Friday, September 8, 2017

When Darkness Takes Over

Friday, September 8, 2017
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Lift your hand toward heaven, and the land of Egypt will be covered with a darkness so thick you can feel it.”  Exodus 10:21(NLT)
And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying, “I was found by people who were not looking for me.  I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”  But regarding Israel, God said, “All day long I opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious.”  Romans 10:20-21(NLT)    
North America was in the path of totality last month.  On August 21st the moon got in the way of sunlight, and during the course of the day darkness ruled the land.  I slept through the whole two minutes!  Ok…OK…I know I’m a bit of a curmudgeon; you might even call me a party pooper, but I was not going to spend $17.95 plus shipping and handling on Amazon for glasses to see something I’ve seen before.  And by the way, there will be another one passing over North Carolina on May 11, 2078[2] - so what’s all the fuss about missing two minutes of darkness?
God told Moses to bring about an eclipse in Egypt…darkness so thick you can feel it.  And for those who have never been in the path of totality, there really isn’t anything as surreal as a complete absence of light in the middle of the day.  I experienced that as a boy in Kentucky’s Mammoth Cave.  Mom and Dad took us to that national park in the late 1950’s.  It’s a 60 year-old memory, but you don’t forget being 379 feet underground in a 500 mile long cave[3] and having the tour guide switch off the lights!  That, I imagine, was what it was like for the Egyptians when Moses lifted his hand; thick darkness!
Now, all that being said, the absence of physical light hasn’t scared me much since I was an 11 year-old in that cave.  Rather it is the darkness of the soul lacking spiritual light that evokes an alarm in me beyond description.
God spoke through Isaiah to Israel, pointing-out that the Gentiles – people who were not even seeking the true God – were going to be overwhelmed with the gift of Heaven’s light, while Israel, the chosen family of Yahweh stumbled around in darkness.  Of course this scenario of Abraham’s offspring making a mockery of God’s covenant begs a spiritual parallel with the 21st century Christian church.  In this modern age we claim to be enlightened people, civilized, advanced and caring; we claim to be good.
What have we to lay weight to that kind of claim?  Well, the list is impressive.
·       Aborting children
·       Promiscuity among heterosexuals and blatant denial of truth about homosexuality
·       Unparalleled violence in the land
·       Greed and corruption in business and government
·       War unending
In short, we are people who claim the goodness of light, yet stumble around in the darkness, bumping into walls of sin and apostasy like the days of Noah.  The darkness has taken over.
Main conclusion:  God has promised to never destroy the earth by flood again…but He never excluded the judgment of fire from above!
And…we are ripe for it!

For You Today

It’s difficult to hear a message of gloom and doom
But it’s madness to ignore such a message!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!


[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com
[2] https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/future/

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