Before
In most cases, the meaning of "before" is pretty straightforward, both as a way of assessing relative time, and in its use meaning "in someone's presence." It takes on a deeper significance, though, when used in connection with the Lord. To be "before" the Lord means not just in His presence, but also receiving the desire for good and the understanding of truth from Him, and living according to them. And when used as an assessment of time in connection with the Lord, "before" means "from eternity," and refers to a spiritual state rather than time as we experience it.
(Odkazy: Apocalypse Revealed 366, 617; Arcana Coelestia 6983, 8439, 9888)
Genèse 28:13-14
13
Et voici, l'Eternel se tenait au-dessus d'elle; et il dit: Je suis l'Eternel, le Dieu d'Abraham, ton père, et le Dieu d'Isaac. La terre sur laquelle tu es couché, je la donnerai à toi et à ta postérité.
14
Ta postérité sera comme la poussière de la terre; tu t'étendras à l'occident et à l'orient, au septentrion et au midi; et toutes les familles de la terre seront bénies en toi et en ta postérité.
