I haven't forgotten you.....I have been thinking about this and I see that [Genesis 15:12] is the only scripture that defines darkness as 2825. chashekah (khash-ay-kaw') darkness; figuratively, misery. In other words.....a state of mind. The other scriptures show it to be 6205. araphel (ar-aw-fel')gloom (as of a lowering sky. In other words....actual dimming of light.
"Chashekah" is also used four more times in Hebrew scripture: [Psalm 82:5] They know not, neither will they understand; they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth are out of course.
[Psalm 139:12] Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
[Isaiah 8:22] And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
And.....[Isaiah 50:10] Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.
I think we would both agree that the darkness written about here would be "spiritual" in nature.....as in....not following truth (light).
On the other hand the places in scripture where "araphel" is used show it describing actual cloudy, gloomy conditions .....sometimes even speaking of the cloud where God had hidden himself from the Israelites [Deuteronomy 4:11/5:22].
When I think of darkness I think of Satan. What does all this darkness mean?
There is no doubt that Satan would love to keep humanity in the dark as he has been doing....very successfully....for some time now. Satan was once described as the "Morning Star" [Isaiah 14:12]....hardly an example of darkness, but now he is the "Prince of Darkness"....so to speak and his cohorts certainly dwell in darkness today [2 Peter 2:4] For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.
[1 John 1:5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
There indeed appears to be a stark difference in the road we will ultimately choose.....and separation from God will be eternal darkness.
Thank you Diego. I’ll pass this information on to the one who asked me. I wanted to be certain I understood and you are the best one I know to get an accurate explanation from.
If one is agnostic, if not actually bordering on being an atheist, it seems they are able to find very dark and sinister descriptions or acts of God. For some reason they attribute all the wrongs of the world to Him but none of the wonderous things. What a sad way to live this life (and that isn’t even mentioning the next life).
The following verse you selected says it all:
[1 John 1:5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Thank you again........Ping
I'm not at all certain of the Hebrew calendar. Did we just complete a Jubilee year or are we now going into one? What is the equivalent of Hebrew months to our May through September? At one time I had a copy of the calendar but can't place it now.
As for the observation....In reading in Isaiah this morning something caught my eye. Chapter 14 is about Lucifer being brought down and in it I see a type of Saddam Hussein. The prophecy certainly fits:
Isaiah 14:9 Hell from beneath is moved for the to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.
11.Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12.How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
15.Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16.They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms;
22."For I will rise up against them, "saith the Lord of hosts, "and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew,' saith the Lord.
He certainly shook the nations and their leaders. Hell is certainly waiting for him (I shouldn't judge so I'm guessing here). We pulled him out of a pit and what a sight he was. As far as vs.22 his sons were killed (maybe even a nephew or two).
I believe Daniel also references him as a type in his prophecy about Nebuchadnezzar:
Daniel 4:25That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.
33.The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws.
Seven months passed from Saddam's statue being toppled until he was pulled out of the pit, his spider hole (or should I say serpent hole?) and again, do you remember how he looked? Hair like eagles' feathers, etc.
The statue itself is very interesting. Daniel described the king's dream and said:
Daniel 2:28 But there is a God in heaven That revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days.....
Daniel goes on to tell him that the statue's weakest point is:
2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
Where did the statue of Saddam fail and who pulled it down? It bent at the ankles and was taken down by someone who was "formed of clay". This is as it will be with Satan in that the elect, a mixture of clay, are his weak spot.
In that same chapter where Daniel described the statue we see that the makeup of the statue represents various kingdoms and that the head of gold was Babylon. In Daniel 8:2 we see that Babylon/Iraq is no longer important and has switched to Iran of today. In 8:19 the angel tells Daniel what will happen in end times and this concerns Iran.
So....After taking the long way around to get to my point, or observation, it was necessary to show what I belive is the importance of Iran in prophecy of end times.
Keeping that in mind we now go back to Isaiah:
Isaiah 14:29Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent's root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.
A warning for us not to rejoice that Saddam is gone because he's being replaced by another serpent. What caught my eye this morning was that the fiery serpent of Persia/Iran is flying to the United States this morning.
John 8:44Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
We are certainly living in interesting times as shown in the film Douglas KC linked us to, a time in which all prophecy will be fulfilled.
So...That is what has been on my mind this beautiful morning. Just thought I would share it with you and DouglasKC. Please let me know about the calendar question. .........Ping