Transcript
Question:
Isaiah says that God creates darkness, yet the New Testament calls Him pure light. Does the same God then author both the dark and the light at the very same time?
Answers:
Both the New and Old Testaments call God the Light, the Sun, the Lamp, and the everlasting burning Fire. God, the Light, created both light and darkness. Consider three mysteries of darkness.
Number one: darkness can be a form of light without brilliance—a dark or negative light that contains brightness instead of displaying it. In this sense, darkness is the lowest grade of light, not simply light’s opposite. Job described the land of the dead by saying its light is darkness, in Job chapter ten, verse twenty-two. Psalm one hundred and thirty-nine says darkness shines as light before God. Outer darkness need not mean no light; one realm’s noon can be midnight beside a higher glory. Isaiah chapter fifty-eight, verse ten, speaks of darkness becoming as noonday. Jesus called the eye the body’s lamp and warned: let your light not be darkness, in Luke chapter eleven, verse thirty-five.
Number two: God is Light, with no darkness inside Him, yet Psalm ninety-seven, verse two, says clouds and darkness surround Him. Light represents purity, transparency, glory, clarity, and openness. Darkness represents mystery, concealment, and covering. This is the paradox: Light within Him, darkness around Him. Heaven offers openness without nakedness: inner light reveals hearts, not exposed bodies. On earth, bodies are easier to see than hearts; in realms of inner light, hearts are easier to understand.
Number three: light and darkness were created good and designed to help each other. Darkness became associated with evil after Satan’s fall and humanity’s fall. Before evil entered creation, pure light still needed pure darkness. Light was created before darkness; Genesis chapter one, verses two and three, does not mean darkness existed first.
How does pure darkness serve pure light?
First, darkness gives some lights a domain in which to rule, shine, and display their brilliance. Lightning, the moon, stars, and fireflies are noticed against darkness. Needing a dark background does not diminish their brilliance. Lightning can appear brighter than the sun: storm clouds may block sunlight, yet one flash illuminates the earth through those clouds.
Second, darkness shields lesser lights from greater lights. The eyes need protection from sunlight, headlights, and focused beams. Intense light can blind the eyes more than darkness. This reveals humility in obscurity: although the eye is the body’s light, it still needs some darkness to shield excessive brightness and see clearly.