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“Lesson 02 - Light Dispels Darkness”
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Introduction
In today’s modern world, perhaps there is no greater example of a failed state than Somalia. Located on the horn of Africa, Somalia has a rich cultural and ancestral history dating back to the 9th century. Before colonization by Europeans, its capitol, Mogadishu, was a flourishing trading port on Africa’s Indian Ocean coast. During the 18th century, the city fell into decline and has never recovered. Achieving independence from Great Britain in 1960, Somalia has been constantly plagued by clan rivalries, corruption, dictators, and manipulation by foreign powers. The nation has remained underdeveloped and very poor, and a decade into the 21st century, things have only gotten worse. In 1991 the government of Said Barre failed, launching Somalia into a brutal civil war between two warlords. Compounding the problem was the worst African drought in over a century which created a devastating famine that took over 300,000 lives in 1992 alone. Since then, there has been no national government powerful enough to deal with the lawless factions inside the country. Thugs and warlords rule everywhere. Chaos reigns. Life is cheap. For most, death comes easy and often. Just about all of the cultured and educated class are either dead or have fled. One in five Somalis is a refugee, most of them living within the borders of their own country. There are plagues among the people and cattle. Starvation is widespread. Mogadishu has been reduced to rubble. Today, there are no government buildings, no public hospitals, camels graze on the only runway at the international airport, and vehicles are constantly stopped at roadblocks every few kilometers where armed thugs use AK-47’s to extort money.1
Somalia is a tragic, real-life example of how lawlessness and the ignoring of God’s basic principles lead to chaos. For most of us, this part of Africa will never make it onto our wish list of exotic places to travel - and with good reason. We would figuratively say that darkness has descended over this tiny country as it has become completely isolated from the rest of the world. If there ever were an example of the hopelessness that darkness represents, Somalia would be it.
In our previous lesson, we discussed how darkness is associated with gloominess, dread, and fear. Most of us avoid darkness at all costs. Making the application to spiritual darkness, we can observe how God’s word uses this term to explain the absence of God and knowledge, Satan and those who rebel against God’s truth, and the judgment of God. We have learned how light and darkness are polar opposites. There is no blending of the two. One either dwells in the light or the darkness. Neutrality is impossible. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin, 1 John 1.6-7.
We have also taken an in-depth look at Genesis 1.1-5. Here, darkness is used to describe the conditions present before creation. Simply stated, before creation there was nothing. While this may sound blatantly obvious, it is very important to understand when we examine the characteristics of darkness. Darkness is void. It represents chaos and the absence of substance.
Light represents God and all that is good. Light stands for purity, wisdom, and righteousness. Using the creation account as our reference, we see the power of light - literally and spiritually. When God came, lawlessness was replaced with order and the establishment of principles. Substance replaced void. Purpose replaced chaos. What was unsettled and dead was now replaced with peace and life.
Order. Substance. Purpose. Peace. Life. All of these spiritual qualities were literally in abundance as Adam and Eve got used to the confines of living inside the Garden of Eden. They were in close fellowship and union with God. The presence of God was with them in the garden, Genesis 3.8. All of creation was perfect and lived in harmony. Life was good in the warmth of God’s light. Then, faster than a bolt of lightning, everything changed. Adam and Eve chose to succumb to temptation. Sin separated them from God and spiritual darkness reigned. Ever since that fateful moment in the garden, our world has been subjected to darkness, desolation and destruction. Isaiah said, the way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. …We hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men, Isaiah 59.9-10.
After the fall of man, God enacted His bold plan to redeem us from sin. Through Jesus, God forever dispelled spiritual darkness and things have never been the same. In this lesson, we will examine how God brought light to Israel, and ultimately to everyone through the gift of His Son, Jesus.
How God Brought Light to Ancient Israel
When God delivered the Hebrews from Egypt, He brought light to their world. We need to realize what God had to work with. In many ways, the Hebrews were out of control, undisciplined, disorganized, and distrustful. During their 400 years of captivity, the Hebrews adopted many facets of Egyptian culture as their own - including the darkness of Egypt’s religious calf-worshipping cults.
The fact of Israelites worship and homage toward Egyptian gods is well documented. Upon entering Canaan’s land, Joshua told the Israelites to put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord, Joshua 24.14b. But, from the very beginning of their liberation, this was a problem. In Exodus 32, when Moses was delayed on the mountain longer than the people expected, is it a mere coincidence that Aaron created an idol in the shape of a golden calf? His actions suggest he was falling back on what he had been familiar with in Egypt. The Egyptians worshipped living bulls as incarnations of Ptah and Ra. Elaborate rituals were connected with the life-size image of the Hathor-cow. The sun was revered as the “valiant bull” and the reigning Pharaoh as the “Bull of Bulls.” Many of the Hebrews would have been familiar with the rites of Mnevis' feast at Heliopolis, which included boisterous revelry, dancing, offerings, etc. After Aaron presented the golden calf to the people, the people reveled and celebrated - probably in the same ways they were familiar with in Egypt, Exodus 32.4-6. In the New Testament, Stephan recounted their idolatry.2 Make for us gods who will go before us. As for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol and were rejoicing in the works of their hands, Acts 7.40-41.
Because they had been living in spiritual darkness, Israel had to learn the basics of right and wrong. The moral law is summarized in the ten commandments. The first command is significant. You shall have no other gods before me. If Israel was going to come out of the darkness, they would have to set God at the forefront of their lives, as God intended to redefine their concept of who and what to worship. The second command further clarifies His expectations: You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth, Exodus 20.3-4.
In bringing light, God gave an out of control people a legal system. The law specifically pertained to their situation and needs. It regulated their lives completely. It was all for their good. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it, Deuteronomy 30.16. The law promoted justice, physical health, honesty, and compassion. Because they had entered God’s light, Israel stood far above the darkness of godless nations around them.
The light God provided also gave a people who had no purpose a mission. Through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and hundreds of other Hebrews, Israel would bring forth God’s greatest gift and source of eternal light: Jesus, John 1.1-5.
How God Brought Eternal Light to Our World
Four hundred years before the coming of Christ, God’s people were drowning in discouragement and disillusionment. The forces of spiritual darkness seemed to prevail. Those who were stubbornly arrogant and refused to submit to God seemed to have the advantage. Evildoers not only prosper but they put God to the test and they escape, Malachi 3.15. God reassured the faithful that there was (and is) a day coming when those evildoers would be punished. They would be destroyed: the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming…will leave them neither root nor branch, Malachi 4.1.
God’s message in Malachi builds to a crescendo with a significant Messianic prophecy. The imagery of the Holy Spirit’s language is striking. In 4.2a, Jesus is referred to as the sun of righteousness who will rise with healing in his wings. The eternal light of Jesus would dispel the spiritual darkness. The power of Jesus’ light would turn gloom into joy: You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall, 4.2b. The power of Jesus’ light would render the wicked insignificant, You shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, 4.3a. No longer would evil reign unchecked. No longer would Satan dominate.
Could this prophecy in Malachi be what inspired Zechariah’s foretelling of the mission of John the Baptist? And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high, Luke 1.76-78. Jesus is the light that dispels the darkness; the warmth that takes away the cold, and the joy that casts out gloom. He is the calm that takes away the storm and the judge who punishes the unrighteous. Isaiah said, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness on them has light shone, Isaiah 9.2. It was this passage that Matthew referred to as Jesus began His public ministry, Matthew 4.14-16. John also identified Jesus’ credentials as light in John 1.4-5.
As Jesus’ ministry progressed, He was very candid in referring to Himself as Light. I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life, John 8.12. He was the one about which the prophets had long looked forward to.3 He was the one who would fulfill the Father’s purposes in restoring mankind’s lost relationship with God.4 He was the one who would crush Satan and the forces of darkness by giving eternal life to those who live by faith.5 He was the lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world, John 1.29.
The significance of John 8.12 must not be missed. Jesus is the light, not simply “a” light or “another” light. Jesus does not say that He is holding the light, or that He has the light, or that He is the way to the light. He declares that He is the one and only light of the world.6
Spiritual Darkness Cannot Overcome Jesus’ Light
While on earth, Satan gave it his best shot at derailing Jesus’ mission. The ordeal Jesus endured in Matthew 4.1-11 was not the only time Satan tempted Jesus. As the cross drew nearer, Satan stepped up his attacks, even using Jesus’ closest and most dedicated disciples against Him, Matthew 16.23. Can you imagine the level of temptation Satan administered on the night before Jesus’ death? During the scourging? On the way to Golgatha? Equipping us for our own spiritual battles, the Bible clearly shows us the key to Jesus’ success: total focus on His mission and the subjugation of His personal desires to His Father’s, John 5.19-20, 30; 6.38; 12.27; 17.1-4. Nothing was going to deter Jesus from His mission. Light is more powerful than darkness.
In our physical world, nothing is more powerful than death. Everyone dies. It is fitting that darkness is so closely associated with death. To us, death is mysterious and obscure. From our vantage point, we cannot see past it. The unknowns associated with death generate fear. From a physical perspective, victory over death is hopeless. No one has overcome it. No one, except Jesus.
Drawing on our connotations of death, Paul uses death to describe our spiritual condition while Satan controlled our heart. We were dead in our trespasses and sin, Ephesians 2.1. Our situation was hopeless. In and of ourselves there was no way out. But, through Jesus, God brought eternal life to a world that had been spiritually dead since that dreadful day in the garden of Eden. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, John 1.4. The light of Jesus dispelled our darkness and we have been made alive together with Christ, Ephesians 2.5. What was impossible is possible through Jesus. Light is more powerful than darkness.
Now, through the power of Christ and our willing hearts, we will be transformed into the image of Christ, Colossians 3.5-17, Romans 8.29. We manifest the effects of light in our individual lives, our families, on the job, and inside our community. God’s incredible light dispels the darkness and changes the world one life at a time. Through His glorious gospel, Jesus brings order, peace, and harmony to a dark world.
It is important to remember that our coming into the light will be met with severe resistance. As light ascends on the horizon, it reveals what darkness has concealed. Although Satan was defeated by the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection, Satan and his demonic forces live to make war against Christians. While destruction in the fire of hell is their ultimate destiny, they have made it their goal to take as many with them as they can. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, 1 Peter 5.8. We must never forget that though the forces of darkness may resist, they can never overcome. Light is more powerful than darkness.
While darkness is powerful and is not passive, its abilities are limited. In John’s gospel, we learn an important fact. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it, John 1.5. The key word in this verse is overcome. In the original language overcome is a compound word. The first part of the word carries the force of something that is “dominating,” or “subjugating.” The second part of the word means to “seize,” or “grab hold of.” When these two words are placed together, the meaning is “to pull down, seize, tackle, conquer, or to hold under one’s power.” By using this word, John teaches us that darkness does not have the ability to suppress or hold the light under its domain.7
As long as we walk in the light we can live with confidence and assurance of our salvation, 1 John 1.7-10, 2.1-5. When we resist by drawing near to God, Satan and the forces of darkness will flee. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you, James 4.7-8a. When we put on God’s armor of protection, we will be able to stand against the schemes of the devil, Ephesians 6.11.
Conclusion
Today, it would be very hard to surpass Somalia in the example of the negative effects and chaos that is the ultimate result from complete abandonment of God’s morality. There, darkness reigns. Lawlessness has isolated the country from the rest of the world. Evil and death prevail. Hopelessness abounds in this, the darkest corner of Africa.
Likewise, the forces of spiritual darkness rob us of our sense of order, purpose, peace, and life. These things lead to hopelessness and despair, resulting in destruction and eternal death. But, Satan and his surrogates are no match for the powerful light of Christ. Jesus has dispelled the darkness and rendered the devil’s lasting power impotent.
We can learn much about darkness by examining how it is dispelled by light. Open your heart to God. Raise the level of your commitment and heighten your desire to always dwell in God’s all powerful and eternal light.
Questions for Discussion
- Briefly describe and contrast darkness and light.
- What spiritual qualities were abundantly present in the garden before the fall of man?
- When God led them out of Egypt, in what ways were the Hebrew people out of control, disorganized, undisciplined, and distrustful?
- How did the law completely regulate the lives of the Israelites?
- What was the purpose of the law?
- Who is the sun of righteousness? Explain why Malachi’s prophecy is so significant.
- Why is John 8.12 such a vital passage in God’s word?
- Why is death a fitting description of our spiritual condition before we were remade through Jesus?
- Describe the meaning of overcome as used in John 1.5. How does this help you in your understanding of darkness?
- How can we live with confidence and assurance as we walk in the light?
1 McCullum, H. (2010). Somalia: Faint hope for a failed state. Retrieved 12/1/2011 from http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?id=7586
2 Fausset, A.R. (1878). Calf Worship. Fausset’s Bible Dictionary.
3 Isaiah 60.19-22
4 Jeremiah 31.33; Ezekiel 11.33
5 Genesis 3.14-15
6 Renner, R. (2009). Darkness Cannot Overcome the Light. Retreived 12/1/2011 from http://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/darkness-cannot-overcome-the-light-11604075.html
7 ibid
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