Exodus 10:18-23: a reflection

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 falls on Egypt: a thick darkness that can be felt, covering the land for three days. It is so total that no one can see anyone else, and no one rises from his place. Life comes to a standstill under a darkness that is almost tangible, a picture of the deep gloom that had settled over a nation resisting God. Yet in the midst of this, one detail shines: all the people of Israel had light in their dwellings.

That contrast is the heart of the passage. While Egypt sat paralyzed in oppressive darkness, God's people had light where they lived. The same God who brought the darkness distinguished between those who resisted him and those who were his. This was not because Israel was faultless, but because God had set them apart and claimed them as his own. Even in a dark time, his people were not left in the dark.

There is comfort here for living in dark days. There are seasons when a heavy darkness seems to settle over the world, or over a place, or over circumstances, a gloom that can feel almost tangible. Yet God is able to give his people light in their dwellings even then, an inner light of his presence and hope that the surrounding darkness cannot extinguish. When the world around you feels dark, ask God for that light within, and trust that those who belong to him are never wholly left in the dark.

Lord, while a felt darkness covered Egypt, your people had light in their dwellings. When heavy darkness seems to settle over the world or over my circumstances, give me that inner light of your presence and hope. Keep me from being swallowed by the surrounding gloom, and let me trust that those who belong to you are never wholly left in the dark. Shine in my dwelling. Amen.