Eclipse: When It Seems Like Darkness Wins

You’ve probably heard about the Great American Eclipse, visible over many places in North America on April 8th, 2024. Eclipses are one of the many amazing signs in the heavens that strike awe, wonder, and curiosity in the hearts of those privileged enough to witness them.

What Is an Eclipse?

An eclipse is when one celestial body passes in front of another, blocking it from view or covering it with its shadow. Lunar eclipses are cool enough, when the earth is between the sun and the moon and the earth’s shadow covers the face of the moon that is usually visible to us.

Solar eclipses, however, are much more interesting. While lunar eclipses are only visible to us at night, when the sky is already dark and we might not even notice them, solar eclipses can cause remarkable differences during the day. This is especially true during a total eclipse, when the moon stands between the earth and the sun and completely blocks the sun. If you are in the path of totality, where the whole sun will be covered by the moon, it can look like night during the day.

Can you imagine living in a time when we didn’t have the science or technology available to understand what a solar eclipse was? Ancient cultures probably found total solar eclipses disturbing and terrifying - for all they knew, the blotting out of the sun meant the world was going to end. And, in fact, the Bible does mention the darkening of the sun as a sign of the end times in Joel 2:31:

The sun will be turned to darkness
   and the moon to blood
   before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.

Darkness On the Earth

Sometimes the darkness on the earth is overwhelming. In fact, the Bible says in Isaiah 60:2:

See, darkness covers the earth
   and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
   and his glory appears over you.

It gets harder to love and harder to forgive when more and more people seem to feel entitled to committing acts of wickedness against each other. In 2 Timothy 3:2-5 Paul gives an accurate description of the issues of a loveless generation:

For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!

Sometimes it can seem like God is like the sun in an eclipse, overshadowed by the troubles of the here and now. Sometimes it might seem like God is so far away He can’t see what’s happening, or like He isn’t interested in helping, or - when things seem really hopeless - like even He isn’t strong enough to overcome the darkness.

It’s All a Matter of Perspective

But, just like with an eclipse, God isn’t the one moving in response to us. He is our anchor; we’re the ones moving around Him. Just like the moon has no power over the sun, evil has no power over God. Just like the eclipse is temporary, the time when evil seems to triumph will be fleeting. You can be encouraged by Psalm 37:

Don’t worry about the wicked
   or envy those who do wrong.
For like grass, they soon fade away.
   Like spring flowers, they soon wither.

Trust in the Lord and do good.
   Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
Take delight in the Lord,
   and he will give you your heart’s desires.

Commit everything you do to the Lord.
   Trust him, and he will help you.
He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
   and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

Be still in the presence of the Lord,
   and wait patiently for him to act.
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
   or fret about their wicked schemes.

Stop being angry!
   Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
   it only leads to harm.
For the wicked will be destroyed,
   but those who trust in the Lord will possess the land.

Soon the wicked will disappear.
   Though you look for them, they will be gone.
The lowly will possess the land
   and will live in peace and prosperity.

The wicked plot against the godly;
   they snarl at them in defiance.
But the Lord just laughs,
   for he sees their day of judgment coming.

The wicked draw their swords
   and string their bows
to kill the poor and the oppressed,
   to slaughter those who do right.
But their swords will stab their own hearts,
   and their bows will be broken.

It is better to be godly and have little
   than to be evil and rich.
For the strength of the wicked will be shattered,
   but the Lord takes care of the godly.

Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
   and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
They will not be disgraced in hard times;
   even in famine they will have more than enough.

But the wicked will die.
   The Lord’s enemies are like flowers in a field—
   they will disappear like smoke.

The wicked borrow and never repay,
   but the godly are generous givers.
Those the Lord blesses will possess the land,
   but those he curses will die.

The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
   He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
   for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Once I was young, and now I am old.
   Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned
   or their children begging for bread.
The godly always give generous loans to others,
   and their children are a blessing.

Turn from evil and do good,
   and you will live in the land forever.
For the Lord loves justice,
   and he will never abandon the godly.

He will keep them safe forever,
   but the children of the wicked will die.
The godly will possess the land
   and will live there forever.

The godly offer good counsel;
   they teach right from wrong.
They have made God’s law their own,
   so they will never slip from his path.

The wicked wait in ambush for the godly,
   looking for an excuse to kill them.
But the Lord will not let the wicked succeed
   or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial.

Put your hope in the Lord.
   Travel steadily along his path.
He will honor you by giving you the land.
   You will see the wicked destroyed.

I have seen wicked and ruthless people
   flourishing like a tree in its native soil.
But when I looked again, they were gone!
   Though I searched for them, I could not find them!

Look at those who are honest and good,
   for a wonderful future awaits those who love peace.
But the rebellious will be destroyed;
   they have no future.

The Lord rescues the godly;
   he is their fortress in times of trouble.
The Lord helps them,
   rescuing them from the wicked.
He saves them,
   and they find shelter in him.

God’s Goodness Can’t Be Blocked

During an eclipse, the moon seems big enough to blot out the sun only because of our perspective - only for a limited time, and only in a certain place. When you picture the solar system from an outside point of view, it’s obvious that the moon is small and insignificant compared to the sun, and that the moon, which revolves around the earth, has no power to harm the sun, which is what the earth revolves around.

In the same way, we can rest assured that God is still on His throne and still acting as our immovable anchor even when things might - temporarily - seem dark from our perspective.