21. 19. Behold I am as a leader sheep [dux ovis] that is brought to the slaughter, saying, Let us destroy the wood in its sap with the fruit thereof, and let us cut it off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered (Jeremiah 11:19).

(Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, when I will raise up unto David a righteous branch, who shall reign a King, and prosper, and do judgment and justice in the earth; and this in His name which they shall call Him, Jehovah our Justice (Jeremiah 23:5-6).

Am I a God at hand and not a God afar off? Can any man hide himself in secret places? Do not I fill heaven and earth (Jeremiah 24)?

(In that day they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them (Jeremiah 30:8-9).)

The land of Babylon was full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel (Jeremiah 51:5).

Jehovah of Hosts who makes the earth by His power, prepares the world by His wisdom, and stretches out the heavens by His intelligence (Jeremiah 51:15).

He is the former of all things, and of the rod of His inheritance: Jehovah of Hosts is His name, by whom He will do judgment upon all (Jeremiah 51:19-23).

16. For the time is near, signifies such an interior state. This is evident from the signification of "time," as meaning state (See the work on Heaven and Hell 162-169, where Time in Heaven is treated of); and from the signification of "near," as being the internal; thus here, because it refers to state, the interior state such as is described above is meant. By state is meant a state of affection and of thought therefrom. He who reads this, and knows nothing of the internal sense, supposes that by "the time being near" is meant that the time was near when the things contained in Revelation would be fulfilled. But that this is not meant can be seen from the fact that seventeen centuries elapsed before they were fulfilled. But because the Word in the letter is natural and within is spiritual, it is said that "the time is near," in order that in heaven the interior state might be understood; for if the expression "the interior state," which is the spiritual sense, had here been used, it would not have been understood by the angels; for they perceive all things of the Word according to correspondences. "Near" signifies interior, because distances in heaven are entirely in accord with the differences of the good of love; for which reason those who are in kindred good are also near one another; and it is from this that on earth kinships are called near relationships [propinquitates], because they relate to spiritual affinities, which in heaven are really such. In heaven this is so because the good of love conjoins, and the more interior the good, the nearer is the conjunction. From this it is, that heaven is nearer to man, the more interiorly he is in the good of love; and the origin of this is that the Lord is nearer to an angel, to a spirit, and to man, the more interiorly they love Him. To love Him interiorly is to love His precepts interiorly; that is, to perceive, to will, and to do them from the delight of love. It is from this that "nearness," in the Word, signifies presence and conjunction (as may be seen in Arcana Coelestia 5911, 9378, 9997, 10001). This nearness is thus described in John:

Jesus said, He that loveth Me keepeth My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him (John 14:23);

and in the same:

Ye know the Comforter, the Spirit of truth; for He abideth with you, and shall be in you (John 14:17);

"the Comforter, the Spirit of truth" is Divine truth going forth from the Lord; therefore it is said, "He shall be in you."