Context No. 4105 of 4322 · Exodus

Exodus 10:18-23: in context

18Moses went out from Pharaoh, and prayed to the LORD. 19The LORD sent an exceedingly strong west wind, which took up the locusts, and drove them into the Red Sea. There remained not one locust in all the borders of Egypt. 20But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go. 21The LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.” 22Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23They didn’t see one another, and nobody rose from his place for three days; but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

The ninth plague brings a thick darkness over Egypt, a darkness so heavy it could be felt, lasting three days, so that no one could see anyone else or rise from their place. It was a darkness of oppression and dread. But the passage records a striking exception: all the people of Israel had light in their dwellings.

In the very land where darkness overwhelmed the Egyptians, God's people had light. There is a meaningful picture here. As the world around them was plunged into a darkness they could not escape, the homes of God's people were lit. God made a distinction, giving light to his own even as darkness gripped everyone else. This points to a truth that runs through Scripture: God's people have light in the darkness. The darkness that oppresses and overwhelms so many need not be our darkness, for God gives light to his people, the light of his presence, his truth, his hope, even in the midst of a world in gloom.

When darkness seems to overwhelm the world around me, or my own hard season, do I trust that God gives light to his people in their dwellings, the light of his presence and hope, so that I am not left groping in the dark like those who do not know him?

Sources

Exodus 10:22-23: "There was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. They didn't see one another... but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
Exodus 10:21: "Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt."
John 8:12: "I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life."