“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.
(Exodus 10:21-23 NASB)”
Some of us were talking about this
particular plague before class, but it keeps coming to my mind. I’d never thought about this plague in
particular much before, we always talk about the hail, locusts, boils, etc.,
but very rarely the darkness. Think about it for a minute: Darkness so thick
you can feel it. Darkness inescapable, darkness so thick not even the smallest
sliver of light can enter. There’s
something about humans that draws us to light, from when we’re children with
nightlights to the way we love clear, sunshiny days. It’s impossible for us to even picture a
darkness this thick, so deep that all the Egyptians could do was sit perfectly
still in complete terror for three full days. Isn’t it interesting that this
particular plague would freeze them into stillness? They were doing war against the God who
constantly alludes to Light, the God who separated the Light from the Darkness,
and now let the darkness roll over the Egyptians when they turned against
Him. In some ways, it reminds me of the
darkness that covered Israel when they crucified Jesus, the darkness that lasted
three hours. When people turn their back
on God, all they’re left with is empty darkness. Just as darkness is the complete absence of
light, a life that’s missing God is nothing.
P.S. I commented on Michelle’s post “God and
the concept of Free Will.”
This basically was our conersation in a nut shell. I just keep trying to picture the darkness, and how God cast the Egyptions into such utter darkness but the Israelites were not effected. The only answer that I can grasp is that if God blinded the Egyptians; once again I am astounded by Gods handiwork.
ReplyDeleteIt truly is amazing the power of darkness. I never really thought about this plague either until talking about it in class. It is kind of strange the difference in being still in the light of God and being still in the darkness. One is full of peace while the other is full of terror which is what the Egyptians felt for three full days. I could not even imagine it because like you said as humans we are drawn to light.
ReplyDeleteUntil our discussion in class this afternoon, I had never once thought of this plague, the plague of darkness, as one of the more horrific plagues. I absolutely agree that where there is a turning away from Christ, the light cannot be found. The more I wrestle with the meaning of this specific plague, the more I realize how directly it effects my life as a believer. In Ephesians 5:8, Paul writes, "for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light" (ESV). The verse does not say, "At once you were IN darkness." It says, "for at one time you WERE darkness." The Egyptians, as well as every one of us at one time, were literally darkness. But He is light, therefore we are darkness no longer.
ReplyDeleteSuch a good word, Tinsley! I love how you developed this point. I had never really thought about this being one of the worst plagues, but you are right in classifying it as such. As a lover of light, this would be horrific for me. I am not scared of the dark, and likely they weren't either, but such a thick darkness clouds and weighs down the very soul of a person. No wonder they sat in their places, unmoving for three days-imagine the terror and depression of their thoughts! A life without light would be horrifying. Israel had light, but the interesting thing is that their light did not spill over to the Egyptians- God clearly separated the two. However, there are people living in this "darkness that can be felt," who are walking through life beside us. This is why in Matthew 5:16 Jesus says, "Let your light so shine before all men that they may see your good deeds and turn to praise your father in heaven." Unlike during the plague, God has given us light that is meant to be shared... and how much must we hate others to hide our light and leave them wandering in this terrible darkness? Much like the allegory of the cave, we must return to the darkness of the cave to bring others into the light.
ReplyDeleteTinsley, I love how you brought this point out. I've always thought that the darkness plague, aside from the last plague, was one of the worst plagues ever. One thing I wanted to add to help people understand, even more so, the intensity of this plague is... It has been proven that human go crazy after about 3 days of complete darkness. So this darkness was mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical darkness.
ReplyDelete