Sir, I still have one more question and this one is tearing my congregation apart right now. DOES GOD CREATE EVIL? My preacher taught my congregation that God is the one who create EVIL and he back up his teaching with Isaiah 45:7 and Genesis 2:17… Oyeye Stanley
In Isaiah 45:7, the word “evil” does not refer to sin, but in the context, “evil” refers to the war that God through the Persian ruler Cyrus would bring upon the Babylonian kingdom as a penalty for conquering the kingdom of Judah and taking the Israelites into captivity. The word “evil” in Isaiah 45:7 stands in opposition to the word “peace” in the same verse; the opposite of peace in the context is war. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the same Hebrew word translated in Isaiah 45:7 as “evil” is translated as “adversity,” “affliction,” “calamity” and “distress,” among additional translations as well.
The same Hebrew word is translated as “evil” in Genesis 2:17. In the context there, the Tree of the Knowledge between good and evil is discussed. Having “knowledge,” which is what Genesis 2:17 notes, is neither wicked nor sinful. Instead, Christians are required to know the difference between good and evil, which today comes through study of God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15). “But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).
It is a serious misunderstanding of Scripture to accuse God of being responsible for moral evil or wickedness. “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13 NKJV). God is all holiness and wholly apart from sin. The sinlessness attributed to Jesus Christ in Scripture (1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5) extends to each member of the Godhead (Acts 17:29; Romans 1:20; Colossians 2:9). Only “light,” which stands for righteousness, characterizes God, and no “darkness,” which stands for evil or sinfulness, characterizes God. “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). God is completely holy! “But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16).
In Isaiah 45:7, the word “evil” does not refer to sin, but in the context, “evil” refers to the war that God through the Persian ruler Cyrus would bring upon the Babylonian kingdom as a penalty for conquering the kingdom of Judah and taking the Israelites into captivity. The word “evil” in Isaiah 45:7 stands in opposition to the word “peace” in the same verse; the opposite of peace in the context is war. Elsewhere in the Old Testament, the same Hebrew word translated in Isaiah 45:7 as “evil” is translated as “adversity,” “affliction,” “calamity” and “distress,” among additional translations as well.