1 Samuel 18:10

[terri_fortner]

Okay after a lengthy search, several hours on here, I have decided to just ask…

After speaking with my sister tonight about a subject that neither of us really have an answer about I thought I would bring it to ya’ll… If nothing bad comes from God, then I really need a little help with this passage.

1 Samuel 18:10 “The next day an evil spirit from God came over Saul, and he raged in his house.”

Help, an evil spirit FROM GOD?! What is that about?

 

[Jeanette_L]

I have heard this explained that God didn’t produce an evil spirit, but that the spirit was allowed to go to Saul and torment him. Just like in Job, when Satan was allowed to go to Job and test him.

Job shows us a clear picture that Satan goes before God wanting the opportunity to test those who belong to Him. And when God approves of the test, then Satan leaves the presence of God, coming from Him and going to the person to be tested.

Does this make sense? This is the only explanation I’ve heard of this passage and I thought with the evidence of Job, it made sense to me.

 

[terri_fortner]

But unlike the story of Job this one says that the evil spirt came from God, where as in Job it is obvious that the devil goes to God to ask permission to test Job.

 

[thommie]

I Kings 22 (or 3 Kings 22 in the Douay-Rheims) has another “behind-the-scenes” look at this sort of thing.

The best explanation I can offer is that, apparently, God will sometimes use unholy agents in order to accomplish His purposes. Another example is that He used evil empires (Assyrian and Babylonian) to punish His people when they persisted in their idolatry.

 

[thommie]

Note that, in 1 Kings 22, God sort of asked for a “volunteer.”

Perhaps the same sort of thing transpired in I Samuel 18, but we just aren’t given the details like we are in I Kings 22.

I’m assuming that the “volunteer” in I Kings 22 would have been one of the angels who fell with Satan, rather than one of God’s holy angels.

 

[adrift]

I did a web search and found these

Did God send an evil spirit on Saul Not a Catholic site

USCCB-NAB

Catholic Encyclopedia

 

[Daniel_Marsh]

Hi Terri the “evil spirit” was simply depression as the result of King Saul’s anger at David and at God.

reformationsociety-tc.org/outline_1_Samuel.htm

If you read a good outline of First Samuel, you will see that Saul was messing up left and right, while David was finding favor with God and with man.

David would play music for Saul and that would drive away his depression.

 

[HailMary]

Okay after a lengthy search, several hours on here, I have decided to just ask…

After speaking with my sister tonight about a subject that neither of us really have an answer about I thought I would bring it to ya’ll… If nothing bad comes from God, then I really need a little help with this passage.

1 Samuel 18:10 “The next day an evil spirit from God came over Saul, and he raged in his house.”

Help, an evil spirit FROM GOD?! What is that about?

Whoa whats the big deal?
Matthew 4:1

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil

And don’t you remember the story of Job?
What about the text the Our Father?

lead us not into tempation…

 

[terri_fortner]

Whoa whats the big deal?
Matthew 4:1

And don’t you remember the story of Job?
What about the text the Our Father?

Obvious answer for this… In Matthew 4:1 Jesus was tempted by the devil. The evil did not Come from God. In Job again the evil and bad came from the devil.

Also the guy who posted the one site about it being depression, I do not know who gave this site their authority, but I do not think that they have the authority to make such an assertion. That was a protestent website, here I have not seen anything to help me better understand this…

How can the evil come from God, if nothing evil is supposed to come from God? It says God sent the evil, not that the evil requested to be sent. Like the devil asking to be sent to Job, or the devil going to try and tempt Jesus.

~T