The Faces
The Hebrew word faces is always plural. The singular would describe turning, as in a corner. A living creature never has only one face—one turn. The faces consist of many turns, and the faces can turn to show many reactions. One face can express anger, while another expresses joy.
Face appears early in the Bible:
Genesis 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the faces of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the faces of the waters.
Children naturally associate with faces more than do adults. This is one reason why they are attracted to stuffed animals. They have friendly, soft faces. A dark room may frighten a child, because the faces of the room are unknown. Moving waters, as the ocean waters, have faces that are constantly changing. The soil also has faces:
Genesis 2:6 There went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
Humility or sudden fear is shown by the ‘childism’ falling on one’s faces:
Genesis 17:3 And Abram fell on his face.
Just as a child whose faces show the direction the child intends to go, the Bible describes the same thing regarding adults:
Genesis 18:22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom.
If a child is afraid of someone, he will run from that person’s faces:
Genesis 35:1 And God said unto Jacob, “Arise! Go up to Bethel and dwell there. And make there an altar unto God Who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the faces of Esau thy brother.”
A child who shows great affection for an adult will go for his faces. This is also true of Biblical adults:
Genesis 50:1 And Joseph fell upon his father’s face. And he wept upon him and kissed him.
Even if a child cannot run from someone he fears, he will hide his faces:
Exodus 3:6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
Children do not tend to fear what they cannot see (or imagine). Thus, Yehovah determined to place His fear before the faces of the Israelis:
Exodus 20:20 And Moses said unto the people, “Fear not! For God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.”
When a child becomes angry with someone, she sets her faces against him, just as the Bible portrays:
Leviticus 17:10 “And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among you who eateth any manner of blood, I will even set my faces against that soul that eateth blood and will cut him off from among his people!”
Some form of the word faces is used at least 2,100 times in the ‘Old Testament,’ since it is found in the word translated before (meaning in front of, orliterally, to the faces of). Children learn early about faces, and they show their inner thoughts on their faces.
Many cultures have portrayed what they believe to be the face of Jesus through their icon art. These almost never show Jesus as Jewish, but reflect the cultural view of how Jesus ‘should’ look. The faces of Gentile Jesuses are neither Biblical nor Scriptural. Yeshua’s faces drew children:
Mark 10:13 And they brought young children to Him so that He would touch them. And the disciples rebuked those that brought. 14But when Jesus saw, He was much displeased. And He said unto them, “Dispatch the little children to come to me, and forbid them not. For of such is the kingdom of God. 15Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter into her!” 16And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them and blessed them.
Yeshua chose to be born with a Jewish face. Attacks against the Jews sometimes feature a stereotypical, twisted Jewish face with a broken nose and dark eyebrows. While Jewish features are not standard, and reflect the many cultures of the world, hating or ignoring the faces of Jews is the same as hating the faces of God. Many churches claiming to be based on Christianity like faces in their memberships to reflect themselves, not folks who look different, especially who look Jewish. Yet the angels of Jewish children always behold the faces of Yehovah the Father:
Matthew 18:10 “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones. For I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father Who is in heaven.”
Do you portray the faces of Yeshua to others, especially to Israel? Jewish individuals who care find it strange when a non-Jewish person ‘looks’ so much like the Biblical God and Biblical Saints. Consider the surprise of the Jericho spies when Rahab said,
Joshua 2:9 And she said unto the men, “I knew that Yehovah gave to you the land, and that your terror fell upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melted from your faces. 10For we heard how Yehovah dried up the waters of the Red sea from your faces in your exiting from Egypt, and what ye did to two kings of the Amorites who were on the other side Jordan—to Sihon and to Og whom ye utterly destroyed. 11And we heard. And our hearts melted. And spirit did not arise again in a man from your faces. For Yehovah your God—He is God in the heavens from above and upon the land from under. 12And now vow, pray, to me by Yehovah. For I did Grace with you. And ye shall do Grace, even ye, with the house of my father. And ye shall give to me a sign of Truth. 13And ye will make-live my father and my mother and my brethren and my sisters and all that is to them. And ye shall rescue our beings from death.”
Rahab, a Gentile and a Canaanite, certainly showed a Jewish face!