Mist
Summary
A vapor or fog rising from the earth, mentioned in the creation narrative and used figuratively to describe those who bring spiritual confusion.
☩In Creation
Before the LORD God caused rain to fall, 'there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground' (Genesis 2:6). This description of the warm, humid atmosphere of early earth agrees remarkably with modern scientific understanding of the carboniferous ages. The Hebrew term 'ed signifies a rising vapor or cloud that distills upon the ground.
☩Physical Nature
Mist is caused by particles of water vapor filling the air until it becomes only partially transparent. While uncommon on the plains of Palestine at sea level, mist occurs almost daily in mountain valleys, rising at night and disappearing with the morning sun. It is essentially a cloud touching the land.
☩Figurative Uses
Peter describes false teachers as 'wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever' (2 Peter 2:17). Such teachers promise much but deliver nothing, bringing only confusion and obscurity. When Elymas the sorcerer opposed Paul, 'immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand' (Acts 13:11)—physical blindness symbolizing his spiritual condition.