Exodus 10:21 – And the Lord said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt.

Exodus 10:22 – And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days:

Exodus 10:23 – They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.

Hello readers, time for a new blog today. Today, I want to talk about the plague of darkness. The ten plagues of Egypt teach us a lot today, they still speak today. The plagues were upon Egypt, and at the time of the plagues the nation of Israel was also in Egypt. The whole theme of the book of Exodus, is … get out of Egypt and stay out. Egypt in the Bible pictures the world, and in particular this world system we are under, a spiritual kingdom and set of characteristics, manner, conditions that prevail upon this earth. Sin and death has passed upon all of us, and this spiritual oppression is what we are all born into and under. Noone had to teach you to sin, noone had to teach you to lust, and to be selfish and mean and proud and hard. Both Egypt and Israel were in Egypt, a picture of the fact that unsaved and saved people can both be in and of the world. As Egypt is a picture of the world, so is Pharaoh a picture of Satan… who is the ruler of this present world. But while Pharaoh was king of Egypt, and Satan is the prince of this world… we also see that like in the story, God is above and over all, and in control. And God wants to save you out of Egypt, to deliver you from it’s clutches, and from it’s kings clutches.

The plagues were designed to loosen Pharaoh’s hold on Israel. It would be blood and death that would break the hold, but before this, God sent the plague of darkness. God’s going to let your life be plagued by various things which make you see the need for Jesus Christ, the need for forgiveness, to make you come to yourself and be receptive to God’s word. God sends plagues into our lives today, which if heeded, will help us to realize, hey let’s get out of here. Of course, this isn’t a call to being a hermit, as the world system is what we need to get out of. We are all in this world, but a saved person experiences a new birth, and is birthed into a new kingdom, even while physically being here. When we are saved, the Bible says we are seated in heaven with Christ, our conversation is in heaven, and that we are strangers and pilgrims on the earth, while we look for a world to come. We can change the kingdom we are in, even while being in the same physical place. The important thing is where we spiritually are at. Who we spiritually are. What is your condition inside? It can look good on the outside to ourselves and others… but God looks at inside us. It is better to be physically unwell, but spiritually well… rather than physically well, but spiritually sick. Most churches make that mistake today, they improve the physical, but neglect the spiritual. They end up sending the masses away fed and clothed… but unsaved.

Some of the plagues actually affected Israel, but the plague of darkness did not. If you are a Christian living close to the edge, who loves this world, you’ll be affected just as much as unsaved people are. And even after you are saved, you still struggle with sin, you still struggle with pride and so on, which we need deliverance from. You’d think the plagues would’ve worked, and worked quicker, but Pharaoh grew more and more hard hearted and the Egyptians also, despite not understanding him, and questioning his ridiculous leadership given all that was happening… yet stayed under him, and many perished with him at the Red Sea later on. Why serve a bad master? A master who’s going to get you killed? If you are serving Satan today, why would you? He hates you, he uses you, and you will abide in death under him now and forever.

Anyway, I hope to keep this blog simple. In this blog, we see that as the plague of darkness was upon Egypt, so this world is plagued by darkness today. If you are in the world, and of the world, you will be affected, and experience these plagues. You don’t need to, but if you live in sin, in unbelief, in unrepentance… you will experience a life and potentially an eternity of darkness. This was no ordinary darkness, this was a darkness that could be felt. The book of Jude describes the “blackness of darkness”. If you are living a sinful, dirty, filthy conquered by the devil life, you will know a little of the darkness. Will you sigh, like Israel did, under the yoke of Satan’s bondage. Are you completely dominated by your sin? Has your sinful wicked life plunged you into an abyss of darkness? If you are unsaved, hopefully and surely one day you will see the darkness you are in. God lets you be plagued by darkness, to bring you to repentance. But with Pharaoh, the darkness hardened his heart… it seems funny that the same plague that brings some people to Jesus Christ, will in many people, actually only make them harder to God. You can be in darkness, but you won’t come to Christ.

This world is in darkness. It’s system, it’s ways, it’s leader, it’s beliefs, it’s trends, it’s fads, all it has to offer is darkness. Yet you love it. Many of the Israelites were delivered from Egypt physically, but they actually never left Egypt in their hearts. Although they were in bondage, they couldn’t imagine life without it. What does sin look like today? 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 … Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All these sins have dominion over us, the only way to get deliverance is through the Spirit, the water, the blood. God has provided your means to escaping a life in Egypt, and the fate of the Egyptians. You don’t need to live in darkness, and fumble around in sin, without any light. Jesus is the light of life, if you don’t have Jesus Christ, you have no light, you are dead in your sins, and in darkness, and it’s plaguing your life all the way to the grave.

Will you choose the plagues? It seems ridiculous, but the Egyptians endured them all, and stayed in Egypt. You can leave Egypt if you want, or you can stay if you want. God won’t force you, God gives mankind freewill, the ability to choose. The plagues are a picture of this world’s system, and they are designed to get us out of Egypt, they show all the world is and what the world has to offer… what plagues the lives and existence of someone who is in and of the world, who lives under Satan’s yoke. It applies to all of us, saved and unsaved. If you are unsaved, what are you doing living in darkness? Why are you in Egypt? Are you like Lot… living in Sodom, living as though you have no light, you should know better. If you are saved, get out of disobedience and rebellion and willful ignorance to God’s word. If you are unsaved, why perish with the Egyptians? Why choose darkness? Darkness is a life without Christ, without true peace, without true holiness, without a relationship or fellowship with God, without meaning, without forgiveness, without eternal life… without that water of life that Jesus promised the Samaritan woman at the well. Once you will get saved, you will realize the darkness of this world, the darkness of a life in sin, the darkness of a life without God… the stupidity, the error, the folly of going to a Christless eternity in hell.

Israel had light in their dwellings. If your dwelling is a dwelling built upon the rock of God’s word, the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will have light, even while the rest of the world lieth in wickedness, as 1 John says. Your life doesn’t have to be plagued by the darkness of despair. Jesus said, if the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness. How sad is it when the light we have, is darkness. If you think you have light, yet that light is actually darkness, you are in a serious state. Satan appears as an angel of light, the Bible says that Jesus is the true Light. Make sure you have the true Light, not a false light that’s guiding you onto the rocks and into the hands of the wreckers. Furthermore, Jesus has lighted every man that has come into the world the Bible says. What does this mean? It means that we all have the light, we have the opportunity to be saved, to know God, to repent and believe… but if all that is turned to darkness by rejecting God and hardening our hearts, as Pharaoh did… what hope is there? How great is that darkness! If that light Jesus gave you has been turned to darkness by an unrepentant hard heart… it’s just as Jesus said… and what hope is there for someone who has rejected Jesus Christ and done despite to the Spirit of grace? have you forsaken your own mercy? That’s Jonah 2:8. Man, that’s serious darkness. Perhaps even a darkness that can be “felt”… as the Bible says here.

You don’t have to live a life plagued by darkness, but you will if you discard God’s word, shake off the Holy Spirit, and set naught the water and the blood. It was the blood that broke the back of Pharaoh, and the blood of Jesus Christ is what will break the back of Satan in your life, and illuminate your life with the light of the glorious gospel. You don’t have to be plagued by darkness, but will you nonetheless, live a life in darkness today? The Bible says that the plague of darkness brought Egypt to a grinding halt, after all, what can you do without light… and what will your life be without light? It will be nothing at the end of days. It’s not worth it. Get out of the plague, you don’t need it to be upon you… get out the darkness of a life of sin, of wickedness, of filth, of unbelief today.

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