Episode 364 - The Plague of Darkness - Exodus 10:21-29

Ex. 10:21 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness to be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. 23 They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go, serve the LORD; your little ones also may go with you; only let your flocks and your herds remain behind.” 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings, that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must take of them to serve the LORD our God, and we do not know with what we must serve the LORD until we arrive there.” 27 But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he would not let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me; take care never to see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.” 29 Moses said, “As you say! I will not see your face again.”

As mentioned in an earlier episode, the first nine plagues reveal a pattern in groups of three. The third plague in each group offers Pharaoh no warning. The LORD simply tells Moses what to do and what will happen. In this case, complete darkness will cover all of Egypt except where the Hebrews are living.

I won’t speak for anyone else. But this one would freak me out. When I’m going to bed at night, I prefer the room to be very dark. But if I have to get up at night, it’s uncomfortable if I cannot see anything at all. I remember my days in high school, when I was in the photography club, and we had a darkroom at school where we could develop film and make prints. There were stages in the process when the room could have no light. It is a bit unsettling for that short amount of time. Three days of continuous total darkness would drive me insane. Notice how the LORD describes this darkness in verse 21. It is “a darkness to be felt.”

I cannot help but think that this plague is given at this time to tell Pharaoh that if he doesn’t want to acknowledge the LORD, then the LORD will give him a taste of what it would be like if the LORD never addressed the darkness and chaotic nature of the universe before the LORD created light. The first few verses of the Bible describe the complete darkness that existed until the LORD spoke light into existence. I love Genesis 1:4. After God created light with his spoken word, it reads, “And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.” (Gen 1:4 ESV) Not only did God pronounce the light good, but He also separated it from the darkness, suggesting that darkness was not good.

Pharaoh and the nation of Egypt were sovereignly deprived of this fundamental good thing for three days, something they had taken for granted and enjoyed. If the LORD created light and could remove it for three days, it seemed possible for him to remove it from them completely. I don’t even want to imagine that.

This plague may also be showing Pharaoh and Egypt that the LORD is greater than Re (alt. Ra), the Egyptian Sun god.

Once again, this plague has affected Pharaoh to the point where he seemed willing to now let women and children go with the men to worship the LORD. However, he would not let the animals go. Again, Pharaoh tried to set conditions on what he would concede to the LORD. Moses refused to accept the conditions, and Pharaoh drew the line.

Pharaoh foolishly thinks he is offloading the burdens brought by Moses by telling him to not show his face again, and even threatening death to Moses. In reality, he is sealing his own fate.

I cannot stress enough that the primary lesson we can take from the account of these plagues in Egypt is the need to be humble before the LORD. Such humility means recognizing that the LORD often demonstrates patience and shows us grace and mercy to bring us to the good things he has for us.

Episode364-Exodus10v21-29

David Largent

Episode 225 - "God said, 'Let there be light!' - Genesis 1:3-5

Gen. 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

Before I begin engaging the text of this first day of Creation, I’d like to make a few things clear. First, the Bible is not a science book. Secondly, the scope of science is limited to the natural world. Science can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God because God is supernatural. My goal is not to attack or begin to address scientific arguments about the beginning of life. I believe there is a Creator God, and I believe the Creator God described within the Bible is God. What follows then is a somewhat limited interaction with the story of Creation and the beginning of the story of God, which, I hold, extends throughout the Scriptures within the Bible. Not only do secular scientists mostly disagree with Creationists and Intelligent Design advocates, but even Christian scholars have different views about how one interprets these early chapters of Genesis. My desire is simply to share with you observations about what is happening in this story and its significance.

We left off last week with the earth formless, void, and dark. Who would want to live on that earth? It’s the crisis in the story that we want and expect to be resolved. Furthermore, we read that the Spirit of God was “hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:2). That statement creates an excitement or expectation that something is about to happen.

In verse 3, something happens. What? God spoke. God said, “Let there be light.” What follows God’s command is what appears to be an immediate fulfillment of that command. Light came into existence. With nothing but expressed will, God created light. What’s the point? God is powerful. Furthermore, God has a mind and is not just a force in the universe. God can and does express His will and has the power to cause whatever He wills.

In verse 4, God does two more things. First, God “saw that the light was good” (v. 4a). We can draw a few things from this statement. One is that the light was complete- it was just the way God wanted it. God didn’t need to practice making light. This statement begs the question, “Good for what?” Did God need to create light? Was God incomplete before He created light? I don’t think so. I think this suggests that God saw or made sure that light was good for the earth and for the living things that He would put on the earth. In other words, this should give us a sense that God wants good things for His creatures and has the power to make it happen perfectly. I find that encouraging.

In verse 4, God also judges what is good and what isn’t good. God separated the light from the darkness. The author has told us that God saw that the light was good. Yet God separates the light from the darkness. Why? It’s God’s judgment that darkness is not good. We are not given any more details concerning that. But as we read through the Scriptures, we find that light and darkness are often used symbolically for good and evil or knowledge and ignorance. At the end of the Scriptures, the eternal scene of God’s realm is continuous light.

Finally, in verse 5, God names the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Thus, the first day of Creation is complete. The importance of this verse is God’s authority over light and darkness. At the end of God’s creative work, He will give humans the authority to name the animals.

So, what is the story revealing to us? God is powerful, thoughtful, and good and has the authority to determine what is good and what is not good. The story informs us about God’s character, doesn’t it? These truths about God’s character are essential for the people we will read about in the Bible and important in our walk of faith.

If an aspect of God in this text stands out to you, give God thanks for that, and pray that God impresses these truths upon your heart.

Episode225- "Let there be light" - Genesis1v3-5

David Largent

Episode 132 - "It was still dark" - John 20:1-10 (part 1)

John 20:1   Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

One of the most fascinating things I discovered during my time in seminary was comparing the four gospels with each other and seeking to discern if events that seemed to be the same were in fact the same or different but similar accounts. Then, if it were clear that I was looking at two or more different perspectives of the same event, I would try to discern why there were differences. One clear factor is the perspective of the narrator. Another, I discovered, was that details might either be included or excluded depending upon whether the author felt the detail contributed to the theological message they were attempting to communicate. I am not suggesting that the authors “made up” details or lied for their own benefit. I am suggesting that they believed one or more details were more important and others not important. There was selectivity in the details each of them included and excluded. All four gospels give an account of the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus and the details are interesting in working through. 

Notice selectivity happening within John’s account of Jesus’ resurrection. He reports that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb where Jesus had been laid early on the first day of the week. However, she discovers the tomb is empty and she runs to Peter and “the disciple whom Jesus loved” and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” (v. 2) “We?” Who are the “we?” John has only told us so far that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb. But, now John has casually revealed that there was at least one more person with Mary. It just wasn’t important to John to name the other(s) in his account. If you study the comparisons, it’s possible there were separate visits to the tomb by various women. Perhaps Mary Magdalene went alone but joined other women when she arrived. The point is not to try to answer this particular interpretive challenge, but to call your attention to this. 

Another variation is that John mentions that Mary came “while it was still dark.” Matthew and Luke both report women going to the tomb at early dawn and Mark reports “the sun had risen.” (Mark 16:2) Wait! How could the sun have risen and it still be dark? Doesn’t this prove that at least one of these accounts is wrong? Some years ago I was teaching this account and came across a resource that suggested that Jewish reckoning of “darkness” and “light” was that darkness was still considered to exist until after the sun had completely risen over the horizon. So, it’s possible in the early dawn, the sun could have risen, but people considered it still dark. I get this. I get up very early in the morning and depending upon the time of year, it could be dark. I would turn on my lights to drive to work. As the sun comes up, I keep my lights on for a period of time until I feel that other drivers can see me in the natural light. Perhaps it is just the perspective of these two accounts. But, is there more to it?

I’ve spoken a lot about the importance of repetition in literature. Is there anything about John’s report that it was still “dark” that strikes you as interesting? Has John said anything about darkness in this book? Has he said anything about light? Of course, Jesus is the “Light of men” and “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome/understood it.” (John 1:4-5) “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him . . . (John 1:9-10) In John 3:19, “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” It would seem then that John has chosen to emphasize the darkness at this moment because Mary and the others have not yet encountered the risen “Light of the world”. They are in “darkness” (physically and spiritually) from the sense that they do not yet understand and believe that Jesus is alive. This is evident from her words to the disciples reporting that Jesus’ body has been taken away. (v. 2)

I would suggest to you that what we have here is not simply a different perspective by these authors or even a different theological point they feel led to highlight with their selected details. What I see is an example of a Sovereign God who orchestrates even the smallest details of these human perspectives and nature itself in keeping with His divine purpose in the grand story of the death, burial, and resurrection of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. This is not just a great story. It’s a story that is being offered as a literal, historical event. This is why I’ve encouraged and emphasized looking for these details along the way because they lend credence to the veracity of these claims about Jesus. 

Think about this in the coming week and we’ll return to this story again next week.

Episode 132 - "It was still dark" - John 20:1-10

David Largent