The Old Testament prophet Isaiah speaks about a time to come where darkness covers the earth and gross darkness the people of earth. This darkness has been likened to the darkness the Egyptians experienced in the Old Testament days of Moses and the Jewish people’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. It was a darkness that could be felt. The kind of darkness that would not allow you to see your hand touching your nose in front of your face.
This darkness is described as misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, and wickedness. It is my opinion that the darkness the Old Testament prophet describes, speaks of the world today. Misery, destruction, death, sorrow, and wickedness abound. Death is a common occurrence in civilized cultures thanks to pandemic diseases. It isn’t physical darkness as much as it is an oppression that is felt globally. It is a darkness that has paralyzed entire nations and brought economic devastation around the world.
I find it amazing that some point fingers of blame and accusation to others, but no one is saying that perhaps, just maybe, it is because the people of the world have kicked the God of creation to the curb, choosing instead to do life his or her own way. I find it interesting that anyone who dares raise such a thought is quickly labeled with some phobia that needs to be dismissed out of hand.
To me, this simply points to the end of time before the return of Jesus. The darkness is one of many reminders of the Bible’s warnings of the culmination of time as humanity knows it.
The question though isn’t the darkness, as much as it is Isaiah’s response to the darkness. “But the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you.” New Living Translation The question is, who is the prophet talking about? Some say Israel, others the church, still others the kingdom of Jesus.
It is my belief that “who” are the Christ-followers committed to a close personal relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Think about it, the ekklesia is the called out, not the called into. Christ-followers so close to God that his radiance illuminates from their very being, no matter where they are, in the marketplace, workplace, or at home. They are not “trying” to do anything but get close to God. Their only agenda is to “know” him (the godhead).
Imagine how powerful it would be to have countless lights dotted across the globe, in cities, towns, hamlets, villages, and remote areas. The far removed as well as the nearby would be able to see this light. The well connected, as well as the clueless, could not help but notice its shining.
It would be lights seen from space—heavenly space—that touched every part of the planet. What an amazing picture as Jesus is presented alive in the lives of his loyally committed ones. All because you simply have a longing to get close to God.