Week 15 1 Samuel 16
Sixteen is a transitional chapter with two things happening: a) Saul is on a down-and-out trajectory while b) David is inching up-and-in.
One pretty definite clue about Saul’s decline is this: now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.
The idea that an evil spirit came from the Lord raises questions about “How-all Does the Lord Operate?” It’s one of my big bible-reader’s questions.
One possible way to think about it is this: the Lord is a good god who does good things but he’s also a bad god who also does evil things. Both-And. Personally I don’t think this idea fits with quite a few other things the bible says about the Lord. But sending-an-evil-spirit is a perplexing way for the Lord to operate.
A couple of weeks ago I was reading the story about Abimelech – a pretty abominable guy. It said: God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem. So Saul wasn’t the only case where the Lord decided to utilize an evil spirit to ensure a specific outcome.
I sit for a bit wondering why the Lord used an evil spirit. Wondering if he could have done something else. But the main thing I keep in mind is that it looks like the Lord can and does have unorthodox operational options that make up his discretionary tool-kit.
Note: quotes from 1 Samuel 16:14 & Judges 9:23 (NLT)