However, last spring I was going through the covenant passages and ran across an interesting description of what happened when God made His covenant with Abraham:
Genesis 15:12, 17-18 (ESV) 
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him... 17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram...
At the time I found this imagery of darkness striking and intriguing but didn't think too much about it until just recently as I read through the book of Exodus where I found more darkness associated with the presence of God. As Moses is up on Mt Sinai receiving the Law we see this:
Exodus 20:21 (ESV)
21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
And Deuteronomy's description of these events is very similar:
Deuteronomy 4:11 (ESV)
11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
11 And you came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while the mountain burned with fire to the heart of heaven, wrapped in darkness, cloud, and gloom.
And when Solomon dedicated the newly built temple:
1 Kings 8:12 (ESV) [also: 2 Chr. 6:1]
12 Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness...
12 Then Solomon said, "The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness...
We also see a fair amount of darkness language associated with God in the Psalms. This is just one of numerous instances:
Psalms 18:9-11 (ESV)
9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.
9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. 10 He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water.
Now, of course there is also a whole lot of light language used to describe God... in fact, as we would suspect, there is much more light language than there is darkness language but I find these scriptures fascinating.
What is your initial reaction to associating darkness with God?
What do these darkness scriptures say to you about who God is?
Any other examples?
4 comments:
my first thought was God is there in our darkest moments of life... so naturally he is there in 'the dark' as well as the light. Just a thought....
Hmm, I hadn't thought of it at that level... you're absolutely right, of course; and now you've got me thinking.
I hadn't noticed, until your comment, that 3 of the examples I used were 3 of the biggest moments in the life of the people of Israel: Covenant with Abraham, giving of the Law to Moses, and the consecration of the Temple.
Abraham, Moses, Solomon.
Covenant, Law, Temple.
These, arguably the greatest moments prior to the coming of the Messiah, came out of moments where God was present in the darkness. If that doesn't say something about who God is and how he works I don't know what does! Wow, thanks.
I wrote a post with some similar ideas back in January.
http://officehourthoughts.blogspot.com/2010/01/holy-darkness.html
Oh! and thanks for hooking me up with Gungor. Is it too much to say that they might be the best thing to happen to Christian music in a long time? I think not...
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