We pick back up this week in our study through the plagues in Exodus. In this passage we have the plague of darkness. The darkness lasted 3 days. The darkness is described as able to be felt (verse 21) and as “pitch” darkness (verse 22). The plague of darkness precedes the final plague, the plague of death.
This was a real, historical event. We don’t know how God shut out the light, but it was only in Egypt. Israel had light where they lived (verse23). The darkness over Egypt is a type, meaning it teaches us something about spiritual realities. Darkness is depicted as ignorance of God; not an innocent ignorance, but a suppression of the truth of God.
The Egyptians worshipped the sun. It was their major deity among many gods they had (or supposed they had). The ancient Egyptians had a hymn they used to worship Amon-Ra, the sun god. “There is none beside you. You mold the earth as you wish; you and you alone. All people and all herds; all that walk upon the earth; all that fly high, bow down before you O Ra,”
The worship of anything in creation is idolatry. It always leads to ungodliness and unrighteousness. The world we live in is condemned by the Scriptures as in darkness, meaning men worship anything but the living and true God. This is why the world is as it is with wars, strife, conflict, hate, and such. People do not know God, neither do they worship God.
Christ is called the “Light of the World.” He is in contrast to the dark world. Even though he has come into the world as light, men love the darkness (John 3:19). Jesus in that verse is explaining why men do not come to him. They would rather stay in their sins; the light of Christ exposes sin and they want to avoid such light.
If we come to Christ truly, we come to be cleansed of the sin the light of God exposes in us. We come to be forgiven, have new life, and be set on a path of the true worship of God through Christ. There is no other way to escape the world, and the judgment upon its darkness than through Christ. He is the only light there is.
The salvation in Christ is held out as being delivered from darkness. In Ephesians 5:8, Paul says to Christians, “At one time you were darkness, but now you are the light of the Lord… walk as children of the light.” He says in Colossians, 1:13, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have forgiveness of sins.”
The darkness is a warning. If you stay outside of Christ, you will suffer what Egypt suffered. In God’s judgment he gives people over to darkness. Matthew Henry comments on the plague of darkness in Egypt: “Who would not have preferred the poorest shack in Israel to the finest palace in Egypt?” To be in darkness is a terrible thing.
When God warns of judgment and darkness, he does so because he offers mercy instead. He offers a way of life. It is in Christ. The three days of darkness point us to the three hours of darkness over the earth when Christ was on the cross (Matthew 27:45). The darkness there also pointed to God’s judgment and wrath. However, it was directed at the Holy Son of God, taking the judgment of the world upon himself, so that men may have the light and life of God.
You need to be clear in your mind what God offers in Christ. He offers complete forgiveness and righteousness that you cannot achieve in any way on your own. The message of the gospel is good news because it declares to every man without exception that whatever yours sins or whatsoever your rebellion, God will take you and forgive you in Christ, if you come to him humbly and honestly.
The death of Christ and his righteousness is imputed to whoever believes without any personal work or merit on the part of the individual who comes. The boast of the believer (and hope) is in Christ only. This faith brings with it assurance and desire to see Christ, who loved you and gave himself for you, honored. To boast in your own righteousness is to remain in darkness.
