English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese 
Continue reading with a subscription
Get unlimited access to all our premium content and exclusive features.
Enjoy unlimited access, cancel anytime.
Summary
- In the Bible, darkness stands for what is against God’s light: sin, ignorance, sorrow, death and judgment.
- God made and named the darkness in Genesis 1, and Psalm 139 says nothing hides from him in it: “the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.”
- Jesus links darkness with sin because “every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved” (John 3:20), and John’s test is whether we love or hate our brother.
- At Sinai God was in “the thick darkness”, a cloud that hid his glory, and Moses drew near to it.
- Spiritual darkness is life without the knowledge of God, and Scripture’s answer is the light God shines in our hearts in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Scripture gives no meaning for darkness in dreams, though Abram heard God’s promise in “an horror of great darkness”.
- To anyone walking in darkness the Bible says to trust in the name of the LORD, and promises, “when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me” (Micah 7:8).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- The Holy Bible, King James Version, quoted from BibleGateway: Genesis 1:2–5; 15:12–14; Exodus 10:22–23; 14:20; 20:21; 1 Kings 8:12; Psalm 18:11, 28; 97:2; 112:4; 139:11–12; Isaiah 45:7; 50:10; Amos 8:9; Micah 7:8; Matthew 6:23; 8:11–12; 22:13; 25:30; 27:45; Luke 22:53; 23:45; John 1:5; 3:19–20; 8:12; Acts 26:18; 2 Corinthians 4:6; Ephesians 5:8, 11; 6:12; Colossians 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 John 1:5; 2:9–10; Revelation 8:12; 16:10; 22:5. Word counts made on the Project Gutenberg King James text (eBook 10). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- New International Version, Isaiah 45:7, BibleGateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+45%3A7&version=NIV
- Strong’s Hebrew 2822, choshek, with the Brown-Driver-Briggs entry, Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/hebrew/2822.htm
- Strong’s Greek 4655, skotos, with Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, Bible Hub. https://biblehub.com/greek/4655.htm
- Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Dark Night of the Soul, by St. John of the Cross (work page and summary). https://www.ccel.org/ccel/john_cross/dark_night
- Benedict Zimmerman, “St. John of the Cross”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 8 (1910), New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08480a.htm
Leave a Reply