COULD DARKNESS BE MORE THAN JUST THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT?

A Bible Study on the Nature of Darkness

SPIRITUAL DARKNESS:
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We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. Isaiah 59:10 (KJV)
According to the JFB Commentary this verse fulfils Moses' threat:
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And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee. Deuteronomy 28:29 (KJV)

GROSS DARKNESS:
2

For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. Isaiah 60:2 (KJV)

gross darkness = Strong's Number H6205:

Hebrew Word:
Transliteration: rpel a

Root: probably from <H6201> Cross Reference: TWOT - 1701b Part of Speech: n m Vine's Words: None English Words used in KJV: thick darkness 8 darkness 3 gross darkness 2 dark cloud 1 dark 1 [Total Count: 15]

probably from (`araph); gloom (as of a lowering sky):- (gross, thick) dark (cloud, -ness). Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary
Hence, this gross darkness is 'thick' and 'gloomy' in nature, probably not dissimilar to the thick darkness we encounter in the Book of Exodus that descended upon Egypt. There it was described as being the kind of palpable darkness that could actually be felt! This term is derived from rap(Stong's Number <H6201>), which sheds an even more sinister light upon what physical properties this darkness might have that distinguishes it from your normal everyday darkness, so to speak:

a primitive root; to droop; hence to drip:- drop (down). Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
Hence, gross darkness would appear to be a supernatural kind of darkness or gloom that possesses actual physical properties and attributes one would normally associate with matter, rather than a simple absence or amelioration of photons, i.e., light as we know it. This gross darkness would not merely equate to an absence of light [photons] per s, but to the physical presence of what one might call dark photons [dark matter,] which actually possess an almost palpable liquid like property that can be felt...like drizzle! A gloomy, oozing kind of darkness that is the very antithesis of light not the mere absence of it and as such it physically replaces or supplants the light, if you will! Possibly to such an extent that it might go toward explaining how the darkening of the sun and moon occurs in conjunction with it. A darkness of such magnitude and physical presence that it actually succeeds in blotting out the light from the sun and moon!

NB: See Zephaniah 1:15 where the same Hebrew term is used to describe the gloom and darkness of the same event - the Day of Wrath otherwise known as the Day of the Lord:
14 The

great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. 15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, Zephaniah 1:14-15 (KJV)
It we consider that God's judgement upon Egypt was but a foretaste of His judgement upon the entire earth, (since Egypt has always been synonymous with the world at large and it's falling away into wickedness and evil) - then we must also consider that the plagues and calamities that befell Egypt were but an ante-type of the pouring out of the bowls or vials of God's wrath as described in the Book of Revelation:The darkness which thus comes over the kingdom of the Beast must be literal, as that of Egypt was; for that was the pre-libation of this,the pre-rehearsal of what is to come. Apocalypse, The

10 And

the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. Rev 16:10-11 (KJV)

The effects of these judgements overlap each other. The sores of the first plague are still felt during the second and third, and even here under the fifth. This proves that these plagues all fall upon the people of one and the same generation, and hence dare not be extended through centuries. The Antichrist has but 3 years, and all seven of these last plagues fall upon him and his followers. Here his very throne is assailed, and his entire dominion is filled with darkness. The last but one of the Egyptian plagues was a plague of darkness. The Book of Wisdom (17:21) says:

Over them was spread a heavy night, an image of that darkness which should afterward receive them; but yet were they unto themselves more grievous than the darkness.
Here is a corresponding darkness, coextensive with the worldwide empire of this Beast. From the centre of his kingdom, even to its utmost limits, everything is darkened. Isaiah prophesied of this when he said,
2 For,

behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. Isaiah 60:2 (KJV)
Joel prophesied of it when he said:
1 Blow

ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; 2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. Joel 2:1-2 (KJV)
31 The

sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. Joel 2:31 (KJV)
Nahum prophesied of it when he said that the fierceness of God's anger shall be poured out like fire, and
6 Who can stand

before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him. 7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 8 But with an overrunning flood he will make an utter end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies. Nahum 1:6-8 (KJV)

Our blessed Saviour prophesied of it when He declared:

24 But

in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, 25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. Mark 13:24-25 (KJV)
And great are the miseries of that darkness; for it causes those who feel it to bite their tongues by reason of the distress which it adds to all the rest of their torments. Apocalypse, The This darkening of the Beast's kingdom, added to the earlier inflictions, brings terrible distress. The description indicates the intensest writhings of anguish, the very madness of vexation and pain. The people who suffer these plagues bite their tongues, chew them, gnaw them, as their best diversion from their misery. Their tongues have spoken blasphemies, and they themselves thus punish them. Earth has become like hell for wickedness, and so it becomes like hell for darkness and torment,nay, still further like hell, because there is no repentance in its inhabitants. Instead of cursing themselves for their impieties, they curse God as the offender, for thus interfering with their preferences and their peace. To the ulcers, the bloody waters, the sun-scorches, now comes this horrible darkness; and a God of such administrations they disdain to honour, even under all their miseries. They will gnaw their tongues with pain and rage rather than speak a prayer of penitence to Him. Nothing but cursing and horrid denunciations will they utter. When they saw the two slain Witnesses come to life again and ascend to heaven, they were willing to own that the God of heaven is God, and to give Him something of His glory. But it was only a temporary reverence, which soon faded away. Here they are again compelled to acknowledge Him as the God of heaven, but it is only to heap new blasphemies on His name. Apocalypse, The A concise summary of the Egyptian plagues is also given to us in Psalms 105:
26 He

sent Moses his servant; and Aaron whom he had chosen. 27 They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham. 28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; and they rebelled not against his word. 29 He turned their waters into blood, and slew their fish. 30 Their land brought forth frogs in abundance, in the chambers of their kings. 31 He spake, and there came divers sorts of flies, and lice in all their coasts. 32 He gave them hail for rain, and flaming fire in their land. 33 He smote their vines also and their fig trees; and brake the trees of their coasts. 34 He spake, and the locusts came, and caterpillers, and that without number, 35 And did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. 36 He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. Psalms 105:26-36 (KJV)
VERSE 28: He sent darkness, and made it dark. It was no natural or common darkness to be accounted for by the blinding dust of the simoon, it was beyond all precedent and out of the range of ordinary events. It was a horrible palpable obscurity which men felt clinging about them as though it were a robe of death. It was a thick darkness, a total darkness, a darkness which lasted three days, a darkness in which no one dared to stir.

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And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, even darkness which may be felt. 22 And Moses stretched forth his hand toward heaven; and there was a thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days: 23 They saw not one another, neither rose any from his place for three days: but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Ex 10:21-23 (KJV)
What a condition to be in! This plague is first mentioned, thought it is not first in order, because it fitly describes all the period of the plagues: the land was in the darkness of sorrow, and in the darkness of sin all the time. If we shudder as we think of that long and terrible gloom, let us reflect upon the gross darkness which still covers heathen lands as the result of sin, for it is one of the chief plagues which iniquity creates for itself. May the day soon come when the people which sit in darkness shall see a great light. Treasury of David, The And they rebelled not against his word. Moses and Aaron did as they were bidden, and during the darkness the Egyptians were so cowed that even when it cleared away they were anxious for Israel to be gone, and had it not been for the pride of Pharaoh they would have rejoiced to speed them on their journey there and then. God can force men to obey, and even make the stoutest hearts eager to pay respect to his will, for fear his plagues should be multiplied. Possibly, however, the sentence before us neither refers to Moses nor the Egyptians, but to the plagues which came at the Lord's bidding. The darkness, the hail, the frogs, the murrain, were all so many obedient servants of the great Lord of all. Treasury of David, The