God and Evil Spirits

It is mind-blowing the things God does and the way He chooses to do them.  Though God has made Himself known to men, He is past finding out and His ways are higher than ours.  The Almighty God is infinitely greater in power and wisdom than any created being.  God's wisdom is revealed to us through the Bible and Jesus Christ, wisdom no spirits or men have known.  Paul expressed in 1 Corinthians 2:8 if the rulers of darkness realised God's plan of salvation would come through Christ's death on Calvary, they would not have sought to kill Him!

God's people in scripture were often baffled by the ways God used in chastening them.  They could not believe God would use the Assyrians or Babylonians to lay waste to Israel, destroy the Temple, and to take captive God's own people.  How could a righteous God employ such wicked nations to accomplish His will?  The truth is, God's people had adopted the wicked practices of the surrounding nations in violation of His law and the covenant they made with God.  They had departed from God, and so He delivered them into the hands of their enemies.  God allowed His own people to fall prey to the nations who practised these abominations, knowing He would judge all transgressors according to their works.  There would be a redemptive aspect of captivity, painful and brutal though it was:  He would see them purified, established, and restored as a nation loyal to God once more.

The dealings of God with nations and individuals can have striking similarities.  King Saul was a man chosen out of all the people of Israel to be anointed as king.  He was a man to whom God gave a new heart, the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, and prophesied with the prophets.  Tragically it was not long until king Saul was lifted up with pride, rebelled against the word of the LORD, and refused to obey.  God spoke through the prophet Samuel:  because Saul had rejected Him, He had rejected Saul as king.  God would choose a man after His own heart, David the son of Jesse.  When David was anointed the Holy Spirit came upon him, and an evil spirit from God came upon Saul - quite a contrast!  1 Samuel 16:14 makes this clear:  "But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the LORD troubled him."  You might think, wait a minute!  How can a holy God send an evil spirit?  However He wants to.

Saul had been rejected as king, but God never said He rejected him as a descendent of Israel or a partaker of the covenant of God.  Saul rejected the word of the LORD, so God stopped speaking to him.  He sent an evil spirit to chasten him, to reveal the desperate state he was in.  By the way, this is not a unique incident.  There are other times when God employed an evil spirit to trouble or confound those who did wickedly.  Judges 9:23 tells us, "God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech..."  Also God sent a lying spirit to speak through the mouths of Ahab's false prophets (1 Kings 22:23; 2 Chron. 18:22).  There is a principle which is true in both in the natural and spiritual realms:  you reap what you sow.  In all these cases wicked men were visited with wicked spirits intent on their destruction.  I believe this can be true today - even concerning God's people.  If we give heed to lies of the devil, we should not be surprised if we find ourselves troubled by him.

Amazingly, the servants of Saul were perceptive of the problem.  They recognised straight away Saul was troubled by an evil spirit sent by God!  Unfortunately they did not urge Saul to repent or seek the LORD, but suggested they find a skilled musician to calm him.  Would you believe it was David they chose, a man filled with the Spirit of God?  It turned out to be an effective treatment in the short term, yet this began the downward spiral of Saul's life which was profound and disastrous.  He tried to pin David to the wall with a spear, became increasingly surly and suspicious, killed all the priests of God in Nob he deemed disloyal to him, sought the counsel of a medium, and fearfully took his own life on Mt. Gilboa.  Saul had opened himself up to satanic assault through pride and rebellion against God, and without the Holy Spirit he was without defence or help in time of need.

Let all those redeemed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ take note and do not do wickedly as Saul did in departing from the Almighty God.  Jesus will never leave or forsake us, but we can surely leave and forsake Him.  If we are stubborn in this rebellious choice, we open ourselves up to spiritual bondage and captivity - just like king Saul or the children of Israel.  God is willing the temple of our bodies be destroyed so our souls can be saved (1 Cor. 5:5).  Praise the LORD we have more than a musician in God, more than soothing sounds for our ears, but deliverance, redemption, and salvation through Jesus Christ when we humbly repent and trust Him.  All glory to God, whose ways are higher than ours!