The Evil Spirit From God
1 Samuel 16:14 – The Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. 15 – Saul’s servants told him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is troubling you. 16 – Let our lord order his servants who attend you to look for a man who is skilled in playing the lyre. And then when an evil spirit from God comes on you, he will play and you will be better.”
What has the Bible told us about King Saul? We know that when the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, he prophesied and had a conversion experience (1 Samuel 10:6) The Bible even says that God had given him a new heart (1 Samuel 10:9). It was while Saul was in possession of these gifts that he decided to disobey God. He disobeyed just before the war with the Philistines when he offered the burnt offering instead of waiting for Samuel as instructed (1 Samuel 13:12). He disobeyed when he did not completely destroy the Amalekites as he was commanded to do (1 Samuel 15:19).
As a result of King Saul’s persistent transgressions while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, Samuel pronounced to Saul “the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” and has given the kingdom “to your neighbor who is better than you. 1 Samuel 15:26, 28. Saul was choosing to sin while under the influence of the Holy Spirit – what more could be done for him? What, then, would an evil spirit from God do but torment him about the direction his life was heading and the fearful judgment at the end.
Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 6:22 – ‘Eyes are like lamps and your body is like a room. If your eyes are like a clean lamp, then your whole body will have light. 23 – If your eyes are not good, then your whole body will be in the dark. If the light in your body has become dark, you will live in a very dark place.’
The light in Saul’s body had become dark and, truly, Saul began to live in a very dark place. Hebrews 10:26 says – For if we choose to go on sinning after we have learned the full truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 – but only a terrifying prospect of judgment and a raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
King Saul had become an enemy of God. Let us be wary of coveting the gifts of God to use them to satisfy our lusts. God certainly wants to give us every good and perfect gift in order to further the goal of saving souls for the kingdom, but if we receive these gifts and choose to sin, all that is left is the truth of the judgment that awaits and it will drive us mad as it did King Saul.
“But you, dear friends, must continue to build your most holy faith for your own benefit. Furthermore, continue to pray in the Holy Spirit. Remain in God’s love as you look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, which brings eternal life. – Jude 1:20,21
Where two are gathered 