In the next Torah Portion labeled Bo, meaning “come” or “go forth,” we have more enemies. The last two plagues described in Exodus 10:1-13:16 include the enemies of darkness and death. Today, we will focus on the enemy of darkness. In the Bible, darkness can symbolize different things, including death as it is often paired with the phrase “the shadow of death”, a lack of order, understanding and wisdom, and divine judgment. Darkness is the antithesis of light, foundational in describing God, Yeshua, wisdom, order, and love.
The first time we discover darkness in the scriptures is in Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit of God moves over the dark and chaotic waters of the void and formless world. He declares light “good” and then separates it from the darkness. God created light and darkness and only called the light “good.” Even though God does not call darkness good, He is not afraid of the dark; He creates beautiful things in the dark.
Isaiah 45:7: I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things.
Psalm 105:28: He sent darkness and made it dark, and they did not rebel against His word.
Psalm 139:12: Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
Initially, God spoke the world into an ordered existence, a creation full of purpose and life (Gn 1.2-3). In Genesis 15:12-13, a deep darkness fell on Abraham when God spoke the words of the covenant to him. In Exodus, God spoke magnitudes to Pharaoh, the Egyptians, and the Israelites when He separated the light from the darkness once again. The Israelites had light in their dwellings, while the Egyptians endured a painful darkness for three days (Ex 10.21-22 & 14.20). On Mt. Sinai, God spoke the commandments that give order, life, and wisdom to the hearers and doers of them through fire, cloud, and thick darkness. God speaks in the darkness. The darkness is where He does His best work. When we find the darkness overtaking us, let’s try to remember that dark and light are the same to the Holy One (Ps 139.11-12). It says in Micah 7:8, “When I fall, I will rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.” This promise should strengthen us to walk through the darkness with hope.
God reserves the darkness for the wicked, specifically people who curse their parents (Pr 20.20), those who do crooked and proud things called workers of iniquity (Job 20.20 & 34.22), those who turn their eyes from the needy (Ecc 5.17), those who rebel against the word of the Holy One, a term we use to refer to God (Ps 107.11), and those who hate others (1 Jn 2.9-11). The beast of the forest creeps around in the dark (Ps 104.20), and the beast kingdom in the book of Revelation is a kingdom of darkness, just like Egypt. Beast kings are humans who do not rule by the power of the Spirit. Pharaoh would represent a beast king, as he ruled with the power of his animalistic nature of pride, greed, and self-serving behavior. Pharaoh accurately described himself and the subjects of his kingdom as wicked in Exodus 9:27. When God sends darkness as a plague in Egypt, it should tell us that Egypt was an ungodly kingdom that oppressed people and rebelled against the Holy One. God casts the sons of the kingdom of darkness into outer darkness (Mt 8.12), along with those who practice lawlessness (Mt 13,42 & 50), and the hypocrites who oppress or who are unprofitable (Mt 24.48-51 & Mt 25.30). These people are thrown into outer darkness and gnash their teeth, which we could connect to their reaction to painful darkness.
The upright, or righteous, have a promise that light will arise for them, in them, and around them. Israel is representative of those who God called to walk in the light. The Bible says that God always wants to release people from the realm of darkness, which could also symbolize a literal oppressive state, as in Egypt, but can also describe an internal prison of iron and chains caused by sin, where the lack of love, order, life, and God’s presence create painful darkness. When God releases us from darkness, He asks us to release others.
Isaiah 49:9: You may say to the prisoners, “Go forth (BO!),” to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.” They shall feed along the roads, and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights.
Isaiah 42:7: To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, [and] them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
Isaiah 61:1: The Spirit of the Lord GOD [is] upon me because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to [them that are] bound.
In this Torah Portion, we witness a powerful transference from the kingdom of darkness, the beast kingdom of rebellion and pride, into the kingdom of light or the Kingdom of God. Here, the Holy One guides the Israelites by the light of His Word, which describes righteousness and justice, the foundation of God’s Kingdom. He equips us with an armor of light that empowers us to live in a dark world.
Colossians 1:13: He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves.
Romans 13:12: The night is almost gone, and the day is near, so let us put off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
How do we live in the light? We start by trusting in Yeshua, the light of the world.
John 12:46: As light, I have come into the world so that everyone who trusts in Me should not remain in darkness.
We follow Him, as in walk like He walked, and do what He did.
John 8:12: Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
We live in a dark world; we will walk through dark seasons, and we may even experience internal darkness with our choices at times, but we have a promise that the darkness will not consume us.
John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.
In the above verse, the Greek word translated as overpowered, katalambano, can mean to appropriate, to take something on and make it yours, to seize or to take possession of. It gives off domination vibes. In other words, when God created the light initially, darkness desired to possess or dominate it, but… IT. COULD. NOT. IT WILL NOT. You are a child of the light, so shine!
Ephesians 5:8-9: For once you were darkness, but now in union with the Lord you are light. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth).
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