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Behold, the Darkness Comes

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 60:2 
“For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples; but YHWH will arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you.”

This chapter in Yeshayah is dealing with the time right before and including the gathering of Israel and YHWH bringing them back into the land which He promised to Avraham, Yitzchak, and Ya’aqov.  What we are going to focus upon in this study is that period of time just before the gathering of Israel out of the nations of the world.

Please note in the above verse that darkness has covered the earth.  This reminds us of the words of Mashiach Yeshua.

Matithyah (Matthew) 24:29 
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.”

While there certainly seems to be a literal application of this passage, let us consider it at a somewhat deeper level.

Yochanan (John) 9:4 
“We must work the works of Him that sent Me, while it is day; the night comes, when no man can work.”

Please note that there is a time coming in which no one will be able to do the work of our heavenly Father.  This is the very work that Mashiach was sent to do, and which He in turn commissioned His talmidim to carry on. His workers were to go out into all the world and find those who were His lost sheep.

The darkness being spoken of in this passage is not a literal darkness as when the sun goes down.  Rather the darkness spoken of here is a darkness that relates to the spiritual aspect of this world.  The world has seen periods of this in the past; one of the more recent ones was in Europe under the rule of Hitler.  The darkness that descended upon Germany and most of Europe was a very great darkness indeed.

It is this type of darkness that Yeshua is teaching us about in this passage.  There is a time coming when this type of darkness will be so great that no man can work the works of our heavenly Father.  Furthermore, this coming darkness will be so pervasive that it will cover the entire world.

In order for us to begin to understand the times and seasons in which we are now living let us carefully consider a day according to the reckoning of Scripture.  The day according to Scripture was measured from sunset to sunset.  So, each time that the sun sets is the end of one day and the beginning of another day.  One of the interesting things about this is that when the sun sets it is not dark immediately.  In fact, there is a waning light for about thirty to forty-five minutes from the time the sun actually sets.  It then grows darker and darker until the fullness of night has set in.

As many have properly understood, each one of the seven days of creation represents a one thousand year period as Scripture teaches.

Kepha Bet (2nd Peter) 3:8 
But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with YHWH as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

So when we think of this one thousand year period in the context of a Scriptural day, then there is a short waning period of light at the beginning of the day and then darkness. If that pattern holds true from the literal 24 hour day to the millennial day, then when we consider the last day of the creation cycle, also known as the Millennium, we should expect to find at the beginning of the millennium a very brief period of light followed by darkness before the rising of the sun and the light of day.  This is exactly what we find in Scripture.

Matithyah (Matthew) 25:6 
“But at midnight there is a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom!  Come out to meet Him.’ ”

In considering this particular verse, please notice that Yeshua is teaching us very clearly that the bridegroom comes at midnight.  So in the Scriptural reckoning of a day, the sun has set, it has grown dark, and sometime after the fullness of darkness has set in, the bridegroom comes.

The importance of this truth then begins to be seen when we see that the one who is known as the anti-Messiah will cause a great darkness to come upon the whole world at the beginning of the last day.  In my studied opinion, it would seem that this is where we are now in time; i.e., that the sun has set and we are now in that period of waning light.  It is twilight and the darkness is growing darker by the day.  How much time before the fullness of the darkness is upon us, we cannot tell at this time.  But it does not seem very far off.

Please note that no man can stop the setting of the sun, nor the coming of darkness of a literal day; neither can any man stop this coming darkness at the beginning of the Millennium.

Yochanan (John) 16:2 
“They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the hour comes, that whosoever kills you shall think that he offers service to Elohim.”

We are not quite to this point yet, but it does not seem as though we are very far from it.

Romans 8:36 
Even as it is written,
For Your sake we are killed all the day long;
We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Surely, this has been true down through the ages of all of YHWH’s people. 

Matithyah (Matthew) 10:28 
“And do not be afraid of them that kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehinnim.”

There is no need for a true talmid of Mashiach Yeshua to fear for His life.  We have placed our lives in the hands of the Master to do with as He wills.  Let us walk in complete obedience to His Voice in all matters and He will prepare us for what is to come.

1st Thessalonians 5:4 
But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

If we are His talmidim (disciples) and He has filled us with His Spirit, then He will teach us what we need to know.  Furthermore, if we have the Spirit of Mashiach, then when He returns He will not surprise us.  After all, how can Mashiach surprise Himself? 

This clearly illustrates the need to be filled with His Spirit and to walk in His Spirit daily; for if we are doing this now, then when it is a life or death matter, we will be able to hear clearly.  But if one waits thinking that he can do this later, then it may be too late if the darkness sets upon him and the work of the Father cannot be done during that time.

Yochanan Aleph (1st John) 2:27 
And as for you, the anointing which you received of Him abides in you, and you do not need any one to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you; concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you abide in Him.

The importance of this cannot be stressed enough.  One cannot correctly identify the spirit of anti-Messiah without the anointing of His Spirit.

Yeshayah (Isaiah) 8:11-13
11 For YHWH spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
12 “Do not say, ‘A conspiracy’, concerning all whereof this people shall say, ‘A conspiracy’; neither fear their fear, nor be in dread thereof.
13 YHWH Tzava’ot, Him shall you sanctify; and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread.”

In our world today there are more conspiracy theories than one could shake a stick at.  Many of them even have elements of truth in them, some more than others.  Brothers and sisters, do not get caught up in these conspiracy theories.  They will ultimately do you no good.  What you need to spend your time upon is doing as His Spirit leads you to do.  One of those things that His Spirit will lead you to do is to prepare for what is to come in much the same way that YHWH commanded Noach to prepare for the coming flood.  Did not Mashiach Yeshua warn us in advance that it would be just like the days of Noach?  To be sure!

Matithyah (Matthew) 24:37 
“And as were the days of Noach, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.”

Let us be as obedient as Noach and do as he did and prepare for what YHWH has told us in advance!

Let us consider one final aspect of this coming darkness.

Matithyah (Matthew) 24:22 
“And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.”

Where Yeshua makes this statement is towards the end of where He is describing these coming days of darkness.  The good news for us is that He is going to shorten those days of spiritual darkness. 

ABBA YHWH, open our eyes to this coming darkness that You might prepare us in body and in spirit; in the name of Mashiach Yeshua.  Amein.

Shabbat Shalom
Zerubbabel ben Emunah
www.onetorahforall.com
zerubbabel@onetorahforall.com

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