Gtcotr/ss111818
Genesis 1
4 And God saw the light, that
it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day,
and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first
day.
One
of the first lessons in the Bible points to the priorities of life. Neither the
earth under God’s supervision nor your own world under your supervision can
begin to enjoy life as intended without first taking some steps to separate
light from darkness.
Darkness
inherently makes life much more challenging. One of the greatest and most
common fears known to mankind it to be left in darkness. This natural fear has
corresponding spiritual significance.
About
1500 years before Christ, Moses was sent by God to the Pharaoh of Egypt. Moses
demanded the release of the of the Children of Israel from slavery. The account
can be found in the book of Exodus.
Pharaoh
was not happy to see his slaves forcibly set free and he decided to pursue them
in hopes to recapture or kill them all. God led the Children of Israel into
what seemed like a trap for them. It appeared they had only two visible
options: Swim across the Red Sea; or Turn back to Pharaoh and be enslaved or
slaughtered.
God
however, had a better plan. God’s plan included freedom from Egyptian bondage
for the Israelites and death to the enemies of their past as well. The one
thing the Children of Israel needed to do was to trust God enough to give Him
some time. But how can you give God time when your enemies are breathing down
you neck?
God’s plan will always include the time you need to wait on Him.
You
may have noticed that God is never late … but seldom does He show up early
either. We just need to trust Him until He shows up.
When
the Children of Israel found themselves between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea
… God took charge.
Exodus 14
19 And the Angel of God, who
went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of
cloud went from before them and stood behind them.
20 So it came between the
camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to
the one, and it gave light by night to the other, so that the one
did not come near the other all that night.
21 Then Moses stretched out
his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a
strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the
waters were divided.
22 So the children of Israel
went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were
a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
The
account continues to tell us that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea safely. And
when the Egyptian armies attempted to pursue the Israelites, God confused their
efforts and the waters returned to cover them and they were drowned in the
depths of the sea.
Let’s
look at one of the verses we read again:
Exodus 14:20 So it, (the
presence of God), came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of
Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one, and it gave light
by night to the other, so that the one did not come near the other all
that night.
Interesting
… the Presence of God, which we understand to be the Holy Spirit, was:
·
A
cloud = confusion; misunderstanding; chaos; foolishness; bewilderment; foggy;
unclear.
·
And
darkness = obscured; no vision; blind to sight; empty; void; lifeless;
threatening; fear of the unknown.
·
Light
by night = bright; shinning; illuminated life; glorious and full of hope in the
nighttime.
To
one group of people the Presence of God was glorious while to the other group
God’s Presence was only confusing, foolish, threatening and unclear. One group
was confused while the other was comforted.
Wait
… it was the same event at the same time in the same place, but it ended up
being a totally different experience … What was the difference?
1 Corinthians 2:14 But the
natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.
It
is so sad when people can’t distinguish light from darkness. To some people it
all looks the same … they just can’t see what others see.
Isaiah 5:20 Woe to those who
call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for
darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
What
is darkness? Darkness by some accounts is but the shadow of death.
Isaiah 9:2 The people who
walked in darkness Have seen a great light; Those who dwelt in the land of the
shadow of death, Upon them a light has shined.
When
God, His Word, His will or the simple understanding of His way seems like
darkness instead of light in our night, we need help separating His plan from
the empty, threating, fearful unknown. Thankfully that’s the first lesson God
teaches. How does a person begin to separate light from darkness, life from
death, sweet from bitter or good from evil when they don’t know what life is or
can’t see the difference? I’m glad you asked.
Acts 26:18 ‘to open their
eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an
inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’ TURN TO HIM
John 12:46 “I have come as
a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in
darkness. BELIEVE IN JESUS
John 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to
them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not
walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” KEEP FOLLOWING
HIM
1 John 1:5 This is the
message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and
in Him is no darkness at all.
