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.

6657. 'That they also will join themselves to our enemies and fight against us' means that in that way allied forces who inflict harm will be made stronger. This is clear from the meaning of 'joining themselves to' as being made stronger, for when enemies are joined by a very large number they are made stronger; from the meaning of 'enemies' as allied forces who fight alongside one another; and from the meaning of 'fighting against us' as inflicting harm, for when a battle is fought against someone, harm is done to him to the extent that he cannot counteract it. The implications of all this are that surrounding every person in the world and also surrounding every good spirit there is a general sphere of endeavours from hell and a general sphere of endeavours from heaven. The sphere from hell is a sphere of endeavours to do harm and destroy, that from heaven is a sphere of endeavours to do good and to save, see 6477. These spheres are general ones, and there are likewise particular spheres surrounding every person, for there are spirits from hell present with him and there are angels from heaven, who are dealt with in 5846-5866, 5976-5993. By these spheres a person is kept in a state of equilibrium and has the freedom to think and will what is evil or to think and will what is good.

[2] When therefore a member of the Church enters into temptation, which happens when he is let into his own evil, conflict takes place around him between the spirits from hell and the angels from heaven, 3927, 4249, 5036; and the conflict lasts for as long as the person is kept in his own evil. Sometimes in that conflict it seems to the spirits from hell that they are going to win, in which case they surge up. At other times it seems to them that they are going to be beaten, in which case they fall back, fearing that more angels from heaven will join up against them and so they themselves will be cast down into hell, never to emerge again, which is exactly what happens when they have been beaten. These are the things that are meant by superior strength if they increase and by the statement that allied forces who inflict harm will be made stronger.

[3] Spirits from hell, when they fight against angels, are in the world of spirits, where they are in a state of freedom, 5852. From all this one may now see what is meant in the internal sense when it says that the children of Israel were molested and oppressed in such ways by the Egyptians, but that the more they were molested, the more they multiplied, and that Jehovah, who is the Lord, fought for them, kept the Egyptians in check by means of plagues, and at length drowned all the Egyptians in the Sea Suph.