Saturday, June 26, 2021

'As the blind gropeth in darkness'

Two days ago news outlets around the world reported on a gaping 100-foot-wide hole in the ground (called the “Well of Hell”) far out in the Yemen desert that is believed to be "millions and millions" years old and a “prison for demons.”

Yahoo news reported, “Those who live near the hole, named the Well of Barhout, believe anything that comes close to the ‘Hell Pit’ will be sucked in without escape.”

Shrouded in mystery, the hole near the border of Oman is “thought to reach 330 feet down, but there are those who claim it's as much as 820 feet deep. Nobody has ever been to the bottom.

“A video crew recently flew a drone over the hole and captured stunning aerial footage of the mysterious pit. However, even with the drone flying directly over the hole and with the camera lens pointed straight down, it was impossible to see into its depths due to the extreme darkness . . .

“Not much can be seen from the edge of the well as sunlight doesn't extend very far down inside and videographers say it's hard to capture anything when they shoot down inside. Still, despite the stench emanating from it, different types of birds are often seen flying in and out of the inky darkness.

*****

In the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, the Holy Bible begins with: [1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
[2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
[3] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
[4] And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

“When it says the earth was void, in other words, it didn’t have a shape, wasn’t structured and was empty,” explains Richard Jordan. “ ‘And darkness was upon the face of the deep.’ That indicates that what’s going on in verse 2 is the creation is not formed, not filled, and God isn’t there.

“That verse all by itself is the simplest reason that people for millennia have believed what is now called the Gap Theory. Their idea is God created everything perfectly.

“Isaiah 45: [18] For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
[19] I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

“Notice, God created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited. When you read that, you say, ‘Well, if Isaiah understood that, what’s Moses talking about back there?’

“Obviously He created the original and then something happened to it. Darkness in your Bible is the result of the judgment of God against sin and rebellion.

“People say, ‘Well what happened?’ Obviously that would be where the fall of Satan took place.

“The reason people want to believe the Gap Theory is heresy is they want to try and prove what’s called a Young Earth Theory of creation so that they can refute evolutionists.

“Look at what the verse says: ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth and now there’s a radical intervention and then He recreates everything.’ That understanding is what refutes evolution, because what evolution says is it was here all these years and just came along per uniformitarianism.

“Satan was already there when God created Adam, so my point is when you try to take an apologetic point of view and then take the Bible and make it fit that view . . . To refute evolution doesn’t require you to change the Bible. Evolution refutes itself if you examine it.

“Through the ’80s, ’90s, ’2000s, evangelical fundamentalism actually put in the doctrinal statement of their churches that they believe in a young earth. That’s how engrossing that’s become.

“When it says ‘darkness on the face of the deep,’ God didn’t create His universe in darkness, because where God is there’s no darkness. That’s judgment.

“Genesis 1:3: [3] And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
When God moved back into His creation to repurpose it—‘I’m back!’—there was light. He made a division between the light and darkness: ‘I’m here and darkness is there.’

Genesis 15: [12] And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
[13] And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
[14] And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance.

“He literally is going to sense and feel what His people are going to feel when they’re cast out among the Gentiles. There’s a horror associated with darkness. You understand there’s something not good in it.

“Exodus 10: [21] 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.

“Absolute, complete, total blackout to the point where you could feel it.

“Jude 13: [13] Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

“You can be in darkness and not have it be a real blackout, but then there’s the horror of great darkness; it’s darkness that can be felt and now you have the blackness of darkness.

“By the way, when you’re in that kind of darkness—total blackout--you can’t tell time; the perception of what time it is, how much time passes, how long something is going to last, it all goes away.

“When Christ is in that physical darkness on the Cross, the darkness makes it seem like it’s never going to end. The physical darkness put the Lord in a position where He’s suffering without the ability to tell how long it’s going to last. The perception part of it, like it’s endless. The isolation, the loneliness.

“But there’s another kind of darkness. Luke 22: [52] Then Jesus said unto the chief priests, and captains of the temple, and the elders, which were come to him, Be ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and staves?
[53] When I was daily with you in the temple, ye stretched forth no hands against me: but this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

“That’s spiritual darkness. This is the blindness of spiritual unbelief. Paul says in Colossians 1 that He ‘delivered us from the power of great darkness.’ He talks about ‘the rulers of the darkness of this world.’ So there’s a spiritual darkness that’s engulfed the religious leaders of Israel.

Luke 23: [44] And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
[45] And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.

“Wait a minute, if there was darkness over all the land AND the sun was darkened, that tells you there’s a different kind of darkness—it wasn’t simply the physical darkness; there was the spiritual darkness.

“It’s in that spiritual darkness that the Lord Jesus Christ is entering into combat with the rulers of the darkness of this world. You remember in Genesis 3 the seed of the woman is going to crush the head of the seed of the serpent. There’s going to be a conflict, a battle.

“All through the life of Christ He had been challenging Satan and Satan would challenge back with his demonic activity. At the Cross the Lord says, ‘Where’s my adversary? Let him step up and let’s have it out.’

“The strategic victory for eternal redemption is accomplished at Calvary, where Jesus Christ didn’t simply pay the eternal consequences of our sin, but He defeated the Adversary.

“Colossians 2:15: [15] And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

“There’s a battle going on in that darkness and at Calvary, Jesus Christ won the authority, the right to deliver you from the power of darkness and put you into His life.”

(new article tomorrow)

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