4380. 'Let my lord now pass over before his servant' means a more general presence. This is clear from the meaning here, where the joining of good to truths is the subject, of 'passing over before anyone' as a more general presence. For with regeneration which is achieved by means of the joining of good to truths the situation is that good is that which acts and truth that which allows itself to be acted upon. Whenever good has brought itself in touch with truths and linked itself to them a little, truth is seen to react. Yet it is not the truth itself that reacts but the good combined with it or else attached to it, doing so by means of that truth. Such an attachment is what is meant by a more general presence. The phrase joining good to truths is used, but what is meant is the person in whom goodness and truth are present, for goodness and truth are meaningless attributes if they have no subject - that is, man - to which they can be applied. In heaven people do employ abstract terms such as these in their thought and speech, for the reason that they do not attribute good or truth to themselves but to the Lord, and also for the reason that goodness and truth from the Lord fill heaven in its entirety. The ancients too were accustomed to employ such terms in their speech.

According to Swedenborg, a person's name in the Bible represents his or her entire spiritual nature, their whole state of love (good or evil) and thought (from heavenly wisdom to infernal insanity). This is why the name of the Lord is so important; it represents and embodies His perfect love and perfect wisdom, which is everything that we should worship and follow. It's easy to see that names are important in the Bible. Jehovah changed Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, changed Jacob to Israel and included in the Ten Commandments the order that believers "shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." In the New Testament, Zacharias was told to name John the Baptist "John," and both Joseph (Matthew 1:21) and Mary (Luke 1:31) were told to name Jesus "Jesus." Jesus himself renamed Simon as Peter, and included the phrase "hallowed be thy name" in the Lord's prayer.

(Verweise: Luke 1)