The death of a loved one, parting of a loved one due to physical movement to distant lands or on suffering a major loss, bring about a state of crisis that paralyses us for a while. We feel heavily burdened by the weight of the tragedy and everyone seems to have deserted us and even the normal talk of someone can pierce the heart like an arrow. Probably Judas Iscariot felt such weight over his soul after deceiving his Master and Lord and being abandoned by the Jewish leaders also and found suicide to be the better and only option than living in agony of the soul. Those who have their roots strongly in faith survive while others find it difficult or rarely come out.
What was the plague of darkness over Egypt? – All the Ten Plagues that were brought on Egypt were aimed at their gods to break their will to let the Israelites go. For the ninth plague God commanded Moses to ‘stretch out your hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, darkness which may even be felt’ (Exodus 10:21). Moses did so and for three days the Egyptians could not even ‘see one another’ nor move from their place. The plagues were sent with a threefold purpose– first, to punish the people and the King of Egypt for their unfair treatment of the Israelite and their economy and personal wealth was totally destroyed. Second, to break the will of the Egyptians and break their faith in their false gods and Pharaoh, who considered himself to be a god. The third was to destroy their military might and Egypt could never regain that position of supremacy again. After Moses’ warning about the plague of locusts, Pharaoh’s servants said to him, ‘How long shall this man be a snare to us? Let the men go, that they may serve the LORD their God. Do you not yet know that Egypt is destroyed?’ (Exodus 10:5-7 & 15). The locusts destroyed everything and after that ‘there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt’.
The Jewish Book of commentary on the Scriptures, the Midrash, terms this darkness created total confusion and paralysis, doubt in personal abilities and their leaders and a sense of being totally lost. This was darkness that penetrated and filled them deep within their souls causing helplessness and a sense of being abandoned by their gods. As per legend the human soul has three parts; first, the logos or logisticon for mind and reason. Second, thymos for emotions and feelings and is the masculine part and the third, epitumetikon for appetite, desires or feminine. This darkness affected all aspects of the soul of the Egyptians. Such darkness causes depression, giving up, loss of ego and should also lead to spiritual awakening also. The physical symptoms are fatigue, exhaustion that remains even after rest, feeling of being drained out with confusion and frustration. Felling totally alone, one can commit suicide along with murder of some others.
The death of someone close, especially premature death of a child or spouse triggers such despair. The Egyptians were so affected by this darkness that ‘they did not see one another’ while the Israelite camp had ‘light in their dwellings’ (Exodus 10:23). Each individual had to face this alone with no support from others. Judas Iscariot went back to the Jewish leaders in remorse saying, ‘I have betrayed innocent blood’ (Matthew 27:4-5). The Jewish leaders simply washed their hands off the whole thing by saying, ‘What is that to us? You see to it!’ Judas then threw the thirty pieces of silver, the money that he had received in the temple and ‘went and hanged himself’ for he felt totally alone and the darkness of his guilt overpowered him.
Apostle Peter denied the Lord three times, even using curses, and when the rooster crowed, he remembered the prophecy of Lord Jesus. In his guilt laden state, ‘the Lord turned and looked at Peter’ and he went out and wept bitterly (Luke 22:61-62). The look was not of condemnation but of love and understanding and Peter was consoled. Also on the day of His resurrection, Lord Jesus first sent Mary Magdalene with that Good News and then also appeared to Apostle Peter to help him come out of despair. Before this whole situation came about, the Lord prayed for him and others to save them from the effects of Satan’s action of ‘sifting them as wheat’ (Luke 22:32).
The thick darkness for three days over Egypt was due to their defiance of the living God and ill-treatment of the people chosen by God. They could then realize the true nature of their faith and they wanted the Jewish people to leave. The Egyptians were so affected in their souls that as per God’s command the Israelites asked from ‘the Egyptians articles of silver, articles of gold, and clothing’ (Exodus 12:35-36). The LORD gave favour to His people in the eyes of ‘the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested’. The slaves came out of there with much wealth for ‘they plundered the Egyptians’.
The darkness of the soul is also the first step towards complete surrender and submission to God and the final emptying out of self. It is only when one is devoid of all forms of spiritual support along with the realization that their belief in their gods was false and baseless, that one can try and find the truth and find an anchor to the soul in that.
How can a believer be thus afflicted? The LORD God felt ‘sorry that He had made man on the earth’ for He saw the great wickedness of mankind on earth and wanted to destroy all that He had created on the earth (Genesis 6:5-9). In that absolute darkness, only ‘Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD’ and he was found to be ‘perfect in his generations’ And Noah walked with God following His commands. Noah’s perfection was comparative to his generations but Job was declared by none other but God to be ‘blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil’ (Job 1:8). During the test of his faith, Job lost all that he had, including his children. His wife was so filled with darkness of grief in her soul that she cried out to him, ‘curse God and die’, for she could not bear to see his suffering (Job 2:9).
Even Job himself was unable to find out the reason for his suffering and in his pain, he spoke to his three friends, ‘why did I not die at birth?’ (Job 3:11). In answer to Job’s sufferings and the criticism of his three friends, God revealed His mighty power in creating the whole universe but not the reason for his pain. Job received the double of all that he had (Job 42:10) and his pain and anguish of his sufferings is described in detail. But the deep darkness that overwhelmed his wife at first, over the loss of her sons and daughters and then the pain of her husband is limited to only one sentence in the whole book. She suffered silently and then was blessed with seven sons and very pretty three daughters after their restoration into God’s favour and mercy. All that happened to prove to the devil the righteousness of Job and his love for God.
Will a believer also be subjected to such sufferings to test his faith? There is no promotion without a test and the bigger the blessing; the tougher can be the test. Any believer who is facing no opposition of any kind in his life must examine his life for his faith and about doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Apostle Paul has cautioned all believers to keep examining their life, ‘as to whether you are in the faith’ (2 Corinthians 13:5 & 8). He further defines the way of this checking, ‘we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth’. Check the ways that you walk in faith, for truth and what is right. God will never let any of his children be tested beyond what he can bear and ‘with the temptation will also make the way of escape’ (1 Corinthians 10:13). Just before His arrest and crucifiction, Lord Jesus showed concern for His disciples to tell them about the design of Satan to ‘sift you as wheat’ (Luke 22:31-32). But then was the assurance, ‘I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’.
The real issue is to see a believer complaining over his sufferings being unjust. When God started the creation process, ‘the earth was covered with darkness’ and in that He released the light of the glory of His Son, who then made everything suitable to join in the process. The darkness was separated from light but not removed and when Adam was formed from the dust of the earth, a part of that darkness entered his being also. God put His light in man by breathing into him and everyone has inherent in him ‘yetzer tov’, the desire to do good and ‘yetzer hara’ the opposite desire to do evil in the form of free-will. The Son of God again appeared on the earth as a Man to help remove the darkness that had totally overpowered the soul of every human being. Apostle John called Him the source of all life for ‘In Him was life, and the life was the light of men’ (John 1:4-5). The problem is not with the light but though ‘the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it’.
In one of the most powerful teachings Lord Jesus termed each believer as ‘light of the world’ (Matthew 5:14). The command to make disciples is to light that spark of light in someone else by letting them know of the source that forgives all sins and thus removes the hold of darkness over mankind. A believer’s soul is thus a flame, anchored in the physical but connected to the spiritual through the indwelling Holy Spirit and the Word of God. It takes a while for a believer to realize and feel the glow of that warm and soothing Light, though sometimes dimmer, due to our own distance from Him but most times bright and sustaining. Following the ways of the world we cover up our true identities but the spark never leaves us and most times it takes a real struggle to clear away the covering thoughts and insecurities and reconnect. We can choose to remain in God’s presence always and see the purity of our souls become the light for others.
During the ninth plague the Jewish homes had light in their dwellings (Exodus 10:23). Since the Jews and Egyptians were living nearby, one was free while the other was slave to his beliefs. As a believer, God does not just become a part of us but He must take control of all the reality of our very existence. We are not subject to circumstances and the darkness existing with the light in us but in the power and light of our Redeemer we are to overcome. To the Christians in the church in Smyrna and the other places the assurance of a reward is to the ‘one who overcomes’ (Revelation 2:11). The Saviour Lord offers this reward, since He knows and expects us to be victorious over our circumstances.
The moment we believe that the Source of light and life is in us, we realize that we are not bound by our situations and our weaknesses. Apostle Paul prayed three times to be freed from his affliction but the answer of the Lord was, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9). We are a work in progress on the earth, being made complete, fully developed and righteous by the Lord and we surrender to that despite every trial that comes our way, for He is in us to help.
Overcoming deep darkness – Mary Magdalene, in her pain, could only recognize the Risen Lord after she heard His voice (John 20:15-16). In the Old Testament the greatest command is ‘Shema, O Israel’– Hear, O Israel’ (Deuteronomy 6:4). Even at the Transfiguration of Lord Jesus, the voice of God the Father from heaven commanded the same, ‘This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!’ (Luke 9:35). In the Garden of Eden, before eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve saw everything as ‘true or false’ but later saw the same situation as ‘good or bad’. We can relate to a situation as subjective as to how it affects me but once we step back, we realize the power of God controlling it all and with Him everything is possible. The Egyptians could not see anyone else and were completely alone in their darkness but we are never alone. The suffering of Job’s wife becomes more severe for she was all alone while Job, though alone, was confronting his three friends about his being guiltless.
King David in his sufferings cried out, ‘Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up’ (Psalm 56:1 & 7). But then he encouraged himself through faith in God, ‘You (God) number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book’. Prophet Isaiah has also assured us in a similar manner, ‘Fear not, for I (God) am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand’ (Isaiah 41:10). Apostle Paul was locked up in Roman prison in an underground cell with little light. In his last letter he wrote about his isolation, ‘only Luke is with me’ (2 Timothy 4:11). But he found solace in the presence of the Lord with him and in His promise, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’.
All suffering, especially one that brings darkness over the soul, is always terrible but when we have someone to share our grief with, the pain becomes less through shared suffering. To have to suffer alone is more terrifying and is true darkness in which our Lord never lets us go into. The One who suffered all-alone, even being forsaken by the God in heaven, comes knocking at the door of our hearts to share His love (Revelation 3:20). The only thing required of us to call out to Him. We can hear Him in all darkness, from the deepest pit, where the devil can drag us, when our souls are tuned to Him and His Spirit in us. In that and that alone is our victory!
It is in such deep darkness, King David cried out to God, ‘How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?’ (Psalm 13:1). The Lord is love and our one step towards Him brings Him closer to us by a hundred steps. He is never away from us for He has engraved us on the palms of His hands and there is another engraving in the hole of the nails in His hands. We are never alone but who do we perceive to be close to us – Satan or our Saviour Lord!
