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God’s People, Chôshek And The Darkness of The World

God’s People, Chôshek And The Darkness of The World

Last updated on: December 20, 2023 at 12:39 pm by Martin Thomas Johnson

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God’s People, Chôshek And The Darkness of The World 2023-12-20T12:39:58-05:00 Martin Thomas Johnson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Over the last few weeks, there has been lots of storms and destruction around the world. As I write a volcano in Iceland has begun to erupt after a month of earthquakes.

Valcano

Image by Pixabay

It seems almost demonic to have all of these bad events happening during Christmas. Christmas is often seen as a bright and happy time of year full of love and hope. The darkness occurring now seemingly opposes the light. But, darkness has always had a negative association with it.

Evil
Sadness
Ignorance
Misery

Clearly there is a spiritual darkness in this fallen world we live in. God noticed it after He created the universe, the earth, and everything on it (Genesis 6:6).

This is why it is important for God’s people to be different than the world—to be the light among the spiritual darkness we live in. God’s people are called to be a glowing bride, not a lady of the night.

Darkness

Christianity emphasizes the need for the church to be a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:14- 16, John 1:5, Ephesians 5:8.) The Apostle Paul emphasized the need for the church to have nothing to do with the darkness (Philippians 2:15, 2 Corinthians 6:14.)

Stars

Image by Pixabay

The Prophet Moses explained how God separated the light from the darkness and called the light good (Genesis 1:2-5.) Then God placed lights in the sky to separate the day from the night (Genesis 1:14-15.) God’s people understood the importance of light and the dangers of the darkness.

Chôshek

The Jewish people understood the physical and spiritual aspects of darkness much better than we do today. The Hebrew word for darkness in the Old Testament is chôshek and it means more than just the absence of light, it is understood as death, destruction, misery and obscurity.

Judaism had two beliefs about the origin of darkness; classic darkness from geheinom (hell) and celestial darkness which predates God and allowed God to distinguish Himself from the darkness.

God’s people often experienced physical and spiritual darkness since they were nomadic people who lived in the wilderness and encountered other cultures and Gods. One of the darkest seasons for Israel happened when they were exiled in Egypt for 430 years.

When God decided it was time to rescue His people he sent the plagues and darkness to punish Egypt. Below is a list of the plagues God allowed to deliver His people from the darkness (Exodus 7-13):

Blood
Frogs
Lice or gnats
Flies
Death of livestock
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of the firstborn

Now we see why God separated the light from the darkness. However, again Israel returned to their wandering ways and entered more dark seasons of exile and not hearing from God for over 400 years.

As both physical and spiritual darkness continue to spread, we need to understand the importance of being the light of the world. Light requires action to overcome darkness. This is why the Apostle Paul reminded the early church not to walk in darkness (Romans 13:11-13, 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5.)

Church light

Image by Pixabay

God promised His people to send a light to guide and lead us through the darkness of this world (Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 42:6; 9:2.)

The Promise

God promised long ago through the prophets to send a great light into the world, a Messiah—a savior to once again ransom God’s people from the darkness (Isaiah 9:1-7) everything about the Messiah opposes the darkness and the evil of this fallen world.

Christmas Star

Image by Pixabay

God promised to deliver us from evil, not to do evil. The promise is of hope and not of earthly greatness. Our Savior will lead us out of the darkness.

God promises to be with us in the trials and to be the light in the darkness. Light works against the darkness. The Messiah promises to restore the light to this dark world. Light serves God and His purposes.

Leads
Shines
Exposes darkness

Darkness doesn’t last forever; a promise of the Messiah is eternal victory of light over darkness (John 1:5, Revelation 22:5.) Tomorrow is the winter solace, afterward each day will get longer. The promise of the Messiah is the end of the darkness (chôshek!)

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