Day 6: Separation from darkness
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived (Exodus 10:21-23).
Almighty Creator God, in the beginning You spoke light into darkness and void (Genesis 1:3). You, God, the Source of all—You form the light and create darkness (Isaiah 45:7).
Even in the physical/material realm we cannot begin to grasp Your greatness beyond our understanding, and Your unsearchable ways (Job 36:26, 37:5; Psalm 145:3; Ecclesiastes 3:11). In Your infinite wisdom, You consulted no one to enlighten You, to teach You the right way—to teach You knowledge, or show You the path of understanding (Isaiah 40:14).
And yet You have shown that Your physical designs are often only symbols of greater spiritual realities—knowledge too wonderful for us, too lofty for us to attain (Psalm 139:6); (also Psalm 131:1; Job 42:3). We see this so well in the themes of light and darkness throughout Scripture.
From the dawn of creation You made a distinction between light and darkness: God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:4). Job reiterates this: He marks out the horizon on the face of the waters for a boundary between light and darkness (Job 26:10).
Later, when You redeemed Your covenant people with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment (Exodus 6:6), You again created a boundary between light and darkness. In the midst of palpable darkness—darkness that [could] be felt, the people of God had light in the places where they lived (Exodus 10:23).
Yet, this was a only a representation of the amazing redemption plan You had designed for all humanity. For You were working throughout the history of Your people to point to the Redeemer You had promised to a world stumbling in the deep darkness of fallen disobedience and sin: “I will make You as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isaiah 49:6 – ESV).
In Jesus, the light of the world, You provided the ultimate means of separation from darkness, so that through Him those who were once darkness could be light in the Lord and live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). So that even in the gathering shadows and the palpable darkness of our times, the people of God have light in the places where they live.
Father, help us to live with courage and hope, defeating darkness in the confidence that God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6 - ESV). Teach us to rest in the assurance we have in Jesus:
"In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:4-5).
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