BIBLE STUDY - Darkness is More Than the Absence of Light

8/2/2019 BIBLE STUDY - Darkness is More Than the Absence of Light

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COULD DARKNESS BE MORE THAN JUST THEABSENCE OF LIGHT?

A Bible Study on the Nature of Darkness

SPIRITUAL DARKNESS:

10We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as ifwe hadno eyes: westumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.Isaiah 59:10 (KJV)

According to the JFB Commentary this verse fulfils Moses' threat:

29And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, andthou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed andspoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.Deuteronomy 28:29 (KJV)

GROSS DARKNESS:

2For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness thepeople: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen uponthee.Isaiah 60:2(KJV)

gross darkness = Strong's NumberH6205:

Hebrew Word:

Transliteration: arpelRoot: probably from

Cross Reference: TWOT - 1701b

Part of Speech: n m

Vine's Words: None

English Words used in KJV:

thick darkness 8

darkness 3

gross darkness 2

dark cloud1dark1

[Total Count: 15]


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probably from (`araph);gloom (as of a loweringsky):- (gross, thick) dark (cloud, -ness).

Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary

Hence, this gross darkness is 'thick' and 'gloomy' in nature, probably not dissimilar to thethick darkness we encounter in the Book of Exodus that descended upon Egypt. There itwas described as being the kind of palpabledarkness that could actually be felt!

This term is derived from rap (Stong's Number ), which sheds an even moresinister light upon what physical properties this darkness might have that distinguishes itfrom your normal everyday darkness, so to speak:

a primitive root; to droop; hence to drip:- drop (down).

Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.

Hence, gross darkness would appear to be a supernatural kind of darkness or gloom thatpossesses actual physical properties and attributes one would normally associate with matter,rather than a simple absence or amelioration of photons, i.e., lightas we know it. This gross

darkness would not merely equate to an absence of light [photons] per s, but to thephysical presence of what one might call dark photons [dark matter,] which actuallypossess an almost palpable liquid like property that can be felt...like drizzle! A gloomy, oozingkind of darkness that is the very antithesis of light not the mere absence of it and as suchit physically replaces or supplants the light, if you will! Possibly to such an extent that itmight go toward explaining how the darkening of the sun and moon occurs in conjunction withit. A darkness of such magnitude and physical presence that it actually succeeds in blotting outthe light from the sun and moon!

NB: See Zephaniah 1:15 where the same Hebrew term is used to describe the gloom anddarkness of the same event - the Day of Wrath otherwise known as the Day of the Lord:

14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the

voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 Thatdayis a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness anddesolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds andthick darkness,Zephaniah 1:14-15(KJV)

It we consider that God's judgement upon Egypt was but a foretaste of His judgement upon

the entire earth, (since Egypt has always been synonymous with the world at large and it'sfalling away into wickedness and evil) - then we must also consider that the plagues andcalamities that befell Egypt were but an ante-type of the pouring out of the bowls or vials ofGod's wrath as described in the Book of Revelation:The darkness which thus comes over thekingdom of the Beast must be literal, as that of Egypt was; for that was the pre-libation ofthis,the pre-rehearsal of what is to come. Apocalypse, The

10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his

kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 Andblasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and

repented not of their deeds.Rev 16:10-11 (KJV)


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The effects of these judgements overlap each other. The sores of the first plague are still feltduring the second and third, and even here under the fifth. This proves that these plagues allfall upon the people of one and the same generation, and hence dare not be extended throughcenturies. The Antichrist has but 3 years, and all seven of these last plagues fall upon himand his followers. Here his very throne is assailed, and his entire dominion is filled withdarkness. The last but one of the Egyptian plagues was a plague of darkness.

The Book of Wisdom (17:21) says:

Over them was spread a heavy night, an image of that darkness whichshould afterward receive them; but yet were they unto themselves moregrievous than the darkness.

Here is a corresponding darkness, coextensive with the worldwide empire of this Beast. Fromthe centre of his kingdom, even to its utmost limits, everything is darkened. Isaiah prophesied

of this when he said,

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darknessthe people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seenupon thee.Isaiah 60:2(KJV)

Joel prophesied of it when he said:

1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: letall the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh,

for it is nigh at hand; 2A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day ofclouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon themountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like,neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.Joel 2:1-2(KJV)

31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood,before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.Joel 2:31(KJV)

Nahum prophesied of it when he said that the fierceness of God's anger shall be poured outlike fire, and

6Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fiercenessof his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down

by him. 7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he

knoweth them that trust in him. 8 But with an overrunning flood he will makean utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his

enemies.Nahum 1:6-8(KJV)


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Our blessed Saviour prophesied of it when He declared:

24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,

and the moon shall not give her light, 25And the stars of heaven

shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.Mark 13:24-25(KJV)

And great are the miseries of that darkness; for it causes those who feel it to bite theirtongues by reason of the distress which it adds to all the rest of their torments.Apocalypse, TheThis darkening of the Beast's kingdom, added to the earlier inflictions, brings terrible distress.The description indicates the intensest writhings of anguish, the very madness of vexation andpain. The people who suffer these plagues bite their tongues, chew them, gnaw them, as theirbest diversion from their misery. Their tongues have spoken blasphemies, and they themselves

thus punish them. Earth has become like hell for wickedness, and so itbecomes like hell fordarkness and torment,nay, still further like hell, because there is no repentance in itsinhabitants. Instead of cursing themselves for their impieties, they curse God as the offender,for thus interfering with their preferences and their peace. To the ulcers, the bloody waters,the sun-scorches, now comes this horrible darkness; and a God of such administrations theydisdain to honour, even under all their miseries. They will gnaw their tongues with pain andrage rather than speak a prayer of penitence to Him. Nothing but cursing and horriddenunciations will they utter. When they saw the two slain Witnesses come to life again andascend to heaven, they were willing to own that the God of heaven is God, and to give Himsomething of His glory. But it was only a temporary reverence, which soon faded away. Herethey are again compelled to acknowledge Him as the God of heaven, but it is only to heapnew blasphemies on His name.

Apocalypse, The

A concise summary of the Egyptian plagues is also given to us in Psalms 105:

26 He sent Moses his servant; andAaron whom he had chosen. 27 They

shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28He sentdarkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his

word. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. 30 Their land

brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spake,

and there came divers sorts of flies, andlice in all their coasts. 32 He gave

them hail for rain, andflaming fire in their land. 33 He smote their vines also

and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. 34 He spake, and the

locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, 35 And did eat up all

the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. 36 He smotealso all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength.Psalms 105:26-36 (KJV)

VERSE 28: He sent darkness, and made it dark. It was no natural or common darkness tobe accounted for by the blinding dust of the simoon, it was beyond all precedent and out of the

range of ordinary events. It was a horrible palpable obscurity which men felt clingingabout them as though it were a robe of death. It was a thick darkness, a totaldarkness, a darkness which lasted three days, a darkness in which no one dared tostir.


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21 And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, thatthere may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may

be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was

a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one

another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children ofIsrael had light in their dwellings.Ex 10:21-23(KJV)

What a condition to be in! This plague is first mentioned, thought it is not first in order,because it fitly describes all the period of the plagues: the land was in the darkness of sorrow,and in the darkness of sin all the time. If we shudder as we think of that long and terriblegloom, let us reflect upon the gross darkness which still covers heathen lands as theresult of sin, for it is one of the chief plagues which iniquity creates for itself. May theday soon come when the people which sit in darkness shall see a great light.Treasury of David, TheAnd they rebelled not against his word. Moses and Aaron did as they were bidden, andduring the darkness the Egyptians were so cowed that even when it cleared away theywere anxious for Israel to be gone, and had it not been for the pride of Pharaoh they wouldhave rejoiced to speed them on their journey there and then. God can force men to obey, andeven make the stoutest hearts eager to pay respect to his will, for fear his plagues should bemultiplied. Possibly, however, the sentence before us neither refers to Moses nor the Egyptians,but to the plagues which came at the Lord's bidding. The darkness, the hail, the frogs, themurrain, were all so many obedient servants of the great Lord of all.Treasury of David, The

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BIBLE STUDY - Darkness is More Than the Absence of Light