Exodus 10:21-29 Study Guide: the Plague of Darkness

Community Group Study Guide — the Plagues - Darkness 
Exodus 10:21-29

Study Information:
We rarely experience absolute darkness. Maybe you’ve toured a cave and turned off your light, but other than that absolute darkness is a rare event, usually there’s some sort of light around that our eyes can adjust to. Can you imagine a scenario where everything was absolutely pitch black? It would be terrifying! Some people have had to adjust to living with low or no light situations like people who live near the northern parts of earth such as Alaska and Norway, but even then you have artificial lighting to work with. There is a primal fear we have of being in the dark, and God uses that as the ninth and penultimate plague against Egypt. Tied into the darkness was God’s judgment on the Egyptian deity Ra, the sun-god who allowed them to have life and autonomy as a people through the control of the sun (Exodus 12:12).

As discussed in previous study guides, God used his power over creation to show his glory to Pharaoh and Egypt to subvert their pagan gods of wealth, comfort, security and life. The Plague of darkness is a subset of their gods of security and safety with a particular focus on autonomy and life. The chart below helps us to make sense of the patterns we see in the plagues as a whole.

 

The Plague of Darkness
Exodus 10:21-29
This plague was unannounced which must have increased the fear associate with it. Notice too that the length of time was 3 days of darkness, meaning this was not a solar eclipse and there was no expectation for when it would end. 

What’s going on here? 
Throughout the plagues we’ve focused on how God used his power over creation to “de-create” Egypt and all their various gods who controlled all aspects of their lives from the Nile, to the land, to the sky. The ninth plague of darkness was the capstone of this de-creation project. The creation story of Genesis 1 began with the earth formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. God’s first creative act was “let there be light!” God dispelled the darkness by the word of his power, and here he brought back the darkness to show his power over all. Just as God attacked the water gods, the land gods and the sky gods; now the land was destroyed (formless and void) and darkness was over the land. This would have been a full reversal in the minds of the people of God and the Egyptians. 

Additionally, it was chaotic and terrifying to be in utter darkness. Exodus 10:22 tells us that it was “pitch darkness” meaning that there was no light coming through the night sky. Likewise, they were not able to see each other or rise and leave their homes for three days (Exodus 10:23). God once again made a distinction between his people and the Egyptians and this darkness was confined to Egypt (Exodus 10:24). 

Pharaoh responded with typical arrogance thinking he could bargain with God. Pharaoh offered to let Moses take the people and the children, but they had to leave their livestock behind. Pharaoh wanted to keep the Israelites tied to the land of Egypt so they’d return; he wanted a partial release and not their full freedom. Moses rejected this deal and Pharaoh once again hardened his heart (Exodus 10:25-27).  This would be the last meeting between Moses and Pharaoh, thought there is one more reference to words exchanging between them after the passover but it appears that happened through a messenger (Exodus 10:29, 12:31-32).  

It is important to note that God used his power over creation for the service of the redemption of his people. 
Light ceased and darkness took over to instill fear in those who oppressed the people of God. There would be another time when darkness was over the land and the enemies of God were afraid as God worked a mighty act of redemption. When Jesus was on the cross were told the curious detail that there was darkness over the land for three hours (Matthew 27:45). This darkness served as a reminder of God’s power over all and his work to make a path of salvation for his people. Jesus endured the cross and darkness covered the land for us and our salvation. 

Autonomy and Independence from God
Exodus 10:29
Core to the Egyptian religion was the worship of the sun God Ra who controlled the rising and setting of the sun. Ra promised them the ability to go about their lives and have independence, security and safety. Ra was also said to be the creator of the other Egyptian gods and humans. The plague of darkness lasted three days which showed that this was not a random chance thing but something the God of the Israelites was behind. The defeat of Ra would have been seen as a threat to all that they found security in including their autonomy as noted by how they were confined to their homes and could not move about during this plague (Exodus 10:23).  

We do not look to the sun god as our source of life and autonomy but certainly there are various things we look to for our independence from God as a society. In the modern world we’ve become increasingly obsessed with human achievement and technology to make life easier, productive and comfortable. Some of us have an optimism about progress and advancement that makes it easier to depend on ourselves instead of God. Technology is not all bad, I love how we can stream content for entrainment instead of needing to go to Blockbuster. It is great to have the world’s published works at our finger tips on the internet. We can stay connected to family and friends across the world! However, there’s a vein of technology that gives us a hope for freedom from God as it subtly promises life and autonomy. There are people who are researching the ability to slow down aging, we read about all the hopes (and fears) around Artificial Intelligence, and we no longer need to gather with other people in physical spaces we can simulate that online. We can be tempted to look to things like science, and technology to provide us with life and hope and freedom. Again, these are not bad things, but just as Ra promised to bring them autonomy and life through his power, so too things like science and Tech we can put these unrealistic expectations and hopes on someone other than God. 

Likewise, this plague can also point to the spiritual blindness of those who do not know God. The darkness likely symbolized the Egyptians’ spiritual state under these false gods who were being judged by God. God desired for them to repent and turn from their ways and release the Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh was uniquely targeted and confronted by plagues like this because the Pharaoh was considered the son of “Ra.” Once again, God showed the utter powerlessness of Pharaoh to save the people of Egypt. 

God’s desire is for us to have an increasing level of trust and faith in him. The goal is not for you to grow out of your dependence on God. Through Jesus Christ we can be reconciled to God through faith and repent of our sin and trust in him. God will often graciously help us do that by showing us our need by attacking our idols of wealth, comfort and safety so that we see that he himself is our refuge and strength and we’re meant to live in a way where we depend on him. 

At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.

How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week? 

Discussion Questions:
Where is the darkest place you’ve ever been? What was that like? Why do you think people can have a fear of the dark?

How does this plague point back to the creation story and what is God trying to teach us here?

Technology and science was just one example of how we can be tempted to look for life and independence from God. What other examples come to mind and how have you seen that idol play out in our world?

What are some ways God been growing your faith and trust over the last few weeks as we’ve studied Exodus?