{"id":67944,"date":"2020-01-01T11:02:26","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T09:02:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=67944"},"modified":"2023-07-24T17:18:05","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T14:18:05","slug":"light-from-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/light-from-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"Light From Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,629,854],"acf":{"old_id":"67944","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":49926,"related_cahpter":"384","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Humanity\u2019s own fires are but a pale flicker in comparison","content":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This chapter has two distinct parts: a short, violent message from God; and the prophet describing some of the struggles of his mission. The first part, the message from God, is angry, turbulent, and graphic. God expresses feelings of abandonment and rejection by Israel (v.1-2). It closes with images of God\u2019s destructive power, God\u2019s ability to turn the order of nature upside-down (v.2-3).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the second part, the prophet paints a picture of his struggle to carry out God\u2019s mission. The prophet tells us that God gave him the necessary skills and abilities to complete his task, specifically \u201ca skilled tongue\u201d (v.4), and the ability to hear. Nevertheless, he is abused by his peers, physically assaulted and downgraded. But his faith that God will help him (v.7, 9), will sustain him. He knows that his prophecies will be proven true, that those who deride him will be punished.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prophet concludes with a message to the people that employs an interesting metaphor. He exhorts those who \u201cwalk in darkness\u201d (v.10) to have faith in God, to \u201ctrust in the name of the LORD And rely upon his God\u201d (v.10). in contrast, he describes the nonbelievers as \u201ckindlers of fire\u201d (v.11), who walk by their own light, and whose destiny is pain. The prophet is saying that God and faith are a light in the darkness, but when humans create their own light, trust only in that, and ignore the light that God provides them, they ultimately fail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The two parts of this chapter seem somewhat disconnected, but the bridge can be found in this metaphor of light. The first part tells us that God can turn the order of nature on its head. In many ways, light is just such a phenomenon. Most of the universe is darkness. The tiny points of light that seem to fill the heavens really only occupy a tiny fraction of space. Light is the aberration; darkness is the norm. But, says the prophet, God is that light, God fills the darkness for us, if we only put our faith in the right place. The prophet knows this: the light fills him and gives him the skilled tongue. The light shines on\/in him, his ears are opened (v.5) and he can <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">hear<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prophet concludes by telling us that humanity\u2019s own fires are a pale flicker compared to the light God provides. But we seem them so brightly, because they are so close and easy to see, that they often lead us astray. We forget that \u201cthis has come to you from My hand\u201d (v.11). It is when we remember that everything in our universe is a blessing from God that we can truly see the light.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61080,"id":61080,"title":"2sam22-divine light","filename":"2sam22-divine-light.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/2sam22-divine-light.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/faith-trust-hope\/2sam22-divine-light\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2sam22-divine-light","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61079,"date":"2019-08-14 13:06:48","modified":"2022-02-09 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