Does God create evil? Does He send evil to people?

Scripture: Isaiah 45:7, Job 1:6-7
In Isaiah chapter 45 it says that God is the Creator of evil? What does this mean? Isn't God only good?
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5 Comments
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Bob
Pastor Bob: IS 45.7. Evil-Darkness-Calmity etc. God, did not create evil; period.
When I first heard that God, had hardened pharaohs heart; What? Why? I thought no wonder pharaoh was so stubborn to the max. A method that God, used to get His people freed. Not a real good point study but there are others; Job 1.6-7-An allowing by God; Evil spirit to Saul etc. Remember or believe that God, can and will use anyone or anything to accomplish His plans for anyone or anything at anytime: Including the stinking devil. God, wants to get our; yours attention, a wake up call to one or many. A pulling back of God's protection, angels. We may say bad things happen to good people to make them beter people; obedient, God, fearing. A lot of people have gone against God, because of this verse or added fuel to their unbelief. God, did not create evil; remember that anything that is not of God, is evil or of the devil. A good example of this is the spiritual boom and bust cycle in the OT, and or the great Moses: speaking to the people do all these things or a curse will come upon you. OT; Be obedient! I am a jealous God! I am Almighty: Don't mess with the pagans around you or I will bring pestilence, drought, and famine, and or an enemy. God, says He has had it, I told you what I would do, now enters the Babylonians; Whoa wait a minute this seems and looks evil, a darkness upon the land, Yep God, is going to use these evil people to retrain you for 70 yrs. Anyway just some thoughts on IS 45.7.
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sortedsand
I think the better term here is "calamity" as in God will cause calamity to those who do wickedness. I don't think it means evil as in wickedness.
It's best to compare Bible versions, see:
Isaiah 45:7 New King James Version (NKJV)
"I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.’"
Isaiah 45:7 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing [a]well-being and creating calamity;
I am the Lord who does all these.
Isaiah 45:7 American Standard Version (ASV)
"I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things."
Isaiah 45:7 King James Version (KJV)
"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."
Isaiah 45:7 English Standard Version (ESV)
"I form light and create darkness;
I make well-being and create calamity;
I am the Lord, who does all these things."
Isaiah 45:7 World English Bible (WEB)
"I form the light,
and create darkness.
I make peace,
and create calamity.
I am Yahweh,
who does all these things."
Isaiah 45:7 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
"I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things."
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Anonymous
The God of the bible created everything and everything includes evil in all its forms. In the beginning there was only bid. Evil had to originate from him. Unless there was more than God at the beginning in which case his omnipotence is put a not question.
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Anonymous
God cannot stand sin. So if a person who has sin sees God they will die this is why we dont know how God looks like.
God created every1n with free will. The devil and angels had free will but wanted to be more powerful and to rule. Jelousy is what caused the devil to sin. He beleived he could do a better job than God.
Why God did not kill the devil is because there are other worlds eg in the book of Job. Us being on earth is an example of sin for the other worlds to see what happends when you disobey God and do this yourself because of ego we thibk we know best when God knows the end from the begining. From the begining God planned to save us through Jesus. So God is showing he is just and fare and that we can overcome sin by askig for forgiviness because he is just and fare.
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bamboodread
And how do you know all that?
Caller: I have a question about Isaiah 45:7 where God says He creates evil. Can you explain what it means?

Pastor Doug: Yeah, we’ve had that question before, and you can also couple this verse with where it says that the Lord sent an evil spirit to King Saul. There’s another place where Michaiah the prophet is talking to Ahab and he says that he saw that the Lord sent a lying spirit to the prophets of Ahab, and then, of course, you got where it says the Lord hardened Pharoah’s heart. In all three or four of these verses it appears that evil is proceeding from God, and yet the Bible says ‘Every good and perfect gift comes from God’. So how you reconcile that?

My answer would be—if you read in the book of Job, there’s the key that unlocks the relationship between good and evil and God’s involvement. The devil is asking permission of God to go and to tempt or to torment Job. The devil cannot do anything without God allowing it. God must withdraw His protection and lift the hedge. He must pull back His protective forces. In that sense it appears that God is allowing the evil. The Lord is the One who placed the Tree of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. That doesn’t mean that the Lord wants us to ‘eat evil’ it means He gives us the freedom to choose. Sometimes the Lord will withdraw His angels that protect us, and in that sense you can say He’s allowing evil to come, but the Lord Himself, He doesn’t tempt anyone, James tells us, neither can He be tempted. Do you see what I’m saying?

Caller: Okay, yes.

Pastor Doug: Let me put it this way. The devil is an individual being—Lucifer, this spirit who is going about like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour. God constantly is putting him in check to the degree of what He allows the devil to do. From time to time the Lord draws back his hand of protection to accomplish some purpose, like He did in the story of Job, and that’s when Isaiah says that evil comes from the Lordhe simply means that the devil can’t do anything unless God allows it, because God is sovereign. That’s all it’s saying.

Caller: Now in the story of Job, when it says the sons of God came together and Satan came in, is that sons of God referring to angels?

Pastor Doug: I believe those sons of God are maybe the rulers of other worlds, the same way that Adam is called the son of God in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 3, as the father of this planet. So these could have been representatives, ambassadors of other created worlds. Sometimes angels are called sons of God. We don’t know. Every scholar speculates and that’s my view. Okay?

Caller: Okay. Thank you very much.

Pastor Doug: Good question, Marvin. Thank you.

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