"3 The Lord is slow to anger and of great might, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4 He rebukes the sea and makes it dry, he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither, the bloom of Lebanon fades" Nahum 1:3-4
12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and A thick and dreadful Darkness came over him (New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, Gen. 15: 12).
What was that dreadful darkness?
"A deep sleep" of Abram in verse 12 chapter 15 of Genesis was referring to his spiritual communication between the Spirit of God and the spirit of Abram. It didn't refer to the scientific definition of a deep sleep namely theta or delta brainwaves. Such phrase has no connection with scientifically discovered brainwaves.
Adam was the first person who entered 'a deep sleep' during which his wife, Eve, was created by God from his floating rib. Simply, such prophetic phrase means spiritual communication during a sleep period; it was also called 'dream dream' in the book Joel or in our ordinary language it simply means the divinely inspired vision in a dream.
The darkness with pillar of light in the middle is the the presence of the Dreadful Judge. The darkness, in truth, were the escorting innumerable angels of God representing His 'name' the Great Mercy. If you are experiencing such divine encounter, it means you are entering the presence of The Dreadful Judge!
The thick covering darkness was, in truth, meant to provide spiritual covering for Abram, so that he might not be consumed by His Consuming Holiness. In the days of Abraham, that darkness or the canopies of darkness surrounding YHVH were the very representations of Yahweh's immutable name or His divine attribute called The Great Mercy.
Nowadays, in the New Covenant era, that darkness was under the subjugation of Christ Yeshua, but Christ was not revealed yet in the days of the patriarchs, therefore, they saw it as the representation of one of the immutable 'names' of God called the Great Mercy of YHVH.
Later, we knew, by faith, that that darkness were the clouds (the innumerable angels) that present in His atoning death for mankind as Christ proceeded triumphantly in defeating the stings of death that is sin. Thus, such dreadful darkness which descended upon Abram was, in truth, THE GREAT MERCY of the FATHER YHVH aka Christ Jesus! If we need divine mercy then, we just called the name Christ Jesus because he was the embodiment of Divine mercy of Yahweh. Christ was the visible of the invisible Divine!
Another similar revelation of the dreadful JUDGE encountered by Abraham was also recorded by king David's revelation in encountering with the presence of the Dreadful Judge, Yahweh in the song book of Psalm 18: 6-14
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
7 The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds (angels) were under his feet.
10 He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind.
11 He made DARKNESS HIS COVERING, his canopy around him— the dark rain clouds of the sky.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning, he routed them.
St. John's revelation concerning the Dreadful Judge.
Revelation 1: 14-18 (NRSVCE)
14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 In his Right Hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his FACE was like the sun shining with full force.
17 When I SAW him, I fell at his feet AS THOUGH DEAD. But he placed his right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I HAVE THE KEYS of DEATH and of Hades (Christ's power not only in control of life but he was also in control of every death!).
Work Cited
The Bible. New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition, National Council of Churches, 1989. Bible Gateway, biblegateway.com. Accessed 29 April 2023.
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