8168. 'Leave us alone, and let us serve the Egyptians' means that they would not be drawn back from surrendering themselves. This is clear from the meaning of 'leaving us alone', when said with regard to molestations, as not preventing and not drawing back; and from the meaning of 'serving the Egyptians' as giving themselves up, like those who have been vanquished, to those who molest by means of falsities, thus that they would surrender themselves. The reason for the meaning of 'leaving us alone' - when addressed, in a state of molestations and also in a state of temptations, to the influx of God's truth, which 'Moses' represents - as not preventing and not drawing back is that two forces or powers are at work in them. One comes from the falsities cast by the hells into the external man, the other from the truths instilled by the Lord into the internal man, 8164. These two forces act one against the other. The falsities which are cast in by the hells derive their force and power from the self-love and love of the world that are within a person; but the truths which are instilled by the Lord derive their force and power from love towards the neighbour and love to the Lord. When a person is victorious the internal force and power is always prevalent, because it is Divine; and it does not allow the force or power the falsities possess to become too great for it to be repulsed. When therefore those two forces act the internal force from the Lord is constantly drawing the person back so to speak; it prevents falsities from dragging him down and his consequently going under. For it is a general rule that when two forces act in opposition to each other, one is drawing forward, the other back. In the spiritual world forces are affections belonging to different kinds of love; the instruments by means of which they act are truths, and in the contrary sense falsities.
