1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
Saul’s failure to obey Yahweh caused a bad predisposition of mind and heart, against which God’s spirit offered Saul no protectionWhat does this tell us one Yahweh is in control of the evil spirit not Satan the demon. Second the spirit of Yahweh is his holy spirit. The evil spirit does God’s will not Satan’s will. The Hebrew word translated “evil” may refer to the character of the spirit or to its effect upon Saul. If the latter, another translation option might be “an injurious spirit”; cf. NLT “a tormenting spirit.”
Thus the holy spirit or spirit of Yahweh is supernatural the evil spirit is not, it is a feeling of ill will between two parties as the above usage show us and the spirit of Yahweh is always used thought-out the Hebrew Bible as the holy spirit
AN EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD TORMENTED HIM: "No man needs a heavier chastisement from God than the letting loose of his own passions upon him." God gives men over to their own sins and lusts (Rom 1:28; 2Th 2:11).
1Sa 16:15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
They believe that this is an affliction sent by God. Where is satan in all this?
1Sa 16:16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
They recommend that they find a skilled musician, insisting that when the musician plays, Saul will be well. They make no suggestion that anything supernatural is occurring.
Now do you recommend that the best response to an attack by one of satan's minions is to play some music, in order to send it away? If not - why not?
1Sa 16:23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
Whenever David plays, Saul is 'refreshed and well', and the 'evil spirit' goes away. There is no suggestion that anything supernatural is occurring. We are told very bluntly that music causes evil spirits to leave, though we know that this 'evil spirit' returned to Saul at times.
1Sa 18:10 And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand.
Does the text say that the supernatural minion of satan, or a troubled spirit sent by God as an affliction? The evidence, I believe, points to the latter. This interpretation is also verifiable. Show me someone 'possessed' with an evil spirit, and let's have some good music and see what happens.
1Sa 19:9 And the evil spirit from the LORD was upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his javelin in his hand: and David played with his hand.
The real problem for people who believe that these 'evil spirits' referred to in these two places of the Old Testament are supernatural beings, is that they cannot escape the fact that Scripture insists that supernatural means are not required to send them away. Just some good music is all that is necessary.
And the reason why these passages remain such a stumblingblock to thise who believe that they refer to supernatural beings, is that these 'evil spirits' are described in the Scriptural record as:
1) Being sent by God to do His will, not as the minions of satan.
2) Behaving in a manner identical to psychological distress.
The fact that these 'evil spirits' are sent away by taking steps which people naturally use to soothe their troubled feelings, is very telling.
So What was that 'evil spirit' sent by God to Saul?
I believe it was a psychological affliction. Let's see what an earlier 'evil spirit' sent by God is:
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Judges 9:
22When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel,
23Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
1) If these 'evil spirits' are supernatural beings who are the buddies of satan and do his evil will, then why does God always send them?
2) How do you send an supernatural evil being 'between' two groups of people? Do they have to share?
3) What do other translations say?
TLB:
22-23Three years later God stirred up trouble between King Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.
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NAB:
22 When Abimelech had ruled Israel for three years,
23 God put bad feelings between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who rebelled against Abimelech.
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NKJV:
22 After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years,
23 God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech,
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NLT:
22 After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years,
23 God stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the people of Shechem, and they revolted.
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CEV:
22 Abimelech had been a military commander of Israel for three years,
23-24 when God decided to punish him and the leaders of Shechem for killing Gideon’s seventy sons.
So God turned the leaders of Shechem against Abimelech.
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TEV:
22 Abimelech ruled Israel for three years.
23Then God made Abimelech and the men of Shechem hostile to each other, and they rebelled against him.
Jud 9:23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
That is God let develop a bad attitude between Abimelech and the landowners of Shechem
It was after this and after the anointing of David as Israel’s future king that Jehovah’s spirit left Saul. From then on “a bad spirit from Jehovah terrorized him.” Having withdrawn his spirit from Saul, Jehovah made it possible for a bad spirit to gain possession of him, depriving Saul of his peace of mind and stirring up his feelings, thoughts, and imaginations in a wrong way. Saul’s failure to obey Jehovah indicated a bad inclination of mind and heart, against which God’s spirit offered Saul no protection or resistive force. However, since Jehovah had permitted the “bad spirit” to replace his spirit and terrorize Saul, it could be termed a “bad spirit from Jehovah,” so that Saul’s servants spoke of it as “God’s bad spirit.” On the recommendation of one of his attendants, Saul requested that David be his court musician to calm him when he was troubled by the “bad spirit.”—1Sa 16:14-23; 17:15.
) How does Saul’s example show that when Jehovah removes his holy spirit from a person, the vacancy can be filled by a bad spirit, or an inward urge to do wrong? (1 Sam. 16:14; Matt. 12:43-45; Gal. 5:16)
• What does the scripture at 1 Samuel 18:10 mean when it says that “God’s bad spirit became operative upon Saul, so that he behaved like a prophet within the house”?
It is not that Jehovah actually sent an evil spirit to terrorize Saul, but by removing his holy spirit from the disobedient king a vacancy was left, a vacancy that was promptly filled by a bad spirit or mental inclination. Since Jehovah made the evilly inclined possession possible by the removal of his holy spirit, Jehovah is referred to as the source of the evil spirit.
Just how this bad spirit impelled Saul to act or behave like a prophet is not precisely stated in the account. However, it is quite likely that he “was filled with prophetic frenzy,” as one translation renders the words (AT). Others render the words “behaved like a prophet” simply as “raved,” and concerning this the Soncino version states: “he-raved. lit. ‘played the prophet,’ displaying the manifestations of physical excitement which were associated with the ecstatic frenzies of the prophetic bands.” It is quite likely that in this particular instance, since music was being played and since some prophets prophesied when music was being played, the frenzy was badly directed, which it would not have been if Saul had been under the influence of a good spirit from Jehovah. (2 Ki. 3:14, 15; 1 Sam. 10:5-13) This is what we could expect in view of what the record goes on to say: “He behaved like a prophet within the house, while David was playing music with his hand, as in former days; and the spear was in Saul’s hand. And Saul proceeded to hurl the spear and say: ‘I will pin David even to the wall!’” Certainly such an action evinced a greatly disturbed state of mind.—1 Sam. 18:10, 11.
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