Mr. Vinson,

I have a question that has been bothering me.
What does the Bible mean when it says God “created darkness”? Some say that darkness does not “exist,” that it’s just the opposite of light. Others say that the Bible means God creates darkness because of “night” (i. e. because the Earth rotates, it appears dark on one side of the Earth, hence “darkness”.
Anyway, I have scary thoughts about things like, if God did not exist, what would there be? Would there be light or darkness?
Please respond.

I____

Hi I____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask:

What does the Bible mean when it says God “created darkness”?”

As hard as this is for orthodox Christians to believe, what this means is that God, through Satan, is responsible for all that takes place within His creation. He does not pass the buck to either Satan or our fabled “free will”. There is no such thing as “free” will and Satan is nothing more than a tool in God’s sovereign hand.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

“It is NOT of him that wills… but of God…” The time mankind spends in these temporary “vessels of clay” is intentionally designed to simply demonstrate why “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” because of the corruptible nature of these temporary vessels of clay.

1Co 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

It was God, not Satan, who created the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and He did so intentionally so mankind, “marred” in His own hand, would eat of that tree and would come to see that he is in need of a Savior.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.
2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,

God is trying to tell us all of this, even as mankind tries to ‘save His reputation’ by lying and saying that God does not create evil.

Pro 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

What does “I create evil” mean? Does it mean ‘disaster’ or ‘calamity’, such as earthquakes and tsunamis? Is that what “I… create evil means”? No, that is not what “I… create evil” means. Here is what that means.

Isa 63:17 O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from thy ways, and hardened our heart from thy fear? Return for thy servants’ sake, the tribes of thine inheritance.

Which ‘wicked’ has God made for Himself? What ‘evil’ has God “created”? What ‘erring’ has He ‘made us to err’? He has made all the wicked for Himself and He has created all the evil this ever has been or ever will be, and He has made all erring that has ever taken place.

Act 17:28 For in him we [ including the wicked Athenians Paul is speaking to] live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Amo 3:6 Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?

So God has created evil and flesh as the ugly scaffold through which He is building a new and better house in He will dwell. In the end, all men will be saved, and this ‘scaffold’ of sinful flesh will be destroyed. But that end will come only through fiery judgment which is even now on the house of God, but will in time come upon all men to salvation.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14 If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
1Co 3:15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

The “lake of fire” is the instrument of God for the salvation of all men.

1Co 15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive
1Co 15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24 Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

As long as one person is still dead, death is not “destroyed”. But if the life of Christ is, in the end, granted to all men, then death will be destroyed.

1Ti 4:10 For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially [‘first’, but not exclusively] of those that believe.

1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

So judgment is now on “the house of God”, but that is just where it “begins”. That is not where it ends. In time Christ’s work will save “the whole world”.

1Jn 2:2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

So the answer to your question is that ‘Yes, God did create darkness’, but He did so for the purpose of ‘calling light out of darkness’.

2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

We understand only by contrasting one thing with another. So God is calling light and righteousness out of the darkness of sin and evil. He is calling life out of death, and He is calling good out of evil.
It is foolish to say that ‘darkness does not exist, it is just the opposite of light’. That is the same as saying that light doesn’t exist because it is just the opposite of darkness.
If God did not exist, then there would be nothing, because it is in Him and through His Christ that all things consist.

Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

“All things” means all evil as well as all good. The most heinous act of all time was the murder of our Savior Jesus Christ. That too, was done only as God Himself had ordained”

Act 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

There is an in depth paper on this subject on the iswasandwillbe. com website. It is in the Essential Reading section which is in the upper left corner of the homepage. It is entitled After The Counsel of His Own Will. Read that article, and if you still have questions please feel free to get back to me.
‘Darkness’ is the Biblical symbol of ignorance, and ‘light’ is the Biblical symbol of knowledge.
Life eternal is defined as ‘knowing God and His Son’.

Joh 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

When in God’s own time, all men come to “know… God and Jesus Christ”, both darkness and death will be destroyed, and light and life will be all that remains.
I hope this helps you to understand that God did indeed create evil, but that He did so simply as a tool in His hand by which to drag all men to Himself.
Your brother in Christ,

Mike