Psalms 105:28 Meaning: Who Didn't Rebel Against God's Words?

The Hebrew word for “sent” here is shalach. It carries the sense of dispatching someone with authority, like a king sending a messenger. God sent darkness as his servant, and it came. The word “darkness” itself is choshekh, more than the absence of light, it suggests thick, oppressive gloom, the kind that makes people stop and listen. Then comes the key verb: “rebelled,” from marah. This word means to be stubborn, to push back against someone in charge. It is used often of Israel in the wilderness, and of the people's refusal to trust God. Here, the surprising thing is that someone did not rebel. Whether the darkness itself, Moses and Aaron, or the Egyptians, the point is that God's word found obedience where it was least expected. When God speaks, even the thickest darkness cannot refuse.

Christians have read this verse differently. Many early Protestant commentators, like Matthew Henry and Albert Barnes, understood “they” as Moses and Aaron. These two men faced a furious Pharaoh, but they did not disobey God’s command to bring the plagues. Other scholars, like those behind the Cambridge Bible, argue “they” refers to the Egyptians, after the plague of darkness they stopped resisting, at least temporarily, and let Israel prepare to leave. Still others, such as the Jewish commentator Jarchi and some Christian interpreters, see the darkness itself as the obedient servant: it came when God sent and covered the land exactly as ordered. Each reading highlights a different angle of God’s authority, whether over his messengers, his enemies, or the natural world.

A common mistake is to read “they didn’t rebel” as referring to the people of Israel, assuming the psalm is praising their faithfulness. In fact, the context points elsewhere: the previous verse mentions Moses and Aaron, and the surrounding plagues show Egypt being struck. Both the Hebrew grammar and the historical account suggest the obedience belongs either to Moses and Aaron or to the Egyptians under judgment, not to the Israelites in general. The psalm is not about human goodness, but about God’s word accomplishing what it says.

This verse asks you to notice where God’s word meets resistance, and where it does not. Maybe this week you face a situation where obeying God feels risky: speaking up for someone, telling the truth when a lie would be easier, or simply waiting when every instinct says to push. You are not the first to stand before a hard command. Moses and Aaron did, and they did not rebel. Or think of the Egyptians: even people who oppose God eventually bow to his words, one way or another. You can trust that the same God who sent darkness as his servant is with you in whatever he asks.