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1 Mosebok 13

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1 Så drog Abram fra Egypten op til sydlandet med sin hustru og alt det han eide, og Lot var med ham.

2 Og Abram var meget rik på buskap og på sølv og gull.

3 Og han drog i dagsreiser fra sydlandet, til han kom til Betel, til det sted hvor hans telt før hadde vært, mellem Betel og Ai,

4 der hvor det alter var som han hadde bygget første gang han var der; og der påkalte Abram Herrens navn.

5 Men også Lot, som drog med Abram, hadde småfe og storfe og telt.

6 Og landet kunde ikke rumme dem, så de kunde bo sammen; for deres eiendom var for stor til at de kunde bo sammen.

7 Så blev det trette mellem Abrams hyrder og Lots hyrder; og kana'anittene og ferisittene bodde dengang i landet.

8 Da sa Abram til Lot: Kjære, la det ikke være trette mellem mig og dig og mellem mine hyrder og dine hyrder! Vi er jo brødre.

9 Ligger ikke hele landet åpent for dig? Skill dig heller fra mig! Drar du til venstre, vil jeg dra til høire, og drar du til høire, vil jeg dra til venstre.

10 Da så Lot ut over landet, og han så at hele Jordan-sletten like til Soar overalt var rik på vann, som Herrens have, som Egyptens land - det var før Herren hadde ødelagt Sodoma og Gomorra.

11 Og Lot valgte for sig hele Jordan-sletten. Så drog Lot østover, og de skiltes fra hverandre.

12 Abram blev boende i Kana'ans land, og Lot bodde i byene på sletten og drog med sine telt like bort til Sodoma.

13 Men mennene i Sodoma var onde og syndet storlig mot Herren.

14 Og Herren sa til Abram efterat Lot hadde skilt sig fra ham: Løft dine øine og se fra det sted hvor du står, mot nord og mot syd og mot øst og mot vest!

15 For hele det land du ser, vil jeg gi dig og din ætt til evig tid.

16 Og jeg vil la din ætt bli som støvet på jorden; kan nogen telle støvet på jorden, så skal også din ætt kunne telles.

17 Stå op, og dra gjennem landet så langt og så bredt som det er! For dig vil jeg gi det.

18 Og Abram flyttet sine telt og kom til Mamres terebinte-lund i Hebron; der bosatte han sig, og han bygget der et alter for Herren.

   

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Before

  
Photo by Jenny Stein

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)

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Arcana Coelestia # 6983

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6983. 'Neither since yesterday, nor since the day before' means that he has lacked it - the gift of speech - from eternity. This is clear from the meaning of 'since yesterday and since the day before' as from eternity. The reason why 'since yesterday and since the day before' means from eternity is that a period of time is meant by these words, in particular past time; but time spoken of in connection with the Lord or the Divine does not mean a period of time but what is eternal. There are two things proper to the natural order which have no existence in heaven, and even less in the Divine, namely space and time. For their non-existence in heaven and the existence of states instead - states of being instead of 'space', and states of coming-into-being or manifestation instead of 'time' - see 2625, 3938; and for the fact that areas of space and periods of time in heaven are states, 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 3387, 3404, 3827, 4321, 4814, 4882, 4901, 4916, 5605, 6110. But within the Divine which is above the heavens the absence of space and time is even more complete; for not even states exist within Him. Instead of space there is what is infinite, and instead of time what is eternal. These two are what periods of time or areas of space in the world correspond to, and are what states of being and of coming-into-being in the heavens correspond to.

[2] The fact that in the Word 'yesterday' and 'the day before' do not mean yesterday and the day before but past time in general is clear from places where those words are used, as in Joshua,

The waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and went as yesterday [and] the day before 1 over all its banks. Joshua 4:18.

In the first Book of Samuel,

It happened, when all who knew Saul from yesterday and the day before 2 saw that, behold, he prophesied with the prophets . . . 1 Samuel 10:11.

In the second Book of Samuel,

The tribes of Israel said to David, Both yesterday and the day before, 3 when Saul was king over us, you were the one bringing Israel out and back. 2 Samuel 5:1-2.

In these places and elsewhere 'yesterday [and] the day before' stands for previously or past time. Now since 'yesterday and the day before' means time past, and the subject in the highest sense is the Lord, who in respect of the Divine Law or Divine Truth is represented by 'Moses', it is evident that 'since yesterday and since the day before' means from eternity. Eternity, meant by 'yesterday', is described in David as follows,

A thousand years in Your eyes are but as yesterday when it is past. Psalms 90:4.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, as yesterday three days ago

2. literally, from yesterday and three days ago

3. literally, Both yesterday and three days ago

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.