8351. 'And the people grumbled against Moses' means grief caused by the bitterness of the temptation. This is clear from the meaning of 'grumbling' as complaint, the kind made in temptations, thus grief caused by the bitterness of the temptation. The temptations which those belonging to the Lord's spiritual Church underwent after they had been delivered from molestations, in addition to the temptations which members of that Church are destined to undergo, are described by the grumblings of the children of Israel in the wilderness. And since spiritual temptations are as a general rule protracted till a person is in despair, 1787, 2694, 5279, 5280, 7147, 7166, 8165, 'grumbling' means complaint because of grief felt in temptations, as in Exodus 16:2-3; 17:3; Numbers 14:27, 29, 36; 16:11. The words 'against Moses' are used because it was a grumbling against what was Divine; for 'Moses' represents Divine Truth, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382.

[2] As regards the temptations which those belonging to the spiritual Church underwent, and the temptations which members of that Church are destined to undergo, it should be recognized that no faith, nor thus any charity, can ever be instilled into those who belong to the spiritual Church except by means of temptations. In temptations a person is involved in conflict against falsity and evil. These - falsity and evil - flow into the external man from the hells, while goodness and truth flow in from the Lord by way of the internal man; and so there arises from a conflict of the internal man with the external that which is called temptation. And in the measure that the external man is brought into a state of obedience to the internal, faith and charity are instilled; for the external or natural level of a person is a receptacle of truth and good from the internal. If the receptacle is not properly adjusted it does not receive anything flowing in from the more internal level but either repels, destroys, or stifles it, as a consequence of which there is no regeneration. So it is that temptation is necessary, in order that a person may undergo regeneration, which is effected through the instillation of faith and charity, and thereby through the formation of a new will and new understanding. This also explains why the term 'militant' is applied to the Lord's Church. See what has been stated and shown already about these matters in 3928, 4249, 4341, 4572, 5356, 6574, 6611, 6657, 7090 (end), 7122, 8159, 8168, 8179, 8273.

2822. 'And said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here I am' means a perception of comfort in the Divine Good of the Rational following temptation. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'saying' in historical parts of the Word as perceiving, often dealt with already. The reason why here it is a perception in the Divine Good of the Rational is that 'Abraham' here means the Divine Good within the Lord's Rational or Human. What perception in the Divine Good of the Rational is cannot be explained intelligibly, for prior to any explanation of it an idea of the Lord's Divine Human must be formed from knowledge of many things. Until such an idea has been formed all things offered by way of explanation would fall into ideas that were either empty or obscure, which would either pervert truths or bring these among ideas out of keeping with them.

[2] In this verse the Lord's first state following temptation is the subject, which is a state of comfort. This explains why the name God is not now used any more but Jehovah, for God is used when reference is being made to the truth from which the battle is fought, but Jehovah when reference is being made to the good from which comfort springs, 2769. All comfort following temptation is instilled into good, for good is the source of all joy, and from the good it passes over into truth. Here therefore 'Abraham' means the Divine Good of the Rational, as he also does in other places, and wherever the name Jehovah occurs in the same verse.