The Bible Recap Day 33

The Bible Recap Day 33

Exodus 10-12

God Shot: Light in the Darkness


Exodus 10:22-23


[22] So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was pitch darkness in all the land of Egypt three days. [23] They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.


When I think plagues I think staff into snakes, frogs, locust, gnats, and the death of the first born. When I was in Iraq in 2005 we were told that there were going to be several weeks where grasshoppers were going to be like a plague. I thought they were kidding... they were not. We would literally fill a 13gal trashcan with dead grasshoppers everyday from our office. When you walked, they would flow just like waves on a river avoiding your steps. It was really weird but I certainly solidified a better understanding of what some of these plagues may have been like. Today however, I got captured by the plague of darkness. To my knowledge I have never really paid much attention to it. But today it stood out because of what it said in the end of verse 23, “but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.” 


Think about it, no light for 3 days. None. Total blackout. So dark that he even says “nor did anyone rise from his place for three days.” It was so dark that people did not move around. They were afraid of getting lost. On top of that, think about this... they did not know how long the darkness was going to last. It is not like Moses said “Hey there everyone, Moses here from power and water. Listen, we have had a problem down at the plant and we expect the power to be out for a few days. Three days at most.” Or Moses saying “Good morning everyone I’m Moses on location with the Weather channel here on Egypt. Just wanted to give everyone a heads up that there is a weird anomaly coming and it is going to be PITCH BLACK for three days. So please go to the store and get some snack foods because it is going to be so dark you can’t even cook. But rest assured, it is only going to last for three days so there is an end in sight.” No. No one said anything. There was no way for them to know whether it was going to be for 10 minutes or for the rest of their lives. Can you imagine the panic that each person must have felt? 


If you have ever been in pitch darkness you may be able to kind of understand what the environment was like. You can’t see your hand in front of your face... literally. So, you either sit where you are and wait for the light to come back on or you learn to operate in the darkness.


The way I see the world today is most people walk in darkness. They are just learning to operate in darkness. Now,  some have learned to operate in that darkness very well. So well that they are able to take advantage of others that do not operate as well in that darkness. Going back to Egypt, can you imagine be an Israelite that works for an Egyptian family. They are actually your friends because you have been with them so long. “but all the people of Israel had light where they lived.” You can see, you can cook, you can get water. Would you take food and water to your Egyptian friends? Would you do what you could to help them? 


God Shot. As believers we get to live in the light. What are we doing with it? Are we keeping it to ourselves or are we willing to use that light to help others around us? True there are going to be some that will want to abuse that blessing and not learn to do for themselves. But there are some who just need us to reflect the light that we were given so that they can find their way. How am I using that light in my life? How am I reflecting that light for others?


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