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.

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.