THIS IS WHAT THE LORD SAYS (PART 7)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“This is what the Lord says to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of. I form the light and create darkness.”

Isaiah 45:1a, 7a

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

“This is what the Lord says.”

It’s the theme of this series of devotions from the 45th chapter of Isaiah as we see the Lord speaking to King Cyrus of Syria and revealing truths about Himself to all believers. This is what He has to say today:

“I form the light and create darkness.” Isaiah 45:7a

We need only to go to the very beginning of the Bible at the genesis of creation to find where the Lord formed light and created darkness. Look at these words of truth:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:1-4

Light and darkness. Both created by a Master Designer, the Lord God Almighty. We could leave it that but there’s a lot more to be said about this matter. A lot.

First, the Lord puts darkness to use in times of judgment and at times to mark dark times in humanity, particularly when His Son Jesus, our Savior, was crucified.

In the Old Testament, you may recall when the people of Israel were being held and oppressed by the Egyptians. The Lord attempted to get Pharaoh to release His people without consequence but the Pharaoh chose to reject the Lord, an action that brought dire circumstances on him and his nation in the form of a series of plagues.

One of those plagues with specific connections to today’s devotion can is found in Exodus, Chapter 10:

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness spreads over Egypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could see anyone else or move about for three days. Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived. vv. 21-23

Can you imagine this? Darkness for three days straight. And not just any ordinary darkness where you might have a little light somewhere to find your way. This was a blanketing, smothering darkness that extinguished all light in Egypt, unless you were with the Israelites who had light. So deep was the dark that came over the land that no Egyptian could see anything or move about. And it all happened because the Lord deemed for it to happen. The creator of darkness can apply it at will just as He can anything else He has made.

If you want to see another example of extreme darkness falling over a land, you can go to the New Testament and the Gospel of Luke during the time of Jesus’ crucifixion.

It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When He had said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:44-46

It was the darkest day in human history, the day that the perfectly, innocent Savior of the world was wrongfully accused and brutally executed on a cross, dying a criminal’s death next to two real criminals. And so it should come as no surprise that for three hours, the sun stopped shining and darkness came over the whole land. God could shine no light on His Son’s murder that Jerusalem afternoon more than 2,000 years ago.

And so God can and will bring total darkness when He deems it necessary. The second major point we need to know is that the Lord is light. He can send darkness when He wishes but there is nothing about Him or His character that is dark. Nothing. Look at these words from John’s first letter:

This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

The Lord is light and those who place their faith in Him, following His guidance while carrying out His will and purposes, will have His light within them. In fact, we’re all called to let our light shine:

 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

When we go to do the Lord’s work, He sends us out with His light inside us so we can shine it on those we encounter. And since we are doing the Lord’s work, then we are doing it in such a way that others know we aren’t doing our good deeds to our own credit but rather to the honor and glory of the very Lord who gave us His light to shine. This allows those we work with to share in glorifying the Father with us.

So the Lord is light and He gives us His light to shine as we carry out His work. This leads to the final point to be made from the scriptures and this devotion today:

The Lord wants us to know that He shines His light into the darkest times of those who place their hope and trust in Him. In other words, the Lord can push away the darkness and replace it with His light. The scriptures affirm this truth that should encourage all of us. Look at these three passages:

You, Lord, are my lamp; the Lord turns my darkness into light. 2 Samuel 22:29

In his song of praise, David professes and confesses how the Lord has helped him in his times of difficulty and trial. In those times of darkness, the Lord, His lamp, sent His light and pushed away the darkness that plagued him.

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. Psalm 18:28

Here again, we see David, known as a man after God’s own heart, giving God all the praise for keeping His lamp burning and turning his dark days into light. Maybe you have been in situations where you have felt the same way, in a total spirit of thanksgiving for what the Lord has done for you when you needed Him most.

Even in darkness, light dawns for the upright, for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. Psalm 112:4

In this final passage, we find that in the midst of life’s hardship and dark circumstances, light dawns for those who place their full hope and trust in the only One who can truly bring them that light, the One who is light, the One who formed light and brought it into being.

Friends, what an amazing hope and assurance we have through these words of God! We serve a Lord who cares for us intimately, a Lord who does not wish for His beloved to live in dark times, void of the light of His love and hope. This Lord of light is for us and promised He would never leave us nor forsake us. Thus, His light will always be there for those who turn to Him in good times and bad, in this life and in the glorious life yet to come, the eternal life ahead where we will all say goodbye to the darkness and abide forever with God the Father and Jesus the Son while basking in the everlasting glow of their inextinguishable light.

And that’s something for us all to look forward to.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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