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.

2643. 'Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?' means that by His own power the Lord implanted the Human within the Divine. This is clear from the representation of 'Abraham' and also of 'Sarah', and from the meaning of 'suckling', and of 'sons'. It has been shown already that 'Abraham' represents Divine Good and 'Sarah' Divine Truth. 'Milk' means that which is spiritual from a celestial origin, that is, truth deriving from good, see 2184, so that 'suckling' means implanting that truth; And 'sons' means truths, here truths that exist in the Rational, as is clear from the meaning of 'sons', 489-491, 533. The reason why in the internal sense the words under consideration mean that the Lord by His own power implanted the Human within the Divine is that Divine Truth is one and the same as the Divine Human, and when in reference to this it is said 'to suckle sons for Abraham' the meaning is that He implanted the Human within the Divine; and as it was the Human He implanted, He did so by His own power. But scarcely any clearer and more intelligible explanation of these matters is possible. To say more would obscure still further what is meant; for these are Divine matters, which can be presented to angels alone by means of celestial and spiritual things. If presented to men in some more exalted manner those matters would fall into the material and bodily ideas which men possess.

[2] What is more, it should be recognized that it is the nature of the Lord's Divine Rational when it was first born that is being described by these words, 'God has made laughter for me; everyone that hears will laugh for me; and she said, Who would have said to Abraham, Sarah will suckle sons?' For this was in keeping with an ancient custom that when an infant was born it was given a name which served to mean the state; and at the same time a description of that state was added, as when Cain was born to Eve and Adam, Genesis 4:1, and when Seth was born to the same, Genesis 4:25; and as when Noah was born to Lamech, Genesis 5:29, Esau and Jacob to Isaac, Genesis 25:25-26, the twelve sons to Jacob, Genesis 29:32-35; 30:6, 8, 11, 13, 18, 20, 24; 35:18, Perez and Zerah to Tamar, Genesis 38:29-30, Manasseh and Ephraim to Joseph, Genesis 41:51-52, and Gershom and Eliezer to Moses, Exodus 2:22; 18:4. What all these represent, and what they mean in the internal sense, was embodied in the descriptions added to the names that were given. The same is the case here with what Isaac represents and means. What this name embodies is evident to some small extent from this brief explanation that has been given, but deeper arcana are nevertheless concealed there since they are Divine matters, which no sentences or phrases can be formed to express.