In Time of Gross Darkness – the Gentiles Shall Come!

We have noticed before the reference to "thick darkness" in a couple of significant Judgment Day passages – see:

Joel 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;

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.

And,

Zephaniah 1:14 The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly.

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,

Significantly, wonderfully, it is also in this verse:

Isaiah 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.

The phrase "gross darkness" is the same Hebrew word (Strong's #6205) which has been translated as "thick darkness" in Joel 2:2 & Zephaniah 1:15 above.

Given that Isaiah 60:2 is telling us that the darkness will cover the earth, and "gross (thick) darkness" the people – we can see how that applies to the inhabitants of the earth in the time of the world's final judgment.

I mentioned how this word used in this context was significant AND wonderful – because this is the chapter where God speaks repeatedly of the Gentiles coming to Him.

For instance, in the next verse we read:

Isaiah 60:3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

The Gentiles shall come to Thy light! And,

Isaiah 60:5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.

This language is describing the coming of the great multitude of God's elect – in the time of thick darkness (which points to the law of God being proclaimed to those under the wrath of God) in the Day of Judgment.