The New Testament reveals how God can use the presence of evil spirits to reveal His power. God 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 Corinthians 12:7). A man in the Corinthian church was committing incest and adultery, and God commanded the leaders to “hand him over to Satan” to destroy his sinful nature and save his soul (1 Corinthians 5:1–5). 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). The final verse notes that the evil spirit came on multiple occasions to bother Saul, but also it departed from him.Ī related question is, does God send evil spirits to torment people today? There are examples of individuals in the New Testament being turned over to Satan or demons for punishment. It is important to note that this evil spirit that troubled Saul was only temporary. Then relief would come to Saul he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him” (1 Samuel 16:21–23). Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, ‘Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.’ Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. Saul called David to come and found him to be a great comfort: “David came to Saul and entered his service. One of the king’s servants referred David to the king, describing the youth as a great harp player, among other things (verse 18). He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better” (1 Samuel 16:15–16). ![]() Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. When the king’s servants saw the torment Saul was enduring, they suggested, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. First Samuel 16 reveals the first step in this journey. The reader would be wondering how a shepherd boy would become king. This account is recorded immediately following David’s anointing as the future king of Israel. Second, the evil spirit was used to bring David into the life of Saul. Likely, Satan and the demons had always wanted to attack Saul God was now simply giving them permission to do so. ![]() Therefore, God removed His Spirit from Saul and allowed an evil spirit to torment him. Saul had directly disobeyed God on two occasions (1 Samuel 13:1–14 15:1–35). It is likely that this evil spirit was part of God’s judgment upon Saul for his disobedience. Ultimately, all created things are under God’s control. Why did God let an evil spirit torment Saul? In what way was the evil spirit “from” the Lord?įirst, the evil spirit was “from” the Lord in that it was allowed by God to harass Saul. First Samuel 16:14 says, “The Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.” This is also mentioned in 1 Samuel 16:15–16, 23 18:10 and 19:9.
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