Mar
29
2013
Darkness That Can Be Felt
Posted in Holy Week, Salvation 4 Comments
So many children are afraid of the dark.
Something unknown is lurking in the corners.
Something sinister is hiding in the shadows.
Our living room is painted a deep cranberry red.
It is warm and inviting with the old wood furniture pieces and the hardwood floors.
It is one of my favorite rooms.
One little boy, that visits with his mom, will not go in that room on a cloudy day.
It must seem dark to him.
He will stand right at the edge of the hardwood floors and just look in…but won’t enter.
On a sunny day, he goes in there with ease.
We don’t like the dark.
Even though darkness may be conducive to sleep, we prefer sunshine and light.
Moses told Pharaoh that God said, Let My people go.
It took a series of ten plagues before that would happen.
The plagues would affect the Egyptians but never the Israelites.
God made a distinction between His people and those that were not His people.
The ninth plague was the plague of darkness.
Darkness that can be felt.
The Egyptians could not see anyone else or leave their place for three days.
The Israelites had light in the places where they lived.
Total darkness.
Darkness before the tenth plague…the plague on the firstborn.
Each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household…the animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs…On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn – both men and animals – and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt. (Exodus 12:3,5-7,12,13)
Blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes.
The lamb died in the place of the firstborn.
The blood covering, applied to the doorframes in faith, saved the people from death.
All of this, pointed to what God the Father had planned all along.
A blood covering for His people.
The perfect Lamb…the sinless substitute…would die in the place of the guilty.
The blood covering, applied to the people in faith, saved them from death.
The blood covering STILL saves people from death.
Like the plague of darkness that came before the death of the firstborn, another darkness fell over the land.
At the sixth hour darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:33,34)
12:00 noon to 3:00 in the afternoon…darkness came over the whole land.
Darkness that can be felt.
The Light of the World hung on the cross.
The darkness came before the death of God’s only begotten Son.
Creation seemed to know that the Son of God would soon give up His spirit.
The sun could not possibly shine.
In that day, declares the Sovereign Lord, I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight…I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day. (Amos 8:9,10b)
The sun cannot possibly shine when the Son of God hangs on a cross.
Creation mourned.
The day was bitter like the sour wine vinegar that was given to Jesus on a soaked sponge.
It did not start out that way.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. (Isaiah 9:2)
It will not end that way.
I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Revelation 21:22,23)
How terrible to be in permanent darkness.
Darkness that can be felt.
The Blood of the Lamb has not been applied to the doorframe of your heart.
It does not have to end that way.
Get out of the darkness!
Come into the Light!
No mourning…no bitterness.
No standing on the edge looking in…but not entering.
Light.
Illumination.
Salvation.
Isn’t that a great prophecy in Amos?! And so many others. Thanks Gina.
Yes, Janna…it is!
Have a Blessed Easter with your family.
Gina
Perfect Gina…how uplifting!
Thank you, Sherie,
I think of you this Easter…and remember.
Miss you, friend.
Gina