Did God Create Evil?

Our Sunday school director asked a good question to open up class last week. We were preparing to study Genesis chapter three where the temptation and the fall of man is recorded. He simply asked, "Did God create evil? "
Hmmm, good question. My knee-jerk reaction is to shout, "of course not! God is good, God is love! He absolutely could not create evil and even if he could, he would not. God is not the author of evil!"

Then again, as I pondered the question I began to consider a few things. Where did the serpent come from? If God is the Sovereign creator of all that exists then logically he must be the creator of evil, right? And what do I do with Isaiah 45:7;

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isa 45:7)

After some initial mental scrutiny, I felt scripture supported God as the creator of evil. The class discussed it briefly without coming to a consensus. The question stuck with me throughout this past week. While I didn't study it to any great depth, I have a handful of scriptures I would like to showcase that I believe clarify the matter somewhat.

Let's begin in the beginning;

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Gen 1:31)

God created the vast expanse of the universe and all it contains. He crafted the earth meticulously by His mighty hand. All life - the vegetation of the land, the birds of the air, the whales of the sea, the beasts of the field, and man, the pinnacle of His creative masterpiece - were proclaimed by Him to be very good. Evil is nowhere to be found in this text, else he could not have said the earth and everything in it was good.

Let's fast forward to the crime scene at the foot of that fateful tree;

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Gen 3:1-7)

Here we have the the first occurrences of evil in scripture. In fact there are three acts of evil recorded in this text. Let's start first with Eve, who yielded to temptation. Her first and greatest sin is that of unbelief. She chose to not believe God's warning that she would surely die when she tasted of the fruit. This unbelief opened a Pandora's Box of evil lust within her spirit. She yielded to those lusts and committed sin. Adam, the federal head of humanity, shared in Eve's unbelief. He did not challenge the serpent's words with God's own. This despite God giving his law to Adam personally. He chose not to believe it. He forsook his responsibility as master of his household and failed to protect his wife. He ate of the fruit as well, adding to his transgression. It is apparent that man's first sin is that of unbelief. Eating the fruit was simply the outward manifestation of that sin.

The bottom line is sin came not from God but from man, who chose not to obey what God had so plainly commanded. God, having created all things good, cared for man so much that he gave clear warnings against things that would bring them harm. Despite mankind's blatant rebellion and the resulting curses God pronounced upon them, he still blessed them with every provision for the rest of their very long lives. God is good. Man brought evil upon himself.

What about the serpent? He committed the first recorded sin in all of scripture. He flat out lied to Eve. He said 'you shall not surely die.' This is contrary to God's warning 'You shall surely die.' What is the serpent? The bible says he is a beast of the field. When God pronounces the curse upon the serpent, causing him to crawl on his belly all of his days, we realize the serpent is a snake. However, Revelation 12:9 calls Satan the ancient serpent. So, is the serpent a common snake or the Father of Lies Himself? The bible doesn't explain this dichotomy but I believe that Satan used the serpent as a tool to deceive Eve in the garden. This explains the duel curse on the serpent. First, God condemns the serpent by forcing him to crawl on his belly and eat dust all of his days. Then he curses Satan with the promise of a coming redeemer who would crush his head, destroying his power once and for all.

Satan committed sin in the garden. God created all things, so it appears he must have formed Satan as an evil adversary to oppose Himself and man. This would make God the creator of evil. Let's examine the scriptures regarding the creation and fall of Satan;

"Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. (Eze 28:12-17)

Most commentators agree this lamentation directed toward the King of Tyre is a veiled reference to Satan. If this be the case, the answer of the how and where sin and evil originated is found here. Let's look at a few facts about the devil from this passage.

• God created Satan as a guardian cherub (an angel).

• God created him perfect, full of wisdom and unsurpassing beauty. He was blameless in all his ways.

• Unrighteousness was found in him after an unspecified passage of time

• He became filled with violence and sinned. His heart became proud on account of his beauty. He corrupted his wisdom for the sake of his splendor.

In light of these facts can we say that God created evil? Did not Satan corrupt himself within his own heart because of his own vanity? Unrighteousness festered within him, because his heart manufactured it. God did not author it, produce it or coerce it into existence in any manner. God can take no credit here. In fact, this passage talks of God's righteous judgment against Satan for his rebellion. He is cast out from God's holy mountain down to the earth and is utterly destroyed. There is no unrighteousness with God, therefore Satan has suffered the due penalty for his transgression.

Of course, questions still linger. Like 'how can a perfect being become unrighteous?' 'Does this mean redeemed saints can fall once in a state of glory?' 'Did Satan, by his act of sin, create evil as a new thing that before did not exist?'

Deep questions. I'm not sure God has seen fit to answer them this side of eternity. The secret things belong to the Lord. What we can clearly discern from the earliest recorded events in history is that God did not create evil.

'But Mr. Pilgrim sir,' an astute observer will ask, 'what about Isaiah 45:7?'

Oh yes, almost forgot. Let's take a closer look. Again, the scripture reads,

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. (Isa 45:7)

It is significant to note the Hebrew word for evil carries the meaning of adversity, affliction and calamity. These definitions do not denote evil as an entity, but simply as the consequences of committing and practicing sin. This is the law of sowing and reaping as defined in Galatians 6:7-8;

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

The 'evil' God sovereignly brings to pass is actually his righteous judgment against the evil of sin in the depraved depths of the human heart. I do not see anywhere in scripture where God has created evil. The fall of Satan and of man are the result of unbelief of the heart. God is not personally accountable for this deficiency of faith, nor did it take him by surprise. The Lord Almighty is sovereign over all creation. He works all things together for good to those that love him and are called according to his purpose.

PS: I have come nowhere close to comprehensively exhausting the subject with this post, so feel free to add your thoughts and scriptures that you believe either support or contradict my thesis that God is not the creator of evil.