1 Kings 16:14

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canadianguy1143

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In the first book of Kings chapter 16 and verse 14 it says the following:
But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, **and an evil spirit from the Lord **troubled him
How can an evil spirit come from the Lord? It is said in scripture that nothing unpure can enter Heaven and yet evil is certainly unpure.
 
In the first book of Kings chapter 16 and verse 14 it says the following:

How can an evil spirit come from the Lord? It is said in scripture that nothing unpure can enter Heaven and yet evil is certainly unpure.
You must mean 1 Samuel 16 …
 
Here’s what the Navarre Bible says about this troubling statement. I think it will help clear up the confusion.
“An spirit from God”, literally “a spirit of Elohim”, which could be translated as “a divine spirit” or “a supernatural spirit”. This is a Hebrew saying consistent with the conviction that everything comes from God - illness as well as good health. The king’s depression of spirit, however, is interpreted as being due to his no longer having the Lord’s support in his role as king.
 
You must mean 1 Samuel 16 …
Not if his bible lists books as their connonically named in the Council of trent, there are 4 books of Kings. Kings 1 & 2 are renamed Samuel 1 & 2 intranslations like the NAB.
 
The Angel of death that killed all the first born of Egypt would be evil from the Egyptians point of view. God can and does send punishment upon evil doers through His angels as well as removing His protection from some and thus leaving them at the mercy of the demons, even the devil has only that power which God allows him to have.

And this is Just, let those who wish to serve the devil also suffer his merciless rule over them, this is to reap what one has sown.

This does not discount God’s mercy however, God stays always close in the hope that a sinner may repent and upon expressing a desire to return to Gods service God is mercifuly quick to forgive and provide us once again with His protection.
 
+Below are two quotes from the Douay-Rhiems translation with commentaries (Catholic Bishop Challoner’s English translation) of the Latin Vulgate of Sacred :bible1: Scripture . . . where there is a greater revelation for understanding of somewhat similar types of activites in relaton to God . . . ominipresent (always present), omniscient (all knowing), omnipotent (all powerful) . . . Who is in complete control of all and everything at all times . . .
**. . . :coffeeread: . . . **

The Holy :bible1: Bible 14 But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 15 And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
​
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- I Kings 16:14-15​
**​
DRV Commentary: 14 “From the Lord”… An evil spirit, by divine permission, and for his punishment,​
either possessed or obsessed him. **Book of Job **
Chapter 1

Job’s virtue and riches.
Satan by permission from God

strippeth him of all his substance.
His patience.

… 6 Now on a certain day when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them. 7 And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it. 8 And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil? 9 And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain? 10 Hast not thou made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth? 11 But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he blesseth thee not to thy face. 12 Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
​
​
- Job 1:6-12 drv​
**​

DRV Commentary: 6 "The sons of God"… The angels.-- Ibid. Satan also, etc. This passage represents to us in a figure, accommodated to the ways and understandings of men, 1. The restless endeavours of Satan against the servants of God; 2. That he can do nothing without God’s permission;
  1. That God doth not permit him to tempt them above their strength: but assists them by his divine grace in such manner, that the vain efforts of the enemy only serve to illustrate their virtue and increase their merit.
  1. In the I Kings (I Samuel) scripture referenced above it is a rather different scenario in relation to Saul . . . his was a soul which deliberately removed itself apart and away from the Heavenly Shepherd’s . . . our Wonderful Lord’s . . . presence and shepherding care through deliberate sin . . . God does not go with a soul who deliberately enters into disobedient sinful activity . . . and that sinful individual then reaps the consequences of his deliberate sinful actions which he chose in deliberate disobedience in opposition to God . . . in Saul’s case . . . though acquainted intimately with the Lord in his life . . . he neither repented of his sin nor returned to the Lord . . . which revealed the corrupt nature of the heart ❤️ of his soul . . .
On the other hand . . . in the Job passage . . . our Lord allowed a testing of the good heart ❤️ of Job’s soul . . . and in Job’s case . . . he never failed God . . . neither did he curse God . . . nor did he ever lose his trust and faith and comittment to his Lord . . . our Wonderful God . . . . . .

:bible1:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:1
. . . all for Jesus+​
 
I still am having trouble understanding what this passage means. Lets compare this to what happened to Job. It is true that God allowed the devil to torment and tempt Job. However, it is also true that the devil is not the spirit of God. Its not so much as what the spirit of God does but the fact that something from God can be considered evil.

I can’t understand how anything evil can come from God.

Is it possible that this translation is poor?
 
It comes from God in that God could have stopped it but allowed it because of Saul’s wickedness. In this way both Gods’ Justice and also His mercy are satisfied as the sinner deserves punishment forthe offences he has commited agsint God and his fellow men but at the same time the punishment is a remedial one, a healing punishment in so much as the sinner upon growing weary of his punishment may still repent of his sins thus ending the punishment, been reconciled with God even though he does not deserve God’s forgiveness and saving his soul.
 
It comes from God in that God could have stopped it but allowed it because of Saul’s wickedness. In this way both Gods’ Justice and also His mercy are satisfied as the sinner deserves punishment forthe offences he has commited agsint God and his fellow men but at the same time the punishment is a remedial one, a healing punishment in so much as the sinner upon growing weary of his punishment may still repent of his sins thus ending the punishment, been reconciled with God even though he does not deserve God’s forgiveness and saving his soul.
What you are describing is God’s justice and possibly his legitimate vengeance. God can do what he wants, how he wants, whenever he wants. It is not up to us to say otherwise. The OT is filled with accounts of how certain people violated God’s commands and he would smite them. e.g. Lot’s wife, Onan, etc.

However, to say “an evil spirit” from the Lord is placing a judgment on this. I certainly don’t think God would consider any part of his being as evil.
 
I still am having trouble understanding what this passage means. Lets compare this to what happened to Job. It is true that God allowed the devil to torment and tempt Job. However, it is also true that the devil is not the spirit of God. Its not so much as what the spirit of God does but the fact that something from God can be considered evil.

I can’t understand how anything evil can come from God.

Is it possible that this translation is poor?
First, see the quote from the Navarre Bible, posted above. If the Hebrew is Elohim, it may be ambiguous. Elohim means, literally, “the gods” and referred to the many deities called upon in the pre-Abrahamic culture. Over time it came to be used as a name-reference to Yahweh, the One God, whose name is not spoken (Adoni, “the Lord,” is the vocal substitute used when the Sacred Tetragrammaton is in the text).

As the Navarre points out, this usage could simply mean “a supernatural/spiritual being.”

It’s also valid to recognize that humans are always under seige by the Evil One, and that if God withheld His protection from Saul, he would experience those attacks in a way that he did not while “the Spirit of the Lord rested upon him.” So he might experience it as having been sent by God, without God himself having been the source of the evil itself.
 
I still am having trouble understanding what this passage means. Lets compare this to what happened to Job. It is true that God allowed the devil to torment and tempt Job. However, it is also true that the devil is not the spirit of God. Its not so much as what the spirit of God does but the fact that something from God can be considered evil.

I can’t understand how anything evil can come from God.

Is it possible that this translation is poor?
1 Kings 16:14 But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him *
Just as you note that the devil is not the spirit of God,
* neither is the evil spirit in the 1 Kings passage the spirit of God**. The evil spirit comes “from” God.

I think you are perhaps misinterpreting the way “from” is used in the verse.
“From” does not mean that he is some sort of emanation/spiration of God - that He is God’s Spirit (part of His substance); it means that he, a created spirit/angel, comes from God’s presence, at God’s command or with His permission.

Eg. Supposing someone goes to see your father, and your father tells him to go see you. The person could say he had “come from your father”.
 
1 Kings 16:14 But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him *
Just as you note that the devil is not the spirit of God,
* neither is the evil spirit in the 1 Kings passage the spirit of **God. The evil spirit comes “from” God.

I think you are perhaps misinterpreting the way “from” is used in the verse.
“From” does not mean that he is some sort of emanation/spiration of God - that He is God’s Spirit (part of His substance); it means that he, a created spirit/angel, comes from God’s presence, at God’s command or with His permission.

Eg. Supposing someone goes to see your father, and your father tells him to go see you. The person could say he had “come from your father”.
BINGO! Thank you, that is an answer that I can accept and understand.
 
In the first book of Kings chapter 16 and verse 14 it says the following:

How can an evil spirit come from the Lord? It is said in scripture that nothing unpure can enter Heaven and yet evil is certainly unpure.
Did you forget that God made everything and everyone, including evil spirits? The verse does not specify if the spirit was a demon or a troubled soul. In either case, it was sent to cause him to be troubled…that’s another way of saying ‘conscience.’ 🙂
 
Did you forget that God made everything and everyone, including evil spirits? The verse does not specify if the spirit was a demon or a troubled soul. In either case, it was sent to cause him to be troubled…that’s another way of saying ‘conscience.’ 🙂
Technically speaking God didn’t create evil spirits. I would define evil spirits are demons and the devil. God didn’t create them, as they were angels prior to the Fall.
 
In the first book of Kings chapter 16 and verse 14 it says the following:

How can an evil spirit come from the Lord? It is said in scripture that nothing unpure can enter Heaven and yet evil is certainly unpure.
Well as we know the spirit is the third person in the holy trinity, so in this case the spirit left Saul and travelled back to join God and Jesus and another demon spirit decended and took control of Saul.
 
Technically speaking God didn’t create evil spirits. I would define evil spirits are demons and the devil. God didn’t create them, as they were angels prior to the Fall.
Slip of the keyboard. Sorry! But you know what I mean. 😉
 
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