BLINDED BY THE LIGHT
based on --
They did not see one another. . . for three days, but all the people of Israel had light (Exodus 10:23)
To read the context of this verse, read Exodus 10:21-27.
This is the story of the second to last plague to strike Egypt. The Egyptians were in the dark. It was an oppressive darkness so deep that people could not see one another. It is the kind that you feel. Have you ever been in a cave and they turn the lights off and leave you in total darkness? I have. It is eerie. It is scary. It is disorientating. You have no idea where you are or whether you are right side up or upside down. You put out your hand to feel the wall but feel nothing, unless you are lucky enough to be standing close to someone or against that wall. It isn't a good feeling.
At the same time there was light where the Israelites lived. In the theater the lighting designer knows that in order to direct our attention on the one spotlighted, the rest has to be in the shadow. Think of being in a dark tunnel and we finally see the light at the end. We can't take our eyes off that light.
God uses this kind of contrast between darkness and light to reveal Himself to Egypt. By putting the Egyptians in total darkness and the Israelites were given light, they attracted the eyes of Pharaoh and all of Egypt. The Israelites were in the spotlight. If you were the one in the darkness, wouldn't you wonder why someone else has all the light? What do they have that I don't?
Sometimes the darkness in our lives directs our eyes toward God's love through Jesus Christ. May our eyes ever be fixed on him.
The song that constantly ran through my mind when my husband was sick and dying was "Turn your eyes upon Jesus."
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace.
Prayer: Light of the Word, amid the darkness of life may my eyes always be fixed on you.
(original written by Rob Matthews)