4186 - Evil Spirits by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 23, 1913

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 40, No. 37.

4186 — Evil Spirits

By Editor

In 1 Sam. 16:14, 15, 23, it says that "an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him," that is, Saul. Does God have evil spirits to do His bidding?

What God permits is sometimes spoken of as His doing. He permitted an evil spirit to come upon Saul. Saul had turned away from God and His Spirit, and the Lord allowed an evil spirit to come upon him. That is all. Just the same as we are told in 2 Thess. 2:11, "And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error [or, "a strong delusion"], that they should believe a lie." That is, when man will not accept the love of the truth, God allows Satan to work his will in the heart of the man who has turned away from all that will save him. So it was with Saul. He had turned from the instruction that would save him, and the Lord left him to himself.