Darkness

Currently in the College Department at PPBC, we are studying Moses. Last Sunday we studied his reaction to the burning bush and how the Lord talked to him through that event. Since this week we are studying the Plagues - 10 of us were each assigned a plague to study and tell the class about. Mine is the 9th plague - Darkness over Egypt - so here are my notes and thoughts about this plague.

Exodus 10:21-29

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt." So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings. Then Pharaoh called to Moses, and said, "Go, serve the LORD; only let your flocks and your herds be detained Even your little ones may go with you." But Moses said, "You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice them to the LORD our God. "Therefore, our livestock too shall go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we shall take some of them to serve the LORD our God. And until we arrive there, we ourselves do not know with what we shall serve the LORD." But the LORD hardened Pharaoh's heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Then Pharaoh said to him, "Get away from me! Beware, do not see my face again, for in the day you see my face you shall die!" Moses said, "You are right; I shall never see your face again!"

dark·ness

1. the state or quality of being dark: The room was in total darkness.
2. absence or deficiency of light: the darkness of night.
3. wickedness or evil: Satan, the prince of darkness.
4. obscurity; concealment: The darkness of the metaphor destroyed its effectiveness.
5. lack of knowledge or enlightenment: heathen darkness.
6. lack of sight; blindness.

Lets look at these definitions of darkness as applied to the plague.

the state or quality of being dark

In these verses in Exodus - the Lord talks about how the darkness was held over Egypt for three days and this was no ordinary darkness - this was a darkness so thick you can feel it. It makes me think of when I was little laying in my big, dark bedroom with the 8 windows around my bed. On the darkest of nights when the moon was hidden, I could feel the darkness creeping in as though it was coming for me. These were the nights I would lay in bed late in the night until my body couldn't take it anymore and would shut down to sleep. I never liked those nights as I felt alone and threatened by the earth itself (though strangely, now that I think about it - I never did have a night light). What areas of your life do you currently feel that you have been left in the dark?

absence or deficiency of light

Obviously, you can't see in the dark - because there is the absence of light and your eyes need to the light to process images before you. However, one's eyes will adjust in time to use the slightest of light to put together the world that you inhabit. Can you imagine if there wasn't even a slightest of light for your eyes to adjust? To just see darkness? What is absent or deficient in your life to cause darkness to fall? Could it be a lack of relationship with Christ – or even non-existence of a relationship with Christ?

wickedness or evil: Satan

As I discussed in the first part of the definition - the state or quality of being dark - the darkness can sometimes create an illusion that it closes in on you. I believe that God was using the darkness in Egypt not only to blind the people and create confusion, chaos, uncertainty, and fear - but also to show them the darkness they live in spiritually. Their hearts had been hardened for so long - all glimmers of light would have been absent. Compare this to spiritual darkness.

Spiritual darkness is spiritual bondage; while Satan blinds men's eyes that they see not, he binds their hands and feet, that they work not for God, nor move toward [the Salvation through Christ that brings them to] heaven. They sit in darkness. It was righteous with God thus to punish. The blindness of their minds brought upon them this darkness of the air; never was mind so blinded as Pharaoh's, never was air so darkened as Egypt. Let us dread the consequences of sin; if three days of darkness were so dreadful, what will everlasting darkness be? (Matthew Henry commentary)

Notice, however, in verse 23 that Moses documented that the Israelites had light in their dwellings. Wherever there is an Israelite indeed, though in this dark world, there is light, there is a child of light. (Matthew Henry commentary) This ties wonderfully into spiritual darkness (and lightness). As Christians, our bodies are a temple of the Lord - their dwellings were always with them - so the Light was in them! They could see the truth and were not bound by the darkness of sin (NOTE: or I guess I should say did not have to be bound by sin - as sometimes we choose to continue to be bound by sin instead of grasping hold of the freedom that Christ provides to us). Where do you stand? In the darkness of sin - not knowing the Lord and being provided the light of truth? Or in darkness, bound by sin and dreading its consequences?

obscurity; concealment

Another quality of darkness is that it provides obscurity and concealment - not clear or plain, ambiguous, vague, or uncertain. How many times do you feel that life is hard to understand, unclear, or the future is just too uncertain? I bet the Egyptian empire felt just the opposite. They were sitting on top of the world! They felt as though they knew their future - and all was going "as planned" (that was, until Moses came along). God could have used this darkness to really put the Egyptians into their place - to show them that they were clueless about the future; they weren't omnipotent; they weren't omniscient. They were just ordinary lost souls that were dark spiritually - and now physically as well.

lack of knowledge or enlightenment

Just as stated above - the darkness showed the Egyptians just how little they knew about the world and about their position. They lacked the truth of God and did not know Him. Now just think about what all they have been going through - they had seen a staff turned into a snake, their river of life turned to blood which killed the fish (which laid to rot), the frogs that came and then died and laid to rot in piles and mounds, the flies that came in swarms (you cant usually see through a swarm of something - so this is A LOT of flies), flies that throw up on everything they land on (gross) and destroy the land so that nothing is good anymore, the dead cattle that laid to rot, boils (painful skin abscess - a localized infection deep in the skin that will fill with pus and then burst) that would cover all the living (pus and body fluids everywhere - gross), then hail everywhere that would beat on those that had boils, and then the locusts that devour the land - and finally darkness over the land. (Talk about bad times!) Think about it - all of these things have happened and now they can't see at all. They are totally clueless what is going to happen next - yet they keep the Israelites in bondage.

Their ignorance of the true and living God and their reliance on their false gods has gotten them no where. Bes, the Egyptian dwarf god believed to guard against evil spirits and misfortune, has obviously failed them. Geb, Egyptian God of the Earth, has obviously not been in control. Maat, Egyptian goddess of truth and justice, seems to be missing as they continue to have this misfortune. Nut, Egyptian goddess of the sky and of the heavens, has turned against them participated in the plagues. Osiris, Egyptian god of the underworld and of vegetation, has not protected their crops and land. It seems like Set, Egyptian god of chaos, has come to reign. And now finally, Ra, Egyptian sun god, had turned his back on them.

The darkness the God sent has obviously shown their lack of knowledge about who they worship and who they don't. What other "gods" are you relying on to run your life? Do you rely on multiple things/people for different areas of your life or do you give your life FULLY to the One, True and Living God?

lack of sight; blindness.

The lack of sight or blindness also corresponds with the 2nd definition of darkness - absence or deficiency of light.

Isaiah 59 gives us another picture of blindness in our lives - in the lives of others - and possibly the lives of the Egyptians. Please read the whole chapter - but in an effort to shorten it - I choose to include verses 9-10. "So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows. Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like men without eyes. At midday we stumble as if it were twilight; among the strong, we are like the dead."

BUT WAIT! There is good news! Isaiah 60 says (verses 1-5) "Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. "For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. "Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. "Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. "Then you will see and be radiant, And your heart will thrill and rejoice; Because the abundance of the sea will be turned to you, The wealth of the nations will come to you. "

There is HOPE and LIGHT to be found in the name of the LORD!