UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE. PART 3. Evil Spirit from the Lord ?

UNDERSTANDING GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT PART OF THE BIBLE. PART 3. Evil Spirit from the Lord ?

 

God can never be known outside Christ. God is invisible and His nature and attributes can only be seen in Christ the express image of God. In the part one of this series, we have seen that Christ is the certainty of the character and nature of God. In the coming of Christ we have an understanding of the true God. 1John 5

 20  And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.

Any God that can not be traced to who we see in Christ cannot be the true God. Many have served the devil as God because they do not want to stick with God in Christ. In  part two, we saw that Christ is the explanation of the scriptures. We saw that we cannot take anything we see from Genesis to Malachi without interpretation. Jesus interpreted Genesis to Malachi. The apostles did same. We cannot be different. What we do today is to read the interpretation of Genesis to Malachi as documented in the epistles. Now we have the answer to the mysteries we see in Genesis to Malachi. Kindly click here to READ PART ONE and PART TWO of this series.

Part of the mysteries(secrets) that we see in Genesis to Malachi is EVIL SPIRIT FROM THE LORD. 

The question remains, WHICH LORD? 

Was it God that sent the evil spirits? 

How many evil spirits did Jesus send to people?

What does the epistles(the explanation of Genesis to Malachi) have to say about evil spirits? 

Let us look at the story where it was seemingly portrayed that evil spirits came from God.

1 Kings 22

 1  And they continued three years without war between Syria and Israel.

 2  And it came to pass in the third year, that Jehoshaphat the king of Judah came down to the king of Israel.

 3  And the king of Israel said unto his servants, Know ye that Ramoth in Gilead is ours, and we be still, and take it not out of the hand of the king of Syria? note

 4  And he said unto Jehoshaphat, Wilt thou go with me to battle to Ramothgilead? And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.

 5  And Jehoshaphat said unto the king of Israel, Enquire, I pray thee, at the word of the LORD to day.

 6  Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall I go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

 7  And Jehoshaphat said, Is there not here a prophet of the LORD besides, that we might enquire of him?

 8  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.

 9  Then the king of Israel called an officer, and said, Hasten hither Micaiah the son of Imlah. 

  10  And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them. 

 11  And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made him horns of iron: and he said, Thus saith the LORD, With these shalt thou push the Syrians, until thou have consumed them.

 12  And all the prophets prophesied so, saying, Go up to Ramothgilead, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the king's hand.

 13  And the messenger that was gone to call Micaiah spake unto him, saying, Behold now, the words of the prophets declare good unto the king with one mouth: let thy word, I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which isgood.

 14  And Micaiah said, As the LORD liveth, what the LORD saith unto me, that will I speak.

 15  So he came to the king. And the king said unto him, Micaiah, shall we go against Ramothgilead to battle, or shall we forbear? And he answered him, Go, and prosper: for the LORD shall deliver it into the hand of the king.

 16  And the king said unto him, How many times shall I adjure thee that thou tell me nothing but that which is true in the name of the LORD?

 17  And he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd: and the LORD said, These have no master: let them return every man to his house in peace.

 18  And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

 19  And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.

 20  And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.  

 21  And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.

 22  And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.

 23  Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

 24  But Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah went near, and smote Micaiah on the cheek, and said, Which way went the Spirit of the LORD from me to speak unto thee?

 25  And Micaiah said, Behold, thou shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go into an inner chamber to hide thyself.  

 26  And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah, and carry him back unto Amon the governor of the city, and to Joash the king's son;

 27  And say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.

 28  And Micaiah said, If thou return at all in peace, the LORD hath not spoken by me. And he said, Hearken, O people, every one of you.

Read the story above carefully. One thing you will notice is that Ahab was a wicked King that likes deception. He had prophets that prophesy to suit him . Notice verse 16 that Ahab knew he was not supposed to go war with RamothGilead . Even when Micaiah prophesied thay he can go ahead , he knew that was not the truth . Then Micaiah narrated HIS VISION. It was in a vision that he saw lying Spirit from the Lord . NOW CONCERNING VISION, you will agree with me that your vision of God is a product of knowledge. If you know God as a killer, you will often see a vision of God trying to kill you . We have seen persons that used to have visions of God punishing them in ignorance. When they finally come to the knowledge of the gospel, they realize the true nature of God and the abundance of forgiveness of sins . They do not have such visions again. So we know that vision is a product of Knowledge. Even Peter in Acts 10 was arguing with God in a vision whether to eat or not to eat unclean animals because of his knowledge as a Jew . God had to convince him beyond his knowledge to go preach to Cornelius. 

Israel as a nation depended on the power of God from their exodus. We noticed they fought wars base on divine leading and power not necessarily military might . So God was involved in their activities. So Micaiah saying lying spirit from God will be because God is involved in Israel battle . Ahab being their king was not following the way of God.

So was the evil spirits from God to the prophets ?

We can emphatically say NO. Why? But the Bible said lying spirit from God?

Do not forget it demands interpretation. Unless you  don’t believe Jesus is God. How did Jesus deal with evil spirits?

He was busy casting out evil spirits. He never gave someone evil spirits. He was setting men free from the oppression of the devil.

 Matthew 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick.

Acts 10

 38  How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

Jesus went about doing good healing all oppressed of the devil. It was the devil that caused his demons to influence the prophets for the downfall of Ahab. Micaiah said it was the Lord because in Genesis to Malachi the people had a poor understanding of God. In fact , many times the activities of men, angels and the devil are all refer to as the activities of God. This is one reason we have few mention of devil, satan in the old testament. You will always see the Lord. So you have to read to know if that LORD is man, the devil or angels . Are we changing the Bible ? No. This is why we have part one and two of this series where ample space was given to how to interpret Genesis to Malachi. Today some persons still confuse the activities of God and the devil. It is very alarming! God is in the light. In Him there is no darkness at all. So any work of darkness cannot be associated with God. It is either man or the devil . The integrity of the scriptures lies in the fact that it was recorded the way it happened. This doesn’t mean that it is the truth. Today we know evil spirits is APART from the Lord . So the lying spirits were outside God. Jesus said in Mark 16, we should cast out devils . He cannot tell us to cast out the devils if He gives people. 

In the epistles we are TOLD TO RESIST the devil .

1 Pet 5:8-9, James 4:7.

James 4:7

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Submitting to God is submitting to God’s word . What does the word say about the devil ? That he is powerless. That the devil has been spoiled and destroyed. Colossians 2:15, Hebrews 2:14. You submit to this by agreeing with the truth, then resist the devil .

We are also told NOT TO GIVE PLACE TO DEVIL 

Ephesians 4

27 Neither give place to the devil

We give place to the devil by our actions. We are to avoid certain actions like anger, hatred that can allow the influence of the devil.

We are told to also stand against the wiles(tricks ) of the devil . 

Ephesians 6:11

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 

We arm ourselves with the truth of what Christ has done and who we are in Christ so we can stand against the tricks of the devil . You never see any reference where God gave people evil spirits in Christ. All our dealings with the devil is to cast him out and never to give place to the devil . 

One can even give place to the devil by allowing strongholds in the mind against the knowledge of Christ. Strongholds like thinking that God and the devil does combine actions . So one will not be bold to stand against devilish works . 

So man of God what about evil spirit that came from the  God upon Saul ?

1 Samuel 16

 14  But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

You will notice what is called evil spirit  from the Lord came as a result of the departure of God’s spirit. They attributed the evil spirit to God because they do not know how to put a difference between the activities of God and the devil. Saul was simply influence by an evil spirit as a result of the departure of the influence of God’s spirit. So now that we know God in Christ, we can say it was an evil spirit APART from the Lord . We know God cannot originate evil spirits. God doesn’t have evil spirits to give to people. 

In summary, we must learn to read Genesis to Malachi with the eye of Christ. Any attribute we see about God that does not look like Christ can never be God. In Christ we see the true God. If it is not Christ-like, it is not God. This is why Jesus could tell Philip in John 14, if you have seen me, you have seen God. This means that God is Christ like . 

By OBIAZIKWOR EMEKE MODESTY

          www.emekemodesty.com

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