"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things" [emphasis mine] (Isaiah 45:7).  Does God "create evil"?  Yes and No.

            Does God Create Evil?

                                  
                                            Yes and No

                                                          by David Parker 

First, allow the text to speak for itself by noticing the contrasts: light and darkness; evil and peace.  "Evil" in our context is the opposite of peace.  We understand this by following the former contrast of light and darkness.  Nobody complains about God creating light and darkness; and we all like peace, but the word evil makes us nervous.  There is no problem here.  This is a hermeneutics issue and an exercise of study worth the time and work.   Other passages in the Bible, in fact, do show that God also creates "evil."  What is this “evil”?

Job testified that it was the LORD who had brought evil upon him (Job 2:10, 19:6, 21); likewise, the narrative in Job concludes by making God the instigator of all of Job's troubles (Job 42:11).  Through Nathan, the prophet, the LORD said that He would raise up evil against David from within his own house (2 Samuel 12:11).  These were the consequences ("the sword," 2 Sam 12:10) as a result of David's sin with Bathsheba.  And the "sword" did come (2 Samuel 12:15; 13:20; 16:21-22).

The counsel of Hushai, the Archite, was said to have been used of the LORD to help David and to bring evil upon Absalom (2 Samuel 17:14).  I won't elaborate here because of space but I hope you'll look up these references which describe other troublesome outcomes initiated by God (1 Kings 11:14, 23; 12:15, 24;  2 Kings 6:33; Leviticus 14:34; Ezekiel 14:9; 20:25-26).

The profitable aspect of understanding that God does create "evil" (evil meaning calamity, trouble, or difficulty) is demonstrated in the life of King David.  David understood something that many people today do not consider – the painful events in my life may be the very hand of God employed against me for my painful instruction and correction.  C.S. Lewis wrote, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”  Let’s look at this in David’s life.

When David was on the run from King Saul, David had gotten the upper hand on at least two occasions.  Instead of killing the king or injuring him, David did something to convince him that he had the opportunity for it.  After moving to a safe distance, David shouted over to King Saul and let him know that he had not taken vengeance against the king because God had anointed Saul to be king.  David had more respect for God’s actions in Saul’s life and refused to kill the king.  On one of these occasions, David told the king that he had done nothing worthy of death and asked why he was being chased by the king.  And then he added something that merits our attention, “If the LORD have stirred thee up against me, let him accept an offering” (1 Samuel 26:19).  In this one sentence, David acknowledges the possibility that God might be the One behind Saul’s bounty-hunting pursuit of David (David makes a similar remark when he in on the run again, this time, from his son, Absalom).  Let this sink in.  God might be doing something in my life through even a life-threatening and lengthy trial or hardship.

Again, as David is on the run from Absalom, he is cursed by a Benjamite named Shimei.  Upon hearing this, one of David’s servants, Abishai, offered to remove Shimei’s head for cursing the king (2 Samuel 16:9).  Notice David’s response, “…so let him curse, because the LORD hath said unto him, Curse David.  Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done so?  And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him curse; for the LORD hath bidden him” (2 Samuel 16:10-11). 

What affect would this have today on Christians if they would look at God in this way?  He loves me enough to correct me.  It may be through bringing “evil," trouble, or calamity upon me as God did with Job and David and others. But there is a difference between Jack the Ripper’s knife and the surgeon’s scalpel.  The latter is a necessary pain in order to bring healing, health, and growth.  God creates peace and evil.  What He delivers depends upon His sovereign plan for your life and whether or not you follow His plan.