At ERC, where I fellowship, preach, and teach, we have a question and answer time once a month where people can submit their questions anonymously and then either Thang Bwee or I answer them. For the questions that I have the privilege of answering I’m posting the answers here for your edification and general discussion. If you think there’s room for correction then you’re more than welcome to do that publicly using the comment feature below this post. I look forward to our interactions.
The Question(s)
1 Samuel 16:14
14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.
What does ‘an evil spirit from the LORD’ mean?
The Response(s)
- Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1 Sam. 13:1-14, 1 Sam. 15:1-35). Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. God was now simply giving Satan and the demons permission to attack Saul.
- This leads to a related question – does God send evil spirits to torment people? Accounts like this one of Saul, and many others in the New Testament say yes.
- NT examples:
- God allowed Ananias and Sapphira to be filled with the spirit of Satan as a warning and example to the early church (Acts 5:1-11).
- A man in the Corinthian church was committing sexual sin and God commanded the leaders to “hand him over to Satan” to destroy his sinful nature and save his soul (1 Cor. 5:1-5).
- Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tried and tested by the devil (Matt. 4:1-11).
- God also allowed a messenger of Satan to torment the Apostle Paul in order to teach him to rely on God’s grace and power and not become conceited because of the tremendous abundance of spiritual truth he was given (2 Cor. 12:7).
- NT examples:
- God allows evil spirits to torment people with the goal of our good and His glory (Rom. 8:28). Even though the demons are evil, they are still under God’s sovereign control. Just as in Job’s case, Satan and his minions can do only what God allows them to do (Job 1:12, Job 2:6). They never act independently of God’s sovereign and perfect will and purpose.
- Torment by evil spirits is designed to lead us to repentance and to seek God more earnestly.
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What are your thoughts on these answers? Agree? Disagree? A bit of both? Please use the comments section to share what you think.
Blessings,
Martin
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Tags: Evil spirits, Opression, Possession, Questions and answers
