What Happened on the Cross. Nick Peros

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СКАЧАТЬ told the following:

      The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;

      let the distant shores rejoice.

      Clouds and thick darkness surround him;

      righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

      Fire goes before him

      and consumes his foes on every side.

      his lightning lights up the world;

      the earth sees and trembles.

      The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,

      before the Lord of all the earth. (Ps 97:1–5 NIV)

      These verses tell us “clouds and thick darkness” surround God. Doesn’t this tell us darkness is a natural part of God’s very own presence, where he is surrounded by “thick darkness?” Isn’t this is a description of God reigning, a description of his glory and therefore something over which the earth should be glad? Does this not then mean that darkness is good? In fact it does not. As we continue to read, the thick darkness which is surrounding God in these verses is completely tied to his wrath and to the destruction of his enemies, as we are told in verses 3–4:

      Fire goes before him

      and consumes his foes on every side.

      his lightning lights up the world;

      the earth sees and trembles.

      The darkness described in Psalm 97 is related inextricably to the wrath which God pours out upon his foes, a wrath which sees the very earth tremble, and the mountains melt. The darkness of Psalm 97 is inextricably tied in with the wrath, or judgment, of God. We see the same thing in Psalm 18:7–15:

      The earth trembled and quaked,

      and the foundations of the mountains shook;

      they trembled because he was angry.

      Smoke rose from his nostrils;

      consuming fire came from his mouth,

      burning coals blazed out of it.

      He parted the heavens and came down;

      dark clouds were under his feet.

      He mounted the cherubim and flew;

      he soared on the wings of the wind.

      He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

      the dark rain clouds of the sky.

      Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

      with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

      The Lord thundered from heaven;

      the voice of the Most High resounded.

      He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

      with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

      The valleys of the sea were exposed

      and the foundations of the earth laid bare

      at your rebuke, Lord,

      at the blast of breath from your nostrils.” (NIV)

      We are told here that God makes “darkness his covering, his canopy around him” (v. 11). Once again, if darkness is the result of the wrath or curse of God, then how can God make darkness “his covering?” Does this not mean that darkness is part of the very presence of God himself? No, it does not, for as we continue to read, we are told once again that, in this context of Psalms 18, God “thundered from heaven” and that he “shot his arrows and scattered the enemy.” Therefore, as with Psalm 97, the darkness described here as covering the LORD is inextricably connected with God visiting judgment upon the enemy by way of the outpouring of his wrath.

      We see then, without exception, throughout the Bible darkness is always and only the result of God’s wrath, the result of his curse and of his judgment. As a result, we know this is therefore also certainly true of the darkness that covers the earth in Genesis 1:2. The very fact the earth in Genesis 1:2 was covered in darkness is witness to the fact the earth was cursed.

      The Curse of the Global Ocean

      In addition to the darkness that is covering the earth in Genesis 1:2, there are two other elements present upon the earth—one of which is the global ocean that completely covers the earth. In the Bible, the sea always represents the judgment of God. One of the primary reasons oceans are a curse upon the earth is they make all the areas they cover completely uninhabitable to man. Also, throughout the Bible, God uses seas and oceans to visit judgment upon peoples as well as upon the earth.

      This, of course, is most clearly seen in Genesis 6–7, where God destroyed Earth by means of the flood. The flood, the global ocean, was God’s judgment upon the earth. Also, the beast in Revelation 13 arises from the sea, which is to say it rises from a place of judgment (Rev 13:1). Pharaoh’s entire army was obliterated by the Red Sea, the judgment of God upon Egypt (Exod 15:4).

      Furthermore, the whole concept of salt (which is a prime element of all the oceans and seas) as relating to judgment is also shown in the judgment upon Lot’s wife, who, upon fleeing Sodom with her husband Lot and their daughters, disobeyed God and looked back and, as a result, became a pillar of salt (Gen 19:26).

      The oceans of the earth are also a further curse in that we cannot drink ocean water. Human beings of course need water to live—without water, we die. Yet if we had a diet of drinking only ocean water, we would die—drinking ocean water would kill us. Even though we need water to live, ocean water is, in effect, a poison to us.

      As a result, it is clear throughout the Bible that the seas and oceans are a curse upon the earth, making all the land that they cover completely uninhabitable for man. The oceans and seas are used by God to bring judgment upon the earth, whether at the flood, upon Pharaoh’s army, or as the source of the beast of Revelation. All of this evidences that the seas and oceans are a judgment from God, even to this day.

      As a result, the global ocean that covers the earth in Genesis 1:2 is therefore a curse upon the earth, an oceanic covering that makes the earth utterly uninhabitable for man, the judgment of God upon the earth. Although God created a perfect Earth in Genesis 1:1, an Earth fully habitable for man (Isa 45:18), as of Genesis 1:2, the earth is under the curse of darkness as well as under the curse of a global ocean and is utterly uninhabitable for man.

      Lifting the Curse of Darkness

      The curse of darkness and the curse of the oceans in Genesis 1:2 remain today, though they are mitigated by God’s mercy and his unfolding redemption, which begins in Genesis 1:3. The Bible, though, tells us ultimately these two elements of God’s curse upon the earth—darkness and seas—will finally be lifted and removed when God redeems Earth, so as to make it what it was always intended to be:

      No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants СКАЧАТЬ