Time and space are part of the physical plane of reality, but according to Swedenborg are not part of the spiritual plane of reality. So one spiritual thing can’t happen “before” another spiritual thing in time, because there is no time. And one spiritual thing can’t go “before” another in space because there is no space. Instead, Swedenborg says, spiritual reality is structured on the basis of spiritual state, or the loves and thoughts of spirits and angels. These loves and thoughts connect in chains of cause and effect, which angels experience much as we experience time, and the similarities and differences in love and thought create an experience for angels akin to space; they are “closer” to those whose loves are more like their own.
When the Bible describes something as “before” something else, then, the spiritual meaning has to do with the progression of spiritual states. And since higher states tend to flow into lower states (our loves flow into our minds and our minds flow into our bodies), the things coming “before” tend to be the higher, more internal ones.
“Before” takes on a deeper significance 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.
Passages from Swedenborg
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 617
617. 14:3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne,before the four living creatures, and before the elders. This symbolizes a celebration and glorification of the Lord in His presence and in the presence of the angels of the higher heavens.
Their singing a new song symbolizes an acknowledgment and glorification of the Lord as being the only Judge, Redeemer, and Savior, thus God of heaven and earth, as may be seen in no. 279 above. Before the throne means in the Lord’s presence, because He alone sits upon the throne. Before the four living creatures andbefore the elders means in the presence of the angels of the higher heavens (no. 369).
Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 366
366. Standing before the throne and before the Lamb. This symbolically means, listening to the Lord and doing what He commands.
To stand before the Lord means, symbolically, to hear and do what He commands, like one who stands before a king.
This is also the symbolic meaning of standing before God, or in the presence of God, elsewhere in the Word, as when the angel said to Zacharias,
I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God…. (Luke 1:19)
A man who stands before Me shall not be cut off forever. (Jeremiah 35:19)
These are the two offspring of the olive tree, who stand before the Lord of the whole earth. (Zechariah 4:14)
(He) separated the tribe of Levi…to stand before Jehovah…. (Deuteronomy 10:8)
And so on elsewhere.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8439
8439. ‘Come near before Jehovah’ means a state in which that influx is accepted and applied. This is clear from the meaning of ‘coming near before Jehovah’ as influx, dealt with in 8159, and therefore also acceptance, acceptance being the response to influx since the two answer to each other. To the extent that a person accepts influx from God he is said to come near before Him; nothing other than this is meant in the spiritual sense by ‘coming near before Jehovah’. What enables a person to draw near Him is faith and love; and since both faith and love come from Jehovah, that is, from the Lord, drawing near Him is also the acceptance of goodness and truth flowing in from Him. The reason why applying is also meant is that receiving it has no value unless it is applied, that is to say, put to a useful purpose.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9888
9888. ‘Before the face of it’ means to eternity. This is clear from the meaning of ‘before the face’ as to eternity; for ‘the breastplate’ means heaven and every good and truth that constitutes it, 9879. What is ‘before the face’ in heaven is in the Lord’s everlasting sight, thus is preserved to eternity.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 6983
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 daybefore’ 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.