Spiritual Significance of Colors in Scripture – Black, Part 3

[Study Aired December 19, 2025] 

As we learned in our last study, the word for ‘black’ is associated with darkness. We saw that the word ‘mist’ of 2 Peter 2:17 is better translated as ‘blackness’:

2Pe 2:16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist [G2217: ‘zophos’, blackness] of darkness is reserved for ever.

This same Greek word, G2217, zophos, is translated as ‘darkness’ in Jude 1:6 and ‘blackness’ in Jude 1:13:

Jud 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, [and] called:
Jud 1:2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness [G2217: ‘zophos’, blackness, in spiritual ignorance] unto the judgment of the great day.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness [G2217: ‘zophos’] of darkness [G4655: ‘skotos, darkness] for ever.

So zophos, the Greek word so often translated ‘darkness,’ is also translated ‘blackness’ and has the same root as the Greek word translated ‘cloud.’ In other words, the holy spirit sees a connection between all three words: blackness, darkness, and clouds. There is another word which is translated ‘darkness’, and it has the same meaning of the absence of light. Here is that word:

G4656
skotoo
skot- o’- o
From G4655; to obscure or blind (literally or figuratively): – be full of darkness.

This word appears only once in the New Testament:

Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness[G4656: ‘skotoo’]; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Which takes us back to the use of the word ‘black’ in the Old Testament:

Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Jer 8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

Joe 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

The next word we will consider is the root of our previous word ‘skotoo.’ The root of ‘skotoo’ is ‘skotos.’

G4655
skotos
skot’- os
From the base of G4639; shadiness, that is, obscurity (literally or figuratively): – darkness.

This word appears 33 times and is consistently translated ‘darkness’ every single time in the King James Version. Here are a couple of those 33 verses which we have not yet covered with this word in them:

Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’]; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Darkness, the absence of any spiritual knowledge, is where “many” find themselves. Here is another example of this word:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’], and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

One more verse with this word ‘skotos’ in it is Acts 13:11:

Act 13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Act 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’]; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

“The hand of the Lord” can be on us for either good or evil. Always remember that to God “light and darkness are both alike to [Him].” It is all of God to the end of accomplishing His goal of bringing all to Him.

The last word we will consider is the word which is the root of our previous word ‘skotos’ and is the primary root of so many of these Greek words which carry the thought of “not seeing the sun…darkness” (Act 13:11). It is the Greek word ‘skia:’

G4639
skia
skee’- ah
Apparently a primary word; shade or a shadow (literally or figuratively [darkness of error or an adumbration]): – shadow.

This word appears just seven times in the New Testament and is again consistently translated all seven times as ‘shadow.’ Our first example is a verse which also has another form of this root in it:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness [G4655: ‘skotos’, from G4639, ‘skia’, shadiness, obscurity, darkness] saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow [G4639: ‘skia’, shade caused by interception of light, a shadow] of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

As it turns out, the words ‘darkness’ and ‘shadow’ both have this Greek word ‘skia’ as their root. Here is another verse.

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow [G4639: ‘skia’, shadow] of things to come; but the body [the reality] is of [the] Christ.

Another verse which demonstrates the meaning of black and darkness in God’s Word is:

Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

Christ is “a minister… of the true tabernacle”. What is God’s “true tabernacle?”

Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

The Word of God, line upon line and precept upon precept, reveals ‘heaven’ to be in the hearts and minds of God’s elect who will one day bring ‘heaven’ into the hearts and minds of all men. “The [true] tabernacle of God is with men.”

In summary, black and darkness are:

1) The emptiness associated with the absence of the light of God’s presence:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And [then] the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

2) Ignorance or rebellion to the ways and words of God:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Pro 2:10 When wisdom [Christ] entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding [the ability to see the light] shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Pro 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness

Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Mic 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth [out of darkness] to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Mic 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she [Babylon within each of us] be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

3) The ways of the wicked are as darkness:

Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Jer 23:11  For both prophet and priest are ungodly; yea, I have found their evil in My house, says Jehovah.
Jer 23:12  So their way shall be to them as slippery places in the darkness; they shall be driven out and fall by it. For I will bring evil on them, the year of their judgment, says Jehovah.

4) Black and darkness are a sign of God’s anger, indignation, and His judgment:

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2  A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

In the book of Revelation, John “was in the spirit on the Lord’s day…”

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

“The Lord’s day” has nothing to do with a particular day of the week. “The Lord’s day” is the day in which He comes to judge us for our sins:

Joe 2:1  Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;
Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

What is the timing of “the Lord’s day?” When does all of this take place? We need not guess.

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

“The great and terrible day of the Lord” is the ‘day of harvest’, the day of being ‘judged’. Deliverance and salvation are always preceded by days of chaos, confusion and darkness. That is when our judgment begins as the Lord calls 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:

The Lord’s work within His creatures begins with darkness first. That is why we are six times told “the evening [darkness] and the morning [light] were the six days of creation. I will quote the last verse of Genesis one to make this point:

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Every day concludes with that same statement. God begins the day at sunset, not sunrise. His work begins while we are in the dark. That is when He begins judging those in whom He dwells. That is when He begins His harvest of His elect. It is “while [we] are yet sinners” the Lord begins separating the tares and lies in our lives from the true “corn of wheat” which He planted and is in the process of harvesting

The ‘tares’ are separated from the wheat “in the time of harvest.”

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But while men slept [in darkness], his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest [until “judgment… begins at the house of God”, (1Pe 4:17)]: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: [Our “fiery trials” burn  up our tares]

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?

Amo 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? [What is the day of the Lord to our old man, but His destruction] the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amo 5:19 As if a man [our old man] did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Amo 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath [“Much tribulation”, (Act 14:22) “Fiery  trials”, (1Pe 4:12)], a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16 A day of the trumpet [the seven trumpets of our judgment, (Rev 8-11)] and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men [in darkness], because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

In conclusion let us remember what mankind in his black, darkened, fleshly, carnal state cannot acknowledge:

5) God creates both light AND darkness. Both are mere instruments in the hands of a sovereign God:

Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Psa 18:25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Psa 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Psa 18:27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
Psa 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

It is only by God’s grace that the ‘letters’ which hide the spirit behind them, are opened up and bring light to us.

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 [hidden in the ‘letters’ of the Old Testament].

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 [out of the letter and into the spirit]:

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not [those who cannot see the spirit foreshadowed by the letter].

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [the letter] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The light is the life, and the life is the light. Who is that light? It is the Christ:

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

What is “the light of the world?” It is “the Christ in you.”

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Dan 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

Col 1:26  Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

Finally, let’s remember that the three primary colors of ‘the material realm’ cannot produce the color white, and when all three are combined, red, yellow, and blue, they produce black, while the three primary colors of ‘the intellectual realm’ (think spiritual realm) when combined produce pure white light.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series.]

Spiritual Significance of Color in Scripture – Black, Part 2

The Color Black in the New Testament

[Study Aired December 14, 2025]

The Color Black in the New Testament is based upon what is revealed in the Old Testament.

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness [to them], but it gave light by night [to these]: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Just quoting Psalm 139:12 will get one accused of “calling good evil and evil good.” However, this verse doesn’t say that ‘light and darkness are alike to me.’ What it does say is “darkness and light are both alike to thee” – to God. If “the night shone as the day” to me, then I could say that light and darkness are alike to me. Such is not the case for mortal man, because mortal man is not God. So we read:

Isa 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Since “all is of God” evil and good, darkness and light, and sweet and bitter are all “alike to thee.”

1Co 11:12  For as the woman [is] of the man, even so [is] the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.

None of these verses of scripture say ‘of Him, and through Him, and to Him are all good things.’ Instead, these New Testament verses are all confirming the Old Testament doctrine which teaches that God is the Creator of good and evil, and He is Sovereign in the kingdoms of men:

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 [I] create darkness: I make peace, and [I] create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Dan 4:17  This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

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?

Three Greek Words Translated Black

There are three Greek words translated black or blackness in the New Testament. They are:

1) G3189
melas
mel’- as
Apparently a primary word; black: – black.

This word is used three times in the New Testament:

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black [G3189: melas].
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Third Seal

Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black [G3189: melas] horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Fifth Seal

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black  [G3189: melas] as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

2) G1105
gnophos
gnof’- os
Akin to G3509; gloom (as of a storm): – blackness.

Heb 12:18  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness [G1105: gnophos], and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19  And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which [voice] they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

This is the only place in the New Testament where this word appears.

3) G2217
zophos
dzof’- os
Akin to the base of G3509; gloom (as shrouding like a cloud): – blackness, darkness, mist.

This Greek word  appears four times in the New Testament. Two times it is translated ‘darkness’:

2Pe 2:4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness [G2217: zophos], to be reserved unto judgment;

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness [G2217: zophos] unto the judgment of the great day.

One time it is translated ‘blackness’:

Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness [G2217: zophos] of darkness for ever.

And once it is translated ‘mist’:

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

Notice that both ‘gnophos’ and ‘zophos’ have G3509 as their root. Here is Strong’s definition of 3509:

4) G3509
nephos
nef’- os
Apparently a primary word; a cloud: – cloud.

So the root for two Greek words which are both translated as ‘blackness,’ (one is also translated ‘darkness’) is the Greek word translated ‘cloud’, and it appears just one time in the New Testament:

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Clouds Often Appear Black

What did we learn in our last study on this word ‘black’ in the Old Testament? We saw that the words ‘black’ and ‘darkness’ are often used in reference to clouds:

Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

1Ki 18:45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Jer 4:22  For my people is foolish [Ahab as well as all of us], they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jer 4:23  I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

When God’s own people, whom He has brought up out of Egypt, come to the point that they do not even know Him, then at that point the “heavens are black” and “the heavens have no light” and the “heavenly things themselves must be purified…”

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [the blood of bulls and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

The orthodox Christian world is always talking about ‘heaven’, but they aren’t capable of “understanding what they say or whereof they affirm.”

1Ti 1:7  Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

“The heavens…have no light”, and they are hidden from them by dark clouds. “The heavens above are black” means this:

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Let’s go back to our first listed Greek word for ‘black’. That word was ‘melas’ (G1389). The neuter form of that Greek word is translated as ‘ink’ three times in the New Testament. Twice it appears in the epistles of John where John states that he “has many things to say but would not write with ink.” The other time this word appears is in 2 Corinthians 3. The word here is ‘melan’ not ‘melas.’ Let’s look at what we are told of this Greek word ‘melan’:

G3188
melan
mel’- an
Neuter of G3189 as noun; ink: – ink

2Co 3:2  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
2Co 3:4  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;
2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter [ink without spirit] killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

There is one more part in our study of the color black, but let’s summarize what we have learned to this point. The three primary colors of ‘the material realm’ are red, blue and yellow, and when these three primary colors are all mixed together they produce the color black.

However, when the primary color of sickly and deathly yellow in the material realm is replaced by the vibrant life-giving color green in ‘the intellectual’ (think spiritual) realm and we mix red, blue and green these three primary colors of  ‘the intellectual’ spiritual realm produce pure life giving light or the color white.

Truly:

Rom 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

1Co 11:3  But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

Christ is our head, and He is also our light in which all the colors are contained:

Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2  The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series.]

Spiritual Significance of Colors in Scripture – The Color Black, Part 1

[Study Aired December 12, 2025]

Psa 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

As with every word in scripture, the color black has both a positive and a negative application. In this particular study of the color black, I want to drive that point home by pointing out that even the word ‘sin’, which is typified by the color black, has a positive application inasmuch as it is the first step which is necessary to “become as” God:

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

 I will give you two verses of many dozens which establish this point, and then we will move on. This first section has to do with King David’s sin in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba.

Psa 51:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.
Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest.
Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

In Adam we are all “shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin” (Psa 51:5). That means we are all created in need of a Savior.

Then there is this enlightening statement made by Christ Himself in the garden of Eden:

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

In its positive application, black is the health and well being of the flesh:

Lev 13:37  But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Black being the opposite of white, darkness being the opposite of light, signifies not being able to see beyond the flesh, but it is in our black darkness that we begin to see God while we are yet in the realm of dying flesh. Black is a color which is intimately connected with being spiritually blind.

In its negative application, black typifies a famine of the word, leading to spiritual starvation, spiritual ignorance, spiritual darkness, and  being spiritually blind.

The Seven Hebrew Words Which are Translated ‘Black’

There are seven Hebrew words which the King James translators have chosen to translate as black. Those seven words are:

1) H7838
sha cho r  sha cho r
shaw- khore’, shaw- khore’
From H7835; properly dusky, but also absolutely) jetty: – black.

Here are a few examples of how this word is used in its positive application:

Lev 13:37  But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and that there is black [H7838, ‘shachor’] hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he is clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Son  1:5 I am  black. [H7838: ‘shachor’]  but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black [H7838: ‘shachor’]  as a raven.

Zec 6:2  In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black [H7838: ‘shachor’]  horses;
Zec 6:3  And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.
Zec 6:4  Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
Zec 6:5   And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

2) H7835
sha char
shaw- khar’
A primitive root (rather identical with H7836 through the idea of the duskiness of early dawn); to be dim or dark (in color): – be black.

This word appears just once in the Old Testament:

Job 30:26  When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Job 30:27  My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
Job 30:28  I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
Job 30:29  I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
Job 30:30  My skin is black [H7835: ‘shachar’] upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

3) H6937
qa dar
kaw- dar
A primitive root; to be ashy, that is, dark colored; by implication to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments): – be black (- ish), be (make) dark (- en), X heavily, (cause to) mourn.

Positive

(1Ki 18:45 KJV)  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black] with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Negative

Jer 4:27  For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black]: because I have spoken it, I have purposed [it], and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Jer 8:21  For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black]; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
Jer 8:22  Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black [H6937: ‘qadar’- black] unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark [H6937: ‘qadar’- black]; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark [H6937: ‘qadar’- black] over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 32:9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark [H6937: ‘qadar’, black], and the stars shall withdraw their shining:

Joe 3:15  The sun and the moon shall be darkened [H6937: ‘qadar’, black], and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

3) H2821: ‘Chashak’, black

Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened [H2821: ‘Chashak’, black] in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Lam 4:8  Their visage is blacker [H2821: ‘Chashak’, black] than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick.

Amo 8:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken [H2821: ‘Chashak’, make black] the earth in the clear day:

Mic 3:5  Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Mic 3:6  Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark [H2821: ‘Chashak’, make black] unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.
Mic 3:7  Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God.

H5508
‘so chereth’
so- kheh’- reth
Similar to H5507; probably a (black) tile (or tessara) for laying borders with: – black marble

This word also appears only once in the Old Testament, but it demonstrates that “all things are of God.”

Est 1:5  And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace;
Est 1:6  Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black [H5508: ‘sochereth’, black], marble.

5) H380 ‘i yshon, ee- shone’
Diminutive from H376; the little man of the eye; the pupil or ball; hence the middle (of night): – apple [of the eye], black, obscure.

Here is a positive application for this Hebrew word which is also translated as ‘black’:

Deu 32:9  For the LORD’S portion [is] his people; Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance.
Deu 32:10  He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple [H380: ‘iyshon, ee- shone’] of his eye.

Here is a negative application of this Hebrew word:

Pro 7:7  And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Pro 7:8  Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black [H380: ‘i yshon, ee- shone’] and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

6) H7840, ‘shecharcho reth’
shekh- ar- kho’- reth
From H7835; swarthy: – black.

This word appears only once in the Old Testament.

Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black [H7840: ‘shecharcho reth’], because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

7) H3648, ‘ka mar’
kaw- mar’
A primitive root; properly to intertwine or contract, that is, (by implication) to shrivel (as with heat); figuratively to be deeply affected with passion (love or pity): – be black, be kindled, yearn.

Positive:

Gen 43:30  And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn [H3648: ‘ka mar’, both black and yearn] upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
1Ki 3:26  Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned [H3648: ‘ka mar’, both black and yearn] upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].
1Ki 3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof.

Negative:

Lam 5:8  Servants have ruled over us:  there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand
Lam 5:9  We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness
Lam 5:10  Our skin was black [H3648: ‘ka mar’, both black and yearn] like an oven because of the terrible famine.

In Review:

The Positive Application of the Color Black

A black hair is a sign of cleansed leprosy. The first time the word ‘black’ appears in the King James is in Leviticus 13. The absence of a black hair indicates leprosy. The presence of a “black hair” is an indication that the flesh is healthy and is not leprous.

Lev 13:29  If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;

Lev 13:31  And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it be not in sight deeper than the skin, and that there is no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:

Lev 13:37 But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and [that] there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he [is] clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Black hair in The Song of Solomon is a sign of good physical, fleshly health in our ‘first love’.

Son 1:1  The song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

Son 1:4  Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
Son 1:5  I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; [but] mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Son 5:10  My beloved [is] white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

The negative application of the color black

‘Black heavens’ mean judgment, which in turn breaks the famine. Israel had not seen rain for three years when Elijah prayed for rain:

1Ki 18:1  And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
1Ki 18:2  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

1Ki 18:43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
1Ki 18:44  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
1Ki 18:45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

The different Hebrew words for ‘black’ are often associated with the words ‘dark’ and ‘darkness’, because it is darkness and lack of light with which the word ‘black’ is associated.

Psa 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

The reason God’s “secret place” is darkness is that it is not given to the natural-minded, carnal-minded man to understand “the mysteries [Greek: secrets] of the kingdom of God], nor “the things of the spirit”:

Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

1Co 2:14  But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Ecc 2:13  Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

Of course, God is the maker of both:

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

The Lord created darkness with a purpose in mind:

Isa 42:7  To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house [“spirits in prison”, (1Pe 3:19)].

Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

It is this fact that keeps Christ and His gospel hidden from men who cannot receive the truth, but for those who love and can receive Truth:

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

Next study we will see how this concept has been carried over into the prophecies of the New Testament.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series]

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Revelation 6:5-6 The Black Horse

Study Aired November 18, 2009

Updated April 26, 2024

Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Introduction

Once we know the significance of the four beasts, we realize that they symbolize those who are “redeemed… to God… out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” The challenge is now to remember that it is only through these four beasts that we come to see what is the hidden truth behind these four seals. In other words, it is “by the church” that we are told “Come and see… the hidden things of the spirit.” It is of great significance that we are told ‘The first… second… third… and fourth beast say to us, “Come and see.” It confirms these words of our Lord:

Mat 10:40  He that receiveth you [the four beasts] receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

Luk 10:16 He that heareth you [the four beasts who say “Come and see.”] heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.

Christ is revealing Himself to mankind by loosing the first four seals of this book which is in “the right hand of the Him that sat on the throne.” Christ does not Himself say, “Come and see.” Instead, He sends the four beasts to say to us, “Come and see.” If we do not receive what we see behind these seals, then we are not receiving Christ. If we are given to hear what these beasts show us, then we are hearing Christ. We must try the spirits to see if they are of God. Then we will know whether we are receiving and hearing Christ.

1Ti 4:1  Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
1Ti 4:2  Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
1Ti 4:3  Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.
1Ti 4:4  For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
1Ti 4:5  For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.

Of course these words have a physical application for babes in Christ, but the “meat” from which those very babes command us to abstain are the experiences which we find we are to live and keep, and which are hidden from the whole world behind the seven seals and behind these first four seals.

We saw in an earlier study that the first beast showed us a white horse hidden behind the first seal. We saw that the removal of these seals by Christ reveals hidden truths which this white horse rider represents. He has come to conquer all the lies that have held us in bondage all our lives, so He has a bow with which to do battle with His spiritual arrows, which typify His teaching and His doctrine. It is His Word and His doctrines with which He carries on this war within us as He brings us out of Egypt:

Num 24:8  God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows.

How blessed we are that God has spoken these words of comfort to us!

The second horse was a red horse, and we saw that the coming of the red horse rider into our lives necessarily takes away the peace we once knew when we fit in with this world. The coming of the conqueror on the red horse causes us to be “hated of all men.” Taking peace from our world is the unavoidable consequence of Christ coming into our lives. Christ has warned us that if He does take up His residence within us than there will be no peace in the kingdom of our old man and our enemies will become “they of our own household.”

Mat 10:34  Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35  For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36  And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ in us which is the “hidden wisdom” behind the second seal and the red horse rider. This horse and its rider are also revealed to us by the second beast who says, “Come and see.”

The third horse is a black horse

Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

Christ is opening our heavens when He opens the third beast, and He has the third beast show us that the revelation of Jesus Christ entails a black horse rider who must come into our lives.

We are also told that this black horse rider has a pair of balances in his hand. Why is this part of the revelation of Jesus Christ a black horse, and why is the rider of this black horse carrying a pair of balances? What does the color black symbolize?

Here is the link to the study on how the color ‘black’ is used in scripture:

It is important we remember that this whole Revelation is seen only when John ‘looks behind himself’ to see this part of what Christ is doing in our lives.

Here is an example of how this color black is used in God’s Word:

Pro 7:6  For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,
Pro 7:7  And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Pro 7:8  Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

This foolish young man is each of us in our own time. This ‘harlot’ signifies the same ‘harlot’ spoken of in Revelation 17-18. When we believe her lies we are “in the black and dark night” even if we think we are “rich and increased with goods and are in need of nothing” (Rev 3:17). Spiritual harlots never think of themselves as being evil or deceived and full of lies and ‘black… darkness’. Here is how spiritual harlots think of themselves:

Pro 30:20  Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness.

When we are deceived we do not believe we are deceived, and spiritual harlots do not believe they are committing spiritual adultery. However, they are deceived, and who is it ultimately who deceives all the false prophets of this world? It is the Rider on this black horse who has given all false prophets “idols of [their] hearts.”

Eze 14:1  Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
Eze 14:2  And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
Eze 14:3  Son of man, these men [“elders of Israel”] have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them?
Eze 14:4  Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols;

Eze 14:9  And if the prophet be deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

How does the Lord go about deceiving all false prophets? The scriptures do not hesitate to let us know how the Lord goes about deceiving all false prophets:

1Ki 22:19  And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
1Ki 22:20  And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
1Ki 22:21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
1Ki 22:23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

That is how it is done. Just as in Job, chapters 1 and 2, the Lord Himself sends Satan as ‘His hand’ to afflict and to deceive and to trouble those He causes to oppose Him and His doctrines:

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.
Job 2:7  So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.

1Sa 16:14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
1Sa 16:15  And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

Satan can do nothing he is not sent by God to do. He does exactly what he is sent to do; nothing more and nothing less. All evil spirits are “from the Lord”, and are “[His] hand”, sent by God to “trouble” kings, deceive prophets, and all those who listen to those false prophets.

It is the Lord who sends us away to Babylon. We must go into Babylon the Great before we can “come out of her My people.”

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

This revelation of Jesus Christ reveals that we must all come out of Babylon, and this black horse reveals that it is a work of the Lord on this black horse which first sends us into Babylon and then, through the tribulations and fiery trials of the seven trumpets and the seven last plagues the Lord drags us out of “that great city where also our Lord was crucified” (Rev 11:8). It is the coming out of Babylon and the dying to the flesh that is entailed in the opening of these seven seals, the blowing of the seven trumpets and the pouring out of the seven last plagues upon the kingdom of our old man, “the beast” within us, which drags us out of the darkness of Babylon and into the light of “The Sun of Righteousness”. An essential part of that trying journey, is all the black darkness signified and symbolized by this black horse rider. It is “written therein”, and it will be “kept” by all who are blessed to see and to know and to hear with spiritual ears the words of this prophecy.

Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Rev 11:7  And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Isa 1:21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

Rev 1:3  Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

The words of this black horse in our lives have been spoken, and Christ “will not repent, neither turn back from” the words of this revelation which we must keep, live and observe. It so happens that this revelation requires that we must come to see ourselves as those who have crucified our own Lord in the city of His own people.

Luk 13:33  Nevertheless I must walk to day, and to morrow, and the day following: for it cannot be that a prophet perish out of Jerusalem.
Luk 13:34  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killest the prophets, and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not!

Christ will never gather us under His wings until we first come to see ourselves as those who helped nail Him to His cross; until we see that we are that city wherein all prophets have been put to death and repent of what we have done to Him and His doctrines.

Jer 3:13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
Jer 3:14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
Jer 3:15 And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.

Jeremiah 4:28 are words which have “proceeded out of the mouth of God”, and we live these words.

Jer 4:28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Our “earth will mourn, and our heavens above will be black: because [the Lord] has spoken it.” This is the work of this black horse and his rider. This black horse works with the fourth horse, “a pale [green]horse”, which is producing the death of our old man, the beast within every man. This entire sealed book has been spoken by the Lord, and all these words have proceeded out of His mouth and therefore must be lived by those who are given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God in “this present time.”

Mat 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

It is very important to carefully notice that we are not told to ‘live every word’, rather we are told that we are to “live by [G1909: epi, upon, on, at, by, before] every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The point being, that we are to believe and live by every commandment of the Lord and do the things He says to do (Luk 6:46, Joh 5:2-3).

There are two more seals to be opened before we come to the seventh seal which is the seven trumpets. The seventh trumpet is the seven last plagues, which also “proceed out of the mouth of God.” We will see this “seven times” referred to later in the book of Leviticus in relation to a famine in the land, among other things (Lev 26:18, 21, 24, 28). It is all saying the same thing. It is all part of this revelation of Jesus Christ within us.

As we “look behind us” we see that all the seals, trumpets, and vials are all speaking to us, spiritual Jerusalem, we who have claimed the name of Christ, even as we rejected His doctrines. We have hated and killed our own Lord and have despised His doctrines. This black horse reveals that we have all been lacking eyes that see and ears that hear. It reveals that we ourselves have been “that great city wherein our Lord was crucified.” It is not ‘those people out there somewhere,’ but it is I, “the chief of sinners”, who is so deserving of being “chastised seven times for my sins.”

Rev 11:8  And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 15:8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.

The only avenue to being the dead bodies of God’s two witnesses lying dead “in the street of that great city” is to first come to see ourselves as those who have “crucified our Lord” and as those witnesses He has sent. We will never do that as long as we see others as more blasphemous and more deserving of God’s wrath than we are. We will all first come to see ourselves as “chief of sinners.” This is the black horse and his rider in our lives.

1Ti 1:15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

What room is there for such a belief as a secret rapture to take us out of God’s wrath on the “chief… of sinners”?

Why are we “chief of sinners?” What brings us to such a sad state of affairs? It is our total ignorance of the heart and mind of our loving heavenly Father and the mind of His Son. It is the black darkness into which we have descended, even as we considered ourselves to be angels of light. It is a famine of the words of Truth.

What is the wheat and the barley?

Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Here is this “pair of balances.” Here is the meaning of our “bread by weight” as revealed to us in the scriptures. Here is Revelation of the meaning of the words of Revelation 6:6 as revealed to us from “that which is written” (1Co 4:6) in the Old Testament:

Lev 26:26  And when I have broken the staff of your bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied.
Lev 26:27  And if ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me;
Lev 26:28  Then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

The ‘barley’ and the ‘wheat’ are the staples out of which the bread is made. The bread is the Word of God. That Word of God is, of course, Christ.

Joh 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

The balance in the hand of the black horse rider, and the “voice in the middle of the four beasts” indicates that we look behind us to see that we have lived through a time in our own lives when Christ and His doctrines and Words were in very short supply. We were living “in the black and dark night” while believing the lying words of a harlot (Pro 7:9).

What is the oil and the wine?

The oil and the wine are also types of the anointing of the spirit of God, and the illumination which is that spirit:

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
Mat 5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Exo 25:6  Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

Lev 24:2  Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.

Exo 29:40  And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering.

Luk 5:36  And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
Luk 5:37  And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.
Luk 5:38  But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.

These commodities pertain only to these four beasts and four and twenty elders as those overcomers who have been redeemed from among men and found worthy to sit with Christ in His throne. Truth simply has no place in the lives of those whose very sustenance is their lies and smooth sounding false doctrines.

Num 4:16  And to the office of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest pertaineth the oil for the light, and the sweet incense, and the daily meat offering, and the anointing oil, and the oversight of all the tabernacle, and of all that therein is, in the sanctuary, and in the vessels thereof.

As we saw in the last study, the “comfortable words” spoken to God’s elect are words which “take peace away from the earth.” Those are words of light to those who have the charge of keeping the lamps of God’s tabernacle burning. Such ‘light’ as that appears as deep darkness to those who are the purveyors of smooth things, purveyors of deceit.

Isa 30:10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
Isa 30:11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel [and His doctrines] to cease from before us.

All the blessings produced by our severe trials appear as curses to the natural man.

Zec 1:11  And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.

Zec 1:13  And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
Zec 1:14  So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Zec 1:15  And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.

We have an altar at which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat, because those who serve the tabernacle are those who cannot handle “the oversight of the tabernacle and all that therein is.” Those who serve the tabernacle are those who are “carried about with different and strange doctrines.”

All these “fiery trials” which we must endure as we are coming out of Babylon are “those who serve the tabernacle”. Our experience in coming out of the churches of this world are a service to us by “those who serve the tabernacle, signified by the Levites who were commissioned to help the priests, but were not even allowed to look on the holy things of the temple.

Heb 13:9  Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Heb 13:10  We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.

We have all been carried about by different and strange doctrines. That is the black horse and His rider coming with a pair of balances and with all the symbols of the paucity of Truth. This horse, too, must ride through our lives if we are to know the revelation of Jesus Christ.

In our next study we will consider the spiritual significance of the pale horse and his Rider in revealing Christ in us:

Rev 6:7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
Rev 6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

Spiritual Significance of Colors in Scripture – The Color Black, Part 1

Psa 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

As with every word in scripture, the color ‘black’ has both a positive and a negative application. In this particular study of the color black, I want to drive that point home by pointing out that even the word ‘sin’ has a positive application inasmuch as it is the first step which is necessary to “become as” God. I will give you two verses of many dozens which establish this point, and then we will move on. This first section has to do with King David’s sin in the matter of Uriah and Bathsheba.

Psa 51:1  To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Psa 51:2  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Psa 51:3  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.
Psa 51:4  Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest.
Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Psa 51:6  Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden [part] thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
Psa 51:7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Psa 51:8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; [that] the bones [which] thou hast broken may rejoice.
Psa 51:9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Then there is this enlightening statement made by Christ Himself in the garden of Eden:

Gen 3:22  And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:

In its positive application, black is the health and well being of the flesh. Black, being the opposite of white, darkness being the opposite of light, is not able to see beyond the flesh, but black sees God in the flesh. Black is a color which, even in its positive application, is intimately connected to the spiritually immature.

In its negative application black typifies a famine of the word, leading to spiritual starvation and spiritual ignorance and spiritual darkness.

The Seven Hebrew Words Which are Translated ‘Black’

There are seven Hebrew words which the King James translators have chosen to translate as black. Those seven words are:

1) H7838
sha cho r  sha cho r
shaw- khore’, shaw- khore’
From H7835; properly dusky, but also (absolutely) jetty: – black.

Positive

Lev 13:31 And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it [be] not in sight deeper than the skin, and [that there is] no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague of the scall seven days:

Son 1:5  I am  black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.

Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

Negative

Zec 6:2  In the first chariot were red horses; and in the second chariot black horses;
Zec 6:3  And in the third chariot white horses; and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay horses.
Zec 6:4  Then I answered and said unto the angel that talked with me, What are these, my lord?
Zec 6:5   And the angel answered and said unto me, These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

What do these “four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth” do? According to the book of Revelation they bring Christ to us, take away peace from us, bring a famine of the word to us and then we finally die; white… red… black… pale (green) horses of Revelation 6.

2) H7835
sha char
shaw- khar’
A primitive root (rather identical with H7836 through the idea of the duskiness of early dawn); to be dim or dark (in color): – be black.

This word appears just once in the Old Testament:

Job 30:26  When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness.
Job 30:27  My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me.
Job 30:28  I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation.
Job 30:29  I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls.
Job 30:30  My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat.

3) H6937
qa dar
kaw- dar
A primitive root; to be ashy, that is, dark colored; by implication to mourn (in sackcloth or sordid garments): – be black (- ish), be (make) dark (- en), X heavily, (cause to) mourn.

Positive

(1Ki 18:45 KJV)  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Negative

Jer 4:27  For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed [it], and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

Jer 8:21  For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
Jer 8:22  Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?

Jer 14:1  The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.
Jer 14:2  Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
Jer 14:3  And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
Jer 14:4  Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
Jer 14:5  Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:6  And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
Jer 14:7  O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name’s sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.
Eze 32:8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.
Eze 32:9  I will also vex the hearts of many people, when I shall bring thy destruction among the nations, into the countries which thou hast not known.
Eze 32:10  Yea, I will make many people amazed at thee, and their kings shall be horribly afraid for thee, when I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life, in the day of thy fall.

There are many verses which mention the sun turning to darkness:

Isa 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Isa 24:23  Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Eze 32:7  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light.

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining:
Joe 2:11  And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp [is] very great: for [he is] strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Joe 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joe 2:32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Joe 3:15  The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

Amo 8:9  And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:

Mic 3:5  Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him.
Mic 3:6  Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

4) H5508
so chereth
so- kheh’- reth
Similar to H5507; probably a (black) tile (or tessara) for laying borders with: – black marble

This word also appears only once in the Old Testament, but it demonstrates that “all things are of God.”

Est 1:5  And when these days were expired, the king made a feast unto all the people that were present in Shushan the palace, both unto great and small, seven days, in the court of the garden of the king’s palace;
Est 1:6  Where were white, green, and blue, hangings, fastened with cords of fine linen and purple to silver rings and pillars of marble: the beds were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of red, and blue, and white, and black, marble.

5) H380
‘i ysho n
ee- shone’
Diminutive from H376; the little man of the eye; the pupil or ball; hence the middle (of night): – apple [of the eye], black, obscure.

Positive

Deu 32:8  When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.
Deu 32:9  For the LORD’S portion [is] his people; Jacob [is] the lot of his inheritance.
Deu 32:10  He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.

Negative

Pro 7:7  And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
Pro 7:8  Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,
Pro 7:9  In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:
Pro 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman [with] the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

6) H7840
shecharcho reth
shekh- ar- kho’- reth
From H7835; swarthy: – black.

This word appears only once in the Old Testament.

Son 1:5  I am black [7835], but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black [7840], because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

7) H3648
ka mar
kaw- mar’
A primitive root; properly to intertwine or contract, that is, (by implication) to shrivel (as with heat); figuratively to be deeply affected with passion (love or pity): – be black, be kindled, yearn.

Positive

Gen 43:30  And Joseph made haste; for his bowels did yearn upon his brother: and he sought where to weep; and he entered into his chamber, and wept there.

1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.
1Ki 3:26  Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it].
1Ki 3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof.

Negative

Lam 5:8  Servants have ruled over us:  there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand
Lam 5:9  We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness
Lam 5:10  Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine.

In Review

The Positive Application of the Color Black

A black hair is a sign of cleansed leprosy. The first time the word ‘black’ appears in the King James is in Leviticus 13. A “black hair” is an indication that the flesh is healthy and is not leprous.

Lev 13:29  If a man or woman have a plague upon the head or the beard;
Lev 13:30  Then the priest shall see the plague: and, behold, if it [be] in sight deeper than the skin; [and there be] in it a yellow thin hair; then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it [is] a dry scall, even a leprosy upon the head or beard.
Lev 13:31  And if the priest look on the plague of the scall, and, behold, it [be] not in sight deeper than the skin, and [that there is] no black hair in it; then the priest shall shut up [him that hath] the plague of the scall seven days:
Lev 13:32  And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the plague: and, behold, [if] the scall spread not, and there be in it no yellow hair, and the scall [be] not in sight deeper than the skin;
Lev 13:33  He shall be shaven, but the scall shall he not shave; and the priest shall shut up [him that hath] the scall seven days more:
Lev 13:34  And in the seventh day the priest shall look on the scall: and, behold, [if] the scall be not spread in the skin, nor [be] in sight deeper than the skin; then the priest shall pronounce him clean: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.
Lev 13:35  But if the scall spread much in the skin after his cleansing;
Lev 13:36  Then the priest shall look on him: and, behold, if the scall be spread in the skin, the priest shall not seek for yellow hair; he [is] unclean.
Lev 13:37 But if the scall be in his sight at a stay, and [that] there is black hair grown up therein; the scall is healed, he [is] clean: and the priest shall pronounce him clean.

Black hair here is a sign of good physical, fleshly health in our ‘first love’.

Son 1:1  The song of songs, which [is] Solomon’s.
Son 1:2  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love [is] better than wine.
Son 1:3  Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name [is as] ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
Son 1:4  Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.
Son 1:5  I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.
Son 1:6  Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; [but] mine own vineyard have I not kept.

Son 5:10  My beloved [is] white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand.
Son 5:11  His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy, and black as a raven.

The negative application of the color black

‘Black heavens’ mean judgment, which in turn breaks the famine. Israel had not seen rain for three years when Elijah prayed for rain:

1Ki 18:1  And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
1Ki 18:2  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria.

1Ki 18:43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, [There is] nothing. And he said, Go again seven times.
1Ki 18:44  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.
1Ki 18:45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

The different Hebrew words for ‘black’ are often translated dark and darkness, because it is darkness and lack of light with which the word ‘black’ is associated.

Psa 18:11  He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Ecc 2:13  Then I saw that wisdom excelleth folly, as far as light excelleth darkness.

Of course, God is the maker of both:

Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these [things].

He created darkness with a purpose in mind:

Isa 42:7  To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house [“spirits in prison”].

Isa 60:2  For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

It is this fact that keeps Him hidden from men who cannot receive the truth, but for those who love and can receive Truth:

Isa 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

Next study we will see how this concept has been carried over into the prophecies of the New Testament.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series]

Audio Links

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Dan 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

Rom 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Ecc 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

Let’s go back to our third word and consider how it is used elsewhere in scripture:

3) G2217
zophos
dzof’- os
Akin to the base of G3509 [nephos – cloud]; gloom (as shrouding like a cloud): – blackness, darkness,

2Pe 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
2Pe 2:3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
2Pe 2:4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast [them] down to hell, and delivered [them] into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

2Pe 2:9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
2Pe 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous [are they], selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
2Pe 2:11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
2Pe 2:13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, [as] they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots [they are] and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
2Pe 2:14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
2Pe 2:15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
2Pe 2:16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
2Pe 2:17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

Jud 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, [and] called:
Jud 1:2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
Jud 1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

Jud 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
Jud 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
Jud 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
Jud 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

So zophos, the Greek word so often translated ‘darkness,’ is also translated ‘blackness’ and has the same root as the Greek word translated ‘cloud.’ In other words, the holy spirit sees a connection between all three words blackness, darkness, and clouds. There is another word which is translated ‘darkness’ and has the same meaning of the absence of light. Here is that word:

G4656
skotoo
skot- o’- o
From G4655; to obscure or blind (literally or figuratively): – be full of darkness.

This word appears but once in the New Testament:

Rev 16:10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
Rev 16:11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

Which takes us back to the use of the word ‘black’ in the Old Testament:

Jer 8:20 The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.
Jer 8:21 For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.

Joe 2:6 Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

The next word we will consider is the root of our previous word ‘skotoo.’ The root of ‘skotoo’ is ‘skotos.’

G4655
skotos
skot’- os
From the base of G4639; shadiness, that is, obscurity (literally or figuratively): – darkness.

This word appears 33 times and is consistently translated ‘darkness’ every single time in the King James Version. Here are but a couple of those 33 verses which we have not yet covered with this word in them:

Mat 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
Mat 22:12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
Mat 22:13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

Darkness is where “many” find themselves. Here is another example of this word:

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:

One more verse with this word ‘skotos’ in it is:

Act 13:7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
Act 13:8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
Act 13:9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
Act 13:11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.

“The hand of the Lord” can be on us for either good or evil. Always remember that to God “light and darkness are both alike to [Him].” It is all of God to the end of accomplishing His goal of bring all to Him.

The last word we will consider is the word which is the root of our previous word ‘skotos’ and is the primary root of so many of these Greek words at which we are looking. It is the Greek word ‘skia:’

G4639
skia
skee’- ah
Apparently a primary word; shade or a shadow (literally or figuratively [darkness of error or an adumbration]): – shadow.

This word appears just seven times in the New Testament and is again consistently translated all seven times as ‘shadow.’ Our first example is a verse which also has another form of this root in it:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

As it turns out, the words ‘darkness’ and ‘shadow’ both have this Greek word ‘skia’ as their root. Here is another verse.

Col 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Col 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
Col 2:15 [And] having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [the reality] is of [the] Christ.

Another verse which demonstrates the meaning of black and darkness in God’s Word is:

Heb 8:1 Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
Heb 8:2 A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.
Heb 8:3 For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer.
Heb 8:4 For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law:
Heb 8:5 Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, [that] thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.

What is God’s “true tabernacle?”

Rev 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

Do you see that line upon line and precept upon precept reveals ‘heaven’ to be in the hearts and minds of God’s elect who will one day bring ‘heaven’ into the hearts and minds of all men. “The [true] tabernacle of God is with men.”

In summary black and darkness are:

1) The emptiness associated with the absence of God’s presence:

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And [then] the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

2) Ignorance or rebellion to the ways and words of God:

Mat 4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

Pro 2:10 When wisdom [Christ] entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul;
Pro 2:11 Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
Pro 2:12 To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things;
Pro 2:13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness

Mic 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Mic 7:9 I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness.
Mic 7:10 Then she that is mine enemy shall see it, and shame shall cover her which said unto me, Where is the LORD thy God? mine eyes shall behold her: now shall she [Babylon within each of us] be trodden down as the mire of the streets.

3) The ways of the wicked are as darkness:

Pro 4:19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

4) Black and darkness are a sign of God’s anger, indignation, and His judgment:

Joe 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand;

In the book of Revelation, John “was in the spirit on the Lord’s day…”

Rev 1:10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Joe 2:2 A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.

Joe 2:31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Joe 2:32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

What is the timing of “the Lord’s day?” When does all of this take place? We need not guess.

Act 2:16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
Act 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Act 2:18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Act 2:19 And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
Act 2:20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass, [that] whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

“The great and terrible day of the Lord” is the ‘day of harvest’, the day of being ‘judged’.

The ‘tares’ are separated from the wheat “in the time of harvest.”

Mat 13:24 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
Mat 13:25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
Mat 13:26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
Mat 13:27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
Mat 13:28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
Mat 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Mat 13:30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

1Pe 4:12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

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?

Amo 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end [is] it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light.
Amo 5:19 As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him.
Amo 5:20 Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?

Zep 1:15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness,
Zep 1:16 A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers.
Zep 1:17 And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.

In conclusion let us remember what mankind in his black, darkened, fleshly, carnal state cannot acknowledge:

5) God creates both light AND darkness. Both are mere instruments in the hands of a sovereign God:

Psa 18:11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

Psa 18:25 With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
Psa 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
Psa 18:27 For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
Psa 18:28 For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

It is only by God’s grace that the ‘letters’ which hide the spirit behind them, are opened up and bring light to us.

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 [hidden in the ‘letters’ of the Old Testament].

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 [out of the letter and into the spirit]:

Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
Joh 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not [those who cannot see the spirit foreshadowed by the letter].

Joh 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh [the letter] profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

The light is the life, and the life is the light. Who is that light? It is the Christ:

Joh 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

Joh 12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Mat 5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

What is “the light of the world?” It is “the Christ in you.”

Psa 139:12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Dan 2:22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series.]

Audio Links

The Color Black – Part 2

The Color Black in the New Testament is Based upon What is Revealed in the Old Testament

Psa 139:12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Exo 13:21  And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness [to them], but it gave light by night [to these]: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

Isa 45:5  I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6  That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:7  I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Just quoting Psalm 139:12 will get one accused of “calling good evil and evil good.” However, this verse doesn’t say that ‘light and darkness are alike to me.’ What it does say is “darkness and light are both alike to thee” – to God. If “the night shone as the day” to me, then I could say that light and darkness are alike to me. Such is not the case for mortal man, because mortal man is not God. So we read:

Isa 5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

Since “all is of God” evil and good, darkness and light, and sweet and bitter are all “alike to thee.”

1Co 11:12  For as the woman [is] of the man, even so [is] the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

2Co 5:18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

Rom 11:33  O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [ are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34  For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
Rom 11:35  Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36  For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom [be] glory for ever. Amen.

Three Greek Words Translated Black

There are three Greek words translated Black or blackness in the New Testament. They are:

1) G3189
melas
mel’- as
Apparently a primary word; black: – black.

This word is used three times in the New Testament:

Mat 5:33  Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Mat 5:34  But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Mat 5:35  Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
Mat 5:36  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black [G3189: melas].
Mat 5:37  But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

Third Seal

Rev 6:5  And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black [G3189: melas] horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
Rev 6:6  And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

Fifth Seal

Rev 6:12  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black  [G3189: melas] as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev 6:13  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev 6:14  And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev 6:15  And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev 6:16  And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev 6:17  For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

2) G1105
gnophos
gnof’- os
Akin to G3509; gloom (as of a storm): – blackness.

Heb 12:18  For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness [G1105: gnophos], and darkness, and tempest,
Heb 12:19  And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which [voice] they that heard intreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
Heb 12:20 (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
Heb 12:21  And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Heb 12:25  See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Heb 12:26  Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Heb 12:27  And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Heb 12:29  For our God is a consuming fire.

This is the only place in the New Testament where this word appears.

3) G2217
zophos
dzof’- os
Akin to the base of G3509; gloom (as shrouding like a cloud): – blackness, darkness, mist.

This Greek word  appears four times in the New Testament. Two times it is translated ‘darkness’:

2Pe 2:4  For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness [G2217: zophos], to be reserved unto judgment;

Jud 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness [G2217: zophos] unto the judgment of the great day.

One time it is translated ‘blackness’:

Jud 1:13  Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness [G2217: zophos] of darkness for ever.

And once it is translated ‘mist’:

2Pe 2:17  These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.

Notice that both ‘gnophos’ and ‘zophos’ have G3509 as their root. Here is Strong’s definition of 3509:

G3509
nephos
nef’- os
Apparently a primary word; a cloud: – cloud.

So the root for two Greek words which are both translated as ‘blackness,’ (one is also translated ‘darkness’) is the Greek word translated ‘cloud’, and it appears just one time in the New Testament:

Heb 12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Clouds Often Appear Black

What did we learn in our last study on this word ‘black’ in the Old Testament? We saw that the words ‘black’ and ‘darkness’ are often used in reference to clouds:

Exo 14:19  And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:
Exo 14:20  And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them, but it gave light by night to these: so that the one came not near the other all the night.

1Ki 18:45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

Jer 4:22  For my people is foolish [Ahab as well as all of us], they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
Jer 4:23  I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

Jer 4:28  For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.

When God’s own people, whom He has brought up out of Egypt, come to the point that they do not even know Him, then at that point the “heavens are black” and “the heavens have no light” and the “heavenly things themselves must be purified…”

Heb 9:23  It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these [the blood of bulls and goats]; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

The orthodox Christian world is always talking about ‘heaven’, but they aren’t even capable of “understanding what they say or whereof they affirm.”

1Ti 1:7  Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.

“The heavens…have no light” and they are hidden from them by dark clouds. “The heavens above are black” means this:

Mat 6:23  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

Mat 4:16  The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Let’s go back to our first listed Greek word for ‘black’. That word was ‘melas'(G1389). The neuter form of that Greek word is translated as ‘ink’ three times in the New Testament. Twice it appears in the epistles of John where John states that he “has many things to say but would not write with ink.” The other time this word appears is in 2 Corinthains 3. The word here is ‘melan’ not ‘melas.’ Let’s look at what we are told of this Greek word ‘melan’:

G3188
melan
mel’- an
Neuter of G3189 as noun; ink: – ink

2Co 3:2  Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men:
2Co 3:3  Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
2Co 3:4  And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward:
2Co 3:5  Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency [is] of God;
2Co 3:6  Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter [ink without spirit] killeth, but the spirit giveth life.

[Here is the link to the next study in this series.]