The contrast between light and darkness is one of the most basic of all metaphors. It is so universal that it bridges religions, cultures and eras. Darkness is evil; light is good.
To this basic meaning, many have added a further refinement. “Enlightenment” implies education, which is linked by man to civilization. Darkness is ignorance. Christadelphians would build on this and suggest that light stands for the knowledge of God’s truth, the gospel.
Much of the common usage may have been suggested by scripture as all of the points are in the Bible, except for the arrogant equating of light to civilization.
Darkness and light in the beginning
The Bible actually begins with darkness and light: “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light’ and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness” (Gen. 1:2-4).
Some important basic facts are communicated here at the beginning:
- The darkness came first, as far as our creation goes. It is the condition that prevailed before God provided light. Darkness is not in itself a power.
- God controls both darkness and light.
- God separated them. By His decree, they do not coexist.
The Bible also ends with the theme of light and darkness (Rev. 21:22-22:5). In between, there are about 300 references to light and darkness, making this topic one of the major themes of scripture.
We can’t possibly do a thorough study of this important theme in a few pages. This is no particular loss as it is really more suitable for a personal study. What we’d like to do in this article is introduce some facets of the metaphor as used in scripture and suggest some principles that are worth keeping in mind whenever we see the light of the sun, or the light of a lamp.
Bible usage
The Bible, like popular idiom, does use darkness and light to stand for sin as opposed to righteousness:
“The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble” (Prov. 4:19).
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness!” (Isa. 5:20).
“Do not be mismated with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light and darkness?” (II Cor. 6:14-15).
And the Bible uses light for knowledge and darkness for ignorance:
“They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness” (Psa. 82:5).
“The unfolding of thy words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple” (Psa. 119:130).
Richer Bible usage
In these respects, the common usage of light and darkness matches the Bible’s usage. But the Bible goes much further, developing it into a richer metaphor as evident in the following.
Secrecy vs. being made known:
“For there is nothing hid, except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret, except to come to light” (Mk. 4:22).
Confidence vs. fear:
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psa. 27:1).
Detriment vs. benefit:
“I form light and create darkness, I make weal and create woe, I am the LORD, who do all these things” (Isa. 45:7).
Despair vs. hope:
“Light rises in the darkness for the upright; the LORD is gracious, merciful, and righteous” (Psa. 112:4).
Death vs. life:
“Are not the days of my life few? Let me alone, that I may find a little comfort before I go whence I shall not return, to the land of gloom and deep – darkness, the land of gloom and chaos, where light is as darkness” (Job 10:20-22).
“Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. 0 dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall” (Isa. 26:19).
This is just a sampling of some of the briefer passages in each category. There are many more and some of them are more complex. And as you might expect, in many cases they overlap. Ignorance, sin, despair and death are, after all, interconnected, as are revelation, righteousness, hope and life.
Three additional uses
There are three more usages we will consider. Darkness, and in particular the darkening of the heavenly lights, is a symbol of divine judgment. This darkening is treated as a sign of the end, and the end itself is described as being dark indeed for the ungodly. Isaiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Zephaniah, Jesus and Peter all use the metaphor in this way. One example:
“A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness” (Zeph. 1:15).
As a sort of flip side of darkness standing for judgment, the kingdom of God is described as being all light, with no darkness at all. Isaiah and the apostles Paul and John are the primary sources in this category. Again, one example:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising” (Isa. 60:1-3).
Third, light is used extensively to describe, and to stand for, the Lord Jesus Christ. This usage is particularly pronounced in the prophecies of Messiah in Isaiah and in the gospel of John. An example, from the mouth of Jesus:
“I have come a light into the world, that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness” (John 12:46).
These symbols relate rather easily to earlier points. Revelation, righteousness, hope and life are related to the kingdom and to the Lord Jesus. And judgment is part of the picture of ignorance, despair, sin and death.
The physical speaks of the spiritual
Didn’t God have all of this in mind when He said, “Let there be light,” and when He saw that the light was good, and when He made a separation between light and darkness? Built right into the creation, and into our daily lives, is a reminder of the great choice: right and life, wrong and death.
This is so fundamental, maybe it doesn’t need to be said. But how often do we see this symbolism at sunset, or when we get up in the morning? God put it here for us to use.
Light has power over darkness
Beyond this foundation, however, there is another important lesson to draw from the physical nature of light and darkness. Darkness is a lack. It has no substance in itself. Light can be generated and spread, but there is no such thing as a flash-dark or a dark-bulb. Darkness has no source — it is just a name for the condition where there is no light.
Thus in the physical realm light can dispel darkness, but darkness can never dispel light. Light can overcome darkness, but darkness can never overcome light. Light is a form of energy, it has power. There is no power in darkness.
The limited power of darkness
Think of the implications this has. The basis of all superstitions and a great many religions is that there is a force of darkness. But this is not true. Think how much fear there is in the world over an imagined power of darkness and evil!
The phrase “power of darkness” does occur one time in the Bible: “Then Jesus said to the chief priests and officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, ‘Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness” (Lk. 22:52-53).
Yet how much power was in this darkness? Immediately before speaking these words, Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Mt. 26:53,54). What does this mean? It means that these evil men had only the power they were permitted to have by the Lord God and by His Christ. They had no inherent power.
This is always the case with darkness. The world view, suggested by those who think they see a nearly omnipotent supernatural force of evil and darkness, does not harmonize with scripture. That world view is false.
People give darkness power
While there is no power in darkness, we do not suggest there is no power of darkness. Darkness has power only when it is granted — when people give power to ignorance, evil, despair and sin:
“And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God” (John 3:19-21).
This has a powerful impact on how we view life. We are never powerless before sin, ignorance, despair or tyranny. If there is light in us — the light of knowledge, truth and hope, that is, the light of the Lord Jesus — then there is no external power of darkness that can force its way in and extinguish our light. This truth can fill us with confidence regardless of external circumstances. David writes, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psa. 27:1).
Light dispels darkness
This doesn’t mean we can single-handedly eradicate sin, ignorance or tyranny. And it doesn’t mean the darkness never affects us. The light that is in us may or may not be strong enough to significantly alter the environment around us. People continue to give power to darkness in all its forms and they will do so until the kingdom. And, sometimes we are in darkness ourselves, because we have embraced darkness.
Yet even when the enemies of light seem to get the upper hand, even when we fall, there is still the cause for hope — the Lord will always be a light for us. Micah expresses his underlying hopefulness, even when he is at the bottom:
“But as for me, I will look to the LORD, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, 0 my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me. I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I shall behold his deliverance” (Mic. 7:7-9).
The power in us is greater
There is no power in darkness. Darkness is lack — lack of knowledge, lack of faith, lack of God. There is great lack of these things in the world around us and therefore the darkness is profound. But it is not the dark-loving world which determines whether we are in the dark. The world has no flash-dark that can snuff out our light. We can determine whether we remain in the light or return to darkness.
We are not the source of light -Jesus Christ is the light. But he has given us the light, and charged us to do something with it: “You are the light of the world.” Here is how Paul puts it:
“Therefore do not associate with them, for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Eph. 5:7-11).
The end of darkness is darkness
The motivation is simple. Those who love the dark, the darkness of ignorance and sin, will inherit the darkness of judgment and death:
“The fifth angel poured his bowl on the throne of the beast, and its kingdom was in darkness; men gnawed their tongues in anguish and cursed the God of heaven for their pain and sores, and did not repent of their deeds” (Rev. 16:10-11).
“Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth” (Mt. 25:30).
The end of light is light
On the other hand, those who love the light of truth and righteousness will inherit the light of redemption and life:
“But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day” (Prov. 4:18).
“Thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. 0 dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For thy dew is a dew of light, and on the land of the shades thou wilt let it fall” (Isa. 26:19).
Darkness cannot endure in the presence of light. Eventually, when Jesus Christ (the light) has conquered all his enemies, there will be no darkness left at all: “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light shall the nations walk; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, and its gates shall never be shut by day -and there shall be no night there” (Rev. 21:23-25).
This is the vision to keep before our eyes in this time when darkness is much more common than light in the world. We must not conclude that God’s light is incapable of overcoming the darkness. Especially, we must not view God’s light in us as a puny thing that can barely hold its own and is always in danger of being overwhelmed. God’s light is a blaze of glory that will fill the earth. It can blaze just as brightly in us now — if we let it!
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One