absque bono; ubi enim non bonum ibi verum est durum; nam verum ex bono molle est, quia vivum; et id verum usque est falsum in interioribus seu in cogitatione eorum, quoniam de illo non cogitant spiritualiter sed materialiter, quia ex corporeis et mundanis et inde ex fallaciis Sensuum.
[32] Apud Ezechielem,
"Filii duri faciebus, et obfirmati corde" (2:4):
per "filios duros faciebus" significantur illi qui in veris absque bono sunt, et abstracte vera absque bono, quae in se falsa sunt (ut supra dictum est); et per "obfirmatos corde" significantur illi qui non admittunt bonum, proinde qui in malo sunt, nam malum intrat ubi bonum non potest; "cor" etiam in Verbo significat bonum amoris, ac "cor obfirmatum" significat simile quod "cor lapideum", nempe ubi non admittitur bonum amoris; at "cor carneum" ubi admittitur.
[33] Apud Esaiam,
"Lingua eorum et opera eorum contra Jehovam, ad rebellandum oculis gloriae Ipsius; obfirmatio facierum... respondet contra eos" (3 [8,] 9):
per "linguam" et per "opera eorum", quae contra Jehovam, significatur cogitatio et affectio; per "linguam" cogitatio, quia lingua eloquitur quod homo cogitat, et per "opera" affectio, quia homo facit quod est affectionis ejus: haec "contra Jehovam sunt, et rebellant oculis gloriae Ipsius", quando contra Divinum Bonum et contra Divinum Verum sunt; per "Jehovam" enim in Verbo intelligitur Dominus quoad Divinum Bonum procedens ex Divino Amore Ipsius, et per "gloriam Ipsius" intelligitur Divinum Verum; contra hoc esse significatur per "rebellare oculis gloriae Ipsius": "obfirmatio facierum", quae respondet contra eos, significat renuentiam ac non admissionem Divini Veri et Divini Boni in cogitationes et affectiones, quae sunt interiora eorum.
[34] Apud Ezechielem,
"Ecce dedi facies tuas obfirmatas contra facies eorum, et frontem tuam obfirmatam contra frontem eorum" (3:8):
haec ad Prophetam dicta sunt, per quem significatur doctrina veri et boni pugnans contra falsa et mala; quare per "facies obfirmatas contra facies illorum" significatur rejectio falsorum per vera, et per "frontem obfirmatam contra frontem eorum" significatur rejectio mali per bonum; "facies" enim significant affectiones veri et affectiones falsi, et "frons" significat affectionem boni et affectionem mali: affectio veri et boni obfirmatur et durescit extrinsecus ex zelo quando ei pugna est contra falsum et malum, alioqui non repellit illa; non autem intrinsecus: inde constare potest quomodo illa verba intelligenda sunt. Quoniam per "facies" significantur interiora hominis, seu quae sunt cogitationis et affectionis ejus, inde etiam in lingua Hebraea "interius" simili voce denominatur qua "facies."
[35] Quoniam in explicationibus varia dicta sunt de "faciebus", quae forte absque ulteriore expositione aegre possunt intelligi, ideo velim adjungere quae de "faciebus" in Arcanis Caelestibus dicta et ostensa sunt: nempe, Quod facies ad correspondentiam interiorum hominis formata sit, n. 4791-4805, 5695: de correspondentia faciei et vultuum cum affectionibus mentis, n. 1568, 2988, 2989, 3631, 4796, 4797, 4800, 5165, 5168, 9306:
quod inde interiora ex facie eluceant, n. 3527, 4066, 4796, Quod facies unum fecerit cum interioribus apud antiquos, n. 3573, 4326, 5695. Quod etiam unum faciat apud angelos in caelo, et apud homines sinceros in mundo, n. 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250. Quod omnium facies in altera vita tales fiant qualia eorum Interiora sunt, 4798, 5695. Experientiae de mutationibus faciei secundum interiora ibi, n. 4796, 6604. De influxu interiorum mentis, seu intellectus et voluntatis in faciem et ejus musculos, n. 3631, 4800. Quod facies non unum agant cum interioribus apud assentatores, simulatores, hypocritas et dolosos, n. 4799, 8250:
quod faces apud illos docta sit mentiri sincera, honesta et pia, n. 4326. Quomodo influxus a cerebris in faciem successu temporis mutatus sit, et cum illo ipsa facies quoad correspondentiam cum interioribus, n. 4326, 8250. Quod naturale hominis sit sicut facies interior menti spirituali et ejus visui, n. 5165, 5168. Praeterea videantur quae de faciebus dicta et ostensa sunt in opere De Caelo et Inferno 46-48, 142-144, 457-459, 553.
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