Black
The color mentioned most often in the Bible is not really a color at all—it is the absence of color. Objects that absorb light rather than reflect all or part of it look dark or black to us. Several Hebrew words are typically translated “black,” since there are shades of darkness. These words are sometimes translated as “darkness” or “gloom.” Because black is the absence of light, to use it as a symbol for evil or something that is terrifying makes sense.
Fear
Darkness is frightening because one cannot see approaching dangers. When Joel records the effects of a future event that he calls “the Day of the LORD,” he includes the fact that “the sun and the moon turn dark” (Joel 2:10). Part of the terror of that day is the darkness—an absence of the light of God in a figurative sense and the literal light that makes one able to see.
Death and Decay
Other uses of black in Scripture point to a pattern symbolizing decay and death. Dead skin is black (Lam. 4:8). In his complaint to God, Job described the effect of his disease as making his skin dark/black before it peeled away (Job 30:30). Black is also the color of moral decay. Micah connects darkness with God’s judgment when he rails against false prophets who will “have nights without visions . . . darkness without revelations. The sun will set on the prophets, and the day will turn dark for them” (Mic. 3:6). This is closely related to the themes of darkness and light that we see particularly in John’s writings.
The black horse in Revelation is a harbinger of death and destruction.
Evil
The fact that black is a symbol for evil is evident in the fact that the dark arts are called “black magic” (Deut. 18:10, 14; Josh. 13:22; 1 Sam. 15:23). These practices are expressly forbidden in Scripture and are associated with evil: “They practiced black magic and cast evil spells. They sold themselves by doing what the LORD considered evil” (2 Kings 17:17). These things are done in the dark and believers flee from them as they live in God’s light. We are told, “Have nothing to do with the useless works that darkness produces. Instead, expose them for what they are” (Eph. 5:11).
Black was associated with decay and death.
Judgment
Black is a color that symbolizes God’s terrifying judgment. In Revelation 6:1–8, a black horse appears along with three other horses (white, red, and pale). These are known as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse. They are released on earth as a result of one of the opened seals of judgment. The rider on the black horse carries a scale that will measure the distorted value of food in a time of terrible famine. In Revelation 6:12, the sun goes black as a result of a terrible earthquake: “I watched as the lamb opened the sixth seal. A powerful earthquake struck. The sun turned as black as sackcloth made of hair. The full moon turned as red as blood.” Apparently the dust storm created by the earthquake darkened the sun and reminded John of black hair woven into sackcloth. The appearance of black in prophetic passages in the Bible, even when they describe God’s actions, is related to judgment and distress. Indeed, hell itself is called “blackest darkness” (2 Pet. 2:17; Jude 1:13 NIV).
Key Verse
The earth will mourn, and the sky will grow black.
I have spoken, and I have planned it.
I won’t change my plans, and I won’t turn back. (Jer. 4:28)