Darkness And The Shadow Of Death
Much of what is written under darkness has been visited under the study of the Light, so revisiting many verses that contain light and darkness is the order of the day. And the phrase 'shadow of death' appears in the verses that have the word shadow in it. We will look up then shadow and see in turn what the shadow of death expression biblically is all about. Before we go there let us keep in mind what God says in Revelation about the eternal state, the period of time beyond the Millennial Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the 8th day of God ( eight is the bible numeric number for new beginnings) or eternal state. It is revealed that the (12) gates of the New Jerusalem shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there (Rev 21:25). This means that there will not be the cycles 'evening and day' in the eternal state for there will be continuous light at all times. In addition we are told that there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it...and his servants......shall see his face: (Rev 22:3,4). At present God does not allow us in our earthly body, even when delivered from the power of sin and death by Jesus Christ, to see his face, for he is in darkness to us. We see dimly, as it were, as if we were looking in a glass, but then we shall see his face in the eternal state where all is holy and everyone is righteous. There is the darkness of the power of Satan that we shall see, and the darkness of our unredeemed body that nevertheless has the light of life, of the Spirit of life (we await the redemption of our bodies). Let us keep this in mind to meditate over in this quest to understand what is it that God has done and what he means to teach us by it.
Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. [God created darkness first before he showed us light, which he called out from darkness]
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. [light is to keep separate from darkness; of the light he said it was good but not of the darkness]
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. [the day and the night are opposite each other]
Gen 1:18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good [the lights of the firmament were created to shed light on the earth during the day and during the night; even during the darkness God is mindful to show us light]
Ex 10:22 (Ex 14:20; see also Joel 2:2,31 and Acts 2:20) And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days (and thick darkness over the pursuing Egyptian armies during the day as the light was covered with a cloud, as we saw before). [this is an example of the supernatural power of God who caused a blackout over Egypt (he turned off the lights on Egypt) except at Goshen where the Israelites dwelled]
Deut 4:11 And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness. [God came down to Sinai but he did it in fire and thick darkness]
Deut 28:29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. [disobedience to the conditional stipulations of the Covenant of Moses would bring jugdments in curses, and the blindness of darkness to Israel. Darkness is failure to discern the good]
1 Sam 2:9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail [darkness is silence of words]
2 Sam 22:12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. [the secret things of God belong to himself and he covers himself with darkness]
2 Sam 22:29 For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and the Lord will lighten my darkness. [in the Lord the darkness disipates]
1 Kings 8:12 Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. [as above]
Job 3:5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. [Job is speaking of the day of his birth and of the night in the day he was born and on which Job wished that day to be taken off the calendar]
Job 10:21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death; [Job expected that his calamities would take him to the grave in death]
Job 10:22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness. [same]
Job 12:22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death. [God reveals the hidden things of darkness and of the shadow of death]
Job 17:13 If I wait, the grave is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. [the grave or tomb is described as the darkness, of death]
Job 19:8 He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and he hath set darkness in my paths. [Job thinks he is trapped without recourse to return to viability or stability again because God has put obstacles in his way]
Job 23:17Because I was not cut off before the darkness, neither hath he covered the darkness from my face. [Job is totally aware of his situation]
Job 34:22 There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves. [there is no place to hide for the wicked, none. Darkness will not protect him from being found out of all his ways and deeds]
Job 38:19 Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, [God is questioning Job, if he knows the things of the creator to question him?]
Ps 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. [as said before, the Lord's secret place is darkness to us till the time of the new beginnings]
Ps 88:6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps. [a Psalm or song of lamentation for the sons of Korah in the wanning days of life that bemoans the burden of being forgotten of God when his body enters the grave and the deeps of the lowest pit]
Ps 91:6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
Ps 104:20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night: [darkness is the opposite of light and God makes them both]
Ps 105:28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. [said of Moses and Aaron in the land of Ham (Egypt) when God sent the wonder of darkness]
*Ps 107:10 Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, [said of those that rebel against the words of God]
Ps 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. [that which the Lord did for the enslaved and captive Israelites in Egypt]
Ps 112:4 Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: [the Lord provides in all the situations for those that seek him]
Ps 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. [nothing is hidden from God]
Prov 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness; [to leave the paths of uprightness is to walk the ways of darkness. This narrows it down to two choices or two ways: one the right path and the other one by default are the wrong ways. This is spoken of the fool, the simple who does not incline their ears to the wisdom of God]
Prov 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. [the wicked are the wilful rejectors of God and lack the light of life he gives]
Eccl 2:13 Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. [light is more excellent than darkness]
Eccl 2:14 The wise man's eyes are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness: [the fool denies there is a God so that he can not be lifted by his light nor see when he walks in life]
Eccl 6:4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. [said of the most successful of men, that do not know God]
Is 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; [these are deceivers that turn things on their heads for gain]
Is 8:22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness. [of darkness is said here to be anguish by dimness of sight or light]
Is 9:22 (Matt 4:16) The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. [written of Israel at the Lord's first coming, when at his coming God that was then and there the Light of the world]
Is 29:18 And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. [in the kingdom of heaven, of the Messiah on the earth those who were in darkness will now see, even the very blind will be delivered from his infirmity]
Is 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. [at the final restoration of Israel, in order to see an enter the Messianic kingdom, the HS will be outpoured and the light of life will restore their sight]
Is 45:3 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, [said of Cyrus who would be a type of Gentile messiah who would conquer battles by the power of God to open gates and make the crooked places straight for him, the treasures of darkness]
Is 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: [darkness is the absence of light and evil is the result of free will conduct that is contrary to goodness so that a man may choose to do evil]
Is 47:5 Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: [this is about Babylon the Mother of Harlots, that calls herself a Queen Goddess, the "I AM", to get off the throne that is not hers, to shut up and get out of the limelight]
Is 58:10 And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: [mercy and grace, justice and compasion brings the light of God]
Is 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: [this speaks of that which is to happen at the end of the great tribulation, at his second coming, as written in Matt 24:29]
Jer 2:31 Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? [Judah's idolatry before being taken captive to Babylon, men calling themselves gods]
Ez 32:8 (Joel 2:2,31; Acts 2:20) All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord God. [in context predictive of the blackouts at the future end times, over Israel when God turns off the lights of the firmament]
Joel 2:2 day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: [the eschatological timeline here is the midpoint of the tribulation, when the demonic army is allowed by God to invade his land, in the day of his visitation (Is 10:3) to chastise them in measure (Is 27:8 and Ez 39:26)]
Joel 2:31 (Acts 2:20) The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come. [there are two types of blackouts: one is that of the blockage of the light to get through the darkened atmosphere and the other is when God turns light into darkness (Amos 4:13) as in this case, He causes the opposite to be the case. To turn the light into darkness is not the same biblically as to 'be darkened' for this latter is what is meant when the atmospheric clouds are so thick (Joel 2:2) that light does not make it through.]
Amos 5:18 (Zeph 1:15) Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. [ a woe is a death curse! How can anyone desire such a day?]
Amos 5:20 Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? [God will turn off the lights during the tribulation and at the time appointed for the events of the tribulation he will bring utter darkness. In the same way he 'pulled out' the light from the darkness at creation, now he puts the light back into the darkness, is the idea or teaching here]
Micah 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. [the voice of the prophet Micah interceding for his people, the remnant of Israel for a future deliverance in the end times when the nation will be in dire distress but the Lord will deliver her]
Zephaniah 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, [God's prophets have made it abundantly clear that the day of the Lord is going to be hell on earth. Prophecy buffs need to come to grips that the day of the Lord is not just a single day and that every time that the Lord chastises a nation as Egypt (Is 19, Ez 29), or Edom (Is 34 and 63) or Israel (Joel 2, Zech 11) or Babylon (Rev 16:10) it it a day of the Lord for that city or nation, in the end times]
Matt 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. [Israel at his first coming had the very light of life come to her, to make of her the brightest beacon of ligtht in the world]
Matt 6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! [an eye that is evil is one that is not single minded of God but open minded to all the things of the world so that the light that enters in is darkness, for it is not of God]
Matt 8:12 But the children of the kingdom [Israel, to whom was promised the kingdom to be ruled by a descendant of David] shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [those of Jewry that rejected their Messiah when he came were to end up in outer darkness as the guest without a robe in Matt 22:13]
Matt 10:27 (luke 12:3) What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: [Jesus would retire in the evenings to the Mount of Olives with his disciples and taught them at night]
Matt 22:13 Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth [as in 8:22. Outer darkness is where there is no light, thrown out so this is pretty bad]
Matt 47:45 (Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44) Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. [this is another example of God turning off the light, the same concept as sending the light back into the darkness]
Luke 22:53 When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness. [the power of the Devil, ruled the conduct of his accusers in their hatred of God the Son and Messiah Jesus]
John 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. [darkness can not harness nor entrap the light in any way, even if God can hide the light in the darkness]
John 3:19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [the reason that men do not come to Christ is because they love their life and their sins and would rather not give them up or be exposed, so they rather live in the darkness]
John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. [follow Christ and ye shall not walk in darkness]
John 12:35 Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. [this said Jesus to his disciples for he was the light and showed the way]
John 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness. [stay upon the Lord and you shall not stray from the paths of God; when you trust him out of darkness you come]
Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. [being in darkness is being under the power of Satan and the power of death; by the light Jesus Christ opens our eyes to God]
Rom 13:12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. [throw far the works of darkness and join the light of the day in the Lord]
1 Cor 4:5 until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: [the apostles and disciples expected the soon coming of the Lord in their lifetimes when Jesus would bring to light that which is hiding behind the darkness. Light shows the intents of the heart, the motives for our actions]
2 Cor 4:6 (Gen 1:3) For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. [believers have the light of life in their hearts]
Eph 5:8 (1 Thess 5:5) For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: [believers pass from being darkness to being light in the Lord]
Eph 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. [knowing the truth by having the light qualifies us to discern the unfruitful works in darkness and judge their works]
Col 1:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: [at conversion the Father translates us to the kingdom of his Son removing us from the power of darkness, of the Devil, of this world system]
1 Thess 5:4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. [the Thessalonian believers were not to worry about being overtaken by the day of the Lord in the times and seasons when God would remove the god of the world's rule over the earth]
1 Thess 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. [not being of the night is not being of darkness for in the night is when the darkness does its greater works]
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a holy priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath call you out of darkness into his marvellous light [this is a teaching God had in mind when he gave us in Genesis 1:3 and 2 Cor 4:6, the concept of light taken our from darkness and we having his light have been called out of darkness]
2 Pet 2:4 (Jude 6,13) For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; [the fallen angels (the watchers) of Genesis 6 that mated with the daughters of men are incarcerated in chains of darkness forever]
2 Pet 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. [Peter is speaking of false prophets and teachers for these deceivers are destined for eternal darkness]
1 John 1:5 God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. [God himself is light for light is a major attribute of God and the means of life]
1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: [anyone claiming to be a Christian that hates his brother has that hatred as evidence that he does not have the truth in him (Jesus Christ).]
1 John 2:8 true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. [no longer being that which we were, as the darkness is passed from us]
1 John 2:11 But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes. [as 1 John 1:6]
Jude 6 he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. [the fallen angels of Genesis 6 that mated with the daughters of men who bore children to them in an attempt to corrupt the human genome, are chained without a chance of parole in darkness awaiting the great white throne judgment after the completion of the millennium]
Jude 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. [the blackness of darkness is eternal death in the sense of damnation, separation from God as rejectors of the LORD God]
Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; [the seat of the antichrist will be destroyed, turned into a desolation by the Lord through the Medes (today's Kurds) as written in Jeremiah 50 and 51 and by means of weapons that figure to be nuclear in nature in their descriptions. Babylon will be a continous desolation from then on. Given that this is a bowl or vial judgment it happens at the closing of the great tribulation period]
Summary Conclusions on the word Darkness.
Darkness is used in the natural sense as the lack of natural light where one must grope around in order not to fall and stumble. It is used in the description of present and upcoming calamities whereby the natural light will fail to enlighten as in the cases described as blackouts, which could be of two types: one is when the natural light is not allowed to be what it is, as in Joel 2:30,31 where the lights of the sun and moon and stars are turned into darkness. This phrase specifically means in context that the light of these planets is turned off (not that the sun is turned off!) so that it is not given. It is like God putting the light back into the zippered file of darkness from which it came so that it is not visible, a reversal of Gen 1:3. At Calvary there was darkness in the mount from noon to 3 pm when Jesus was agonizing on the cross before he dismissed his spirit. In contradistinction most of the blackouts are because the natural light rays are unable to get through the thick clouds of the atmosphere, and are described with phrases such as "and the sun was darkened and the moon not give her light" (Matt 24:29), so that to be darkened is to be opposed to light going through the atmosphere. The planetary light is blocked during earthquakes, major continental shifts, volcanic eruptions, wars and nuclear explosions and when God shakes the heavens and the earth. These comments are a biblical preview of that which is coming upon the earth, for the purpose of evicting the god of this world and bring in the kingdom of heaven on earth, a theocratic kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
More often that the darkness of blackout are written about, the extend of which are not described (local/regional or worldwide?) and that I expect to be centered more around the Mediterraneum, Southern Europe and the Middle East because of the description of the kingdoms of the beast/antichrist, the Bible speaks of darkness in a spiritual sense. God took out the light from the darkness in the early steps when the earth was being fashioned into a livable planet, and he separated the two, indicating that these are opposite poles. God however keeps the secret things of himself by the darkness and in the eternal state after the Millennial reign is over, we will see his face and there will be no more night, only the light of God continuously, and no more sun or moon nor stars, for righteousness will rule in holiness in all. And God describes himself as the agent of light and as Light itself (and in him there is no darkness at all), for this is one of the major attributes of his divine nature. It is the light of God that gives life and shows the paths of life that we are to walk in. But there is much more to this, for the Cherubim angelic class do emit, absorb and reflect the very light of God and we are going to have likewise glorious bodies at our resurrection that would do the same. Presently in our unredeemed mortal bodies which are a temple for the Holy Spirit that indwells us, we are said to be the light of the world, so that even in this body of death and decay and in a limited fashion we reflect his glory. Before our new birth and baptism with the Holy Spirit we were darkness (Eph 5:8), not that we were in darkness but were darkness itself, as the natural man is before regeneration. But now, after our conversion we are sealed with the Holy Spirit and are light to the world, logically indicating that our light is by his being light in us. It is written (Col 1:13) that we have been translated by the Father into the kingdom of his dear Son having been rescued from the powers of darkness. Presently we the church are in the (spiritual) kingdom of God, and await till soon to come we will enter in into the theocratic Messianic kingdom to reign with Christ for 1000 years.
And God from the beginning taught mankind the difference between light and darkness adjudicating the power of darkness to the Devil, teaching that death is utter darkness or the blackness of darkness (eternal death) and that darkness is but the shadow of death. If our eye is light, meaning that if we are single minded in the pursuit of his kingdom and his righteousness, our bodies will be full of light. But if we are "open minded" and pick and choose from the smosgarbord of choices of the world philosophies and alternatives as rules of life, we will stumble and fall for we will be in darkness. The wicked (those who willingly reject God) and the fool (those that even deny God placing themselves as their ultimate authority) are living in darkness and the shadow of death, go through life stumbling and blaming others, especially Christians, for their shortcomings. Even when these have the rule of government authority they do wickedly and do hurt and kill for their own benefit, for these can not do otherwise. We all came from the same defective Adamic mold and can not do better than our mold allows, so that all attempts at reforming ourselves without God's transformative power will fail, given that even the best can only achieve a defective result in the end.
When Jesus said that he was the Light of the world he was claiming to be God, for he is the person of God the Son in the flesh, God incarnate. To receive him in trust as God and the Saviour of the world, the ones who saves from the penalty and guilt of our sins, and to trust not ourselves nor another but him for salvation, is the very core of the gospel of the love of God for man. To receive Jesus Christ we come as we are, given that he is not asking us to first reform ourselves and leave behind the things that we do, for he says, Come! If you are willing to enter into a love relationship with God that cleanses you of all your sins, the penalty of which he already suffered, be saved and have eternal life in fellowship with God and other saved men, then come! Ask Jesus to save you, meaning that you admit your need to be saved for you can not do it and that you know this is a transaction between the lost and the Saviour alone, not the priest or your mother nor the pastor nor the evangelist you heard give a sound emotional call. This is between the person and Jesus Christ. He saved many prostitutes, tax collectors and other demonized and sinners, and there are no sins he will not forgive, nor a maximum number beyond which he would not receive you, for his grace and mercy are unlimited, and denies no one willing to come. And he will give you the Holy Spirit to lead and guide your life daily, transforming your desires, habits and addictions into righteous living for your benefit and his glory. I write, the reader decides that he wants for himself for eternity to come. End of this topic.
Revised and expanded to be republished 12/13/2014