8346. 'And they went out to the wilderness of Shur' means a state of temptation into which they were led after that. This is clear from the meaning of 'going our as being led into; and from the meaning of 'the wilderness of Shur' as a state of temptation, 'wilderness' being a state when temptations have to be undergone, see 6828, 8098, and 'Shur' the Church's factual knowledge which has not yet acquired any life, 1928. Thus such things as will acquire life through temptations are meant; for spiritual life is acquired through temptations, which are spiritual conflicts or baffles against evils and falsities, and through triumphs in those battles. For the fact that those belonging to the spiritual Church underwent temptations after the Lord's Coming into the world, and could not do so before that, see 8159.