What other scriptures warn against spiritual darkness and confusion? Setting the Stage with Job 12:25 “They grope about in darkness with no light; He makes them stagger like drunkards.” Job pictures people stripped of wisdom, stumbling in pitch-black confusion. Scripture repeatedly returns to this warning, urging us to recognize darkness for what it is and flee to God’s light. Old Testament Warnings of Darkness and Confusion • Deuteronomy 28:29 — “and at midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will not prosper in your ways.” • Proverbs 4:19 — “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.” • Isaiah 5:20 — “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness…” • Isaiah 59:9-10 — “We look for light, but there is darkness… Like the blind we feel along the wall… At noon we stumble as in the twilight.” • Micah 3:6 — “Therefore night will come over you, without visions… the sun will set on the prophets, and the day will grow dark over them.” These passages connect moral rebellion with fogged perception. Darkness is never neutral; it is the direct result of ignoring God’s revealed truth. New Testament Echoes and Intensifications • Matthew 15:14 — “If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” • John 3:19-20 — “Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil.” • John 12:35 — “Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.” • Acts 26:18 — “to open their eyes so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.” • Romans 1:21-22 — “They became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” • 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 — “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel…” • Ephesians 4:17-18 — “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God…” • Ephesians 5:8, 11 — “you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord… Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” • 1 John 2:11 — “whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness… the darkness has blinded his eyes.” The New Testament presses the urgency: darkness is both a present blindness and an eternal destiny for those who resist Christ. Why the Darkness Takes Hold • Rejection of God’s truth (Romans 1:25). • Hardness of heart (Ephesians 4:18). • Satanic deception (2 Corinthians 4:4; 11:14). • Love of sin (John 3:19). • Hatred toward others (1 John 2:11). Whenever truth is exchanged for a lie, confusion follows. Spiritual darkness is not merely ignorance; it is the inevitable fallout of choosing anything over the Lord. The Contrast: Called into Light • John 8:12 — “I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” • Colossians 1:13 — “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” • 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 — “But you, brothers, are not in darkness… for you are all children of light.” Scripture warns of darkness so we will cherish the Light. In Christ, confusion gives way to clarity, groping becomes confident walking, and night is swallowed up by the brilliance of day. |
    |