1. Amos 5:20 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

What does the reference to darkness and light indicate?

Amos 5:20 (ESV)

20 Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?

The reference to darkness and light is meant to contrast danger with safety.1 The day of the Lord will not be one of light and brightness (see Psalm 18:12, Psalm 18:28) which the Israelites imagined in song, but rather darkness and gloom like the plague in Egypt (Exodus 10:21–29).