Reference: Evil
Hastings
EVIL is an older form of the word 'ill'; used, both as substantive and adjective, to tr various synonyms and ranging in meaning from physical unfitness to moral wickedness. The former is archaic, but occurs in Ge 28:8 (Authorized Version margin), Ex 21:8 (Authorized Version margin), Jer 24:3 (AV), and Mt 7:18, though the two last passages are not without an ethical tinge. But the word almost invariably connotes what is either morally corrupt (see Sin) or injurious to life and happiness.
1. In the OT the two meanings are at first scarcely differentiated. Whatever comes to man from without is, to begin with, attributed simply to God (Am 3:6; La 3:38; Eze 14:9; Isa 45:7). Destruction is wrought by His angels (Ex 12:23; 2Sa 24:16; Ps 78:49). Moral temptations come from Him (2Sa 24:1; 1Ki 22:23), though there is a tendency to embody them in beings which, though belonging to the host of heaven, are spoken of as evil or lying spirits (1Sa 16:14; Jg 9:23; 1Ki 22:22). The serpent of the Fall narrative cannot be pressed to mean more than a symbol of temptation, though the form which the temptation takes suggests hostility to the will of God external to the spirit of the woman (2Co 11:3, cf. Ge 3:1-3). Then later we have the figure of the Adversary or Satan, who, though still dependent on the will of God, is nevertheless so identified with evil that he is represented as taking the initiative in seduction (Zec 3:1; 1Ch 21:1, but cf. 2Sa 24:1). This marks the growth of the sense of God's holiness (De 32:4 etc.), the purity which cannot behold evil (Hab 1:13); and correspondingly sharpens the problem. Heathen gods are now identified with demons opposed to the God of Israel (De 32:17; Ps 106:37; cf. 1Co 10:20). This tendency, increased perhaps by Persian influence, becomes dominant in apocryphal literature (2Pe 2:4 and Jude 1:6 are based on the Book of Enoch), where the fallen angels are a kingdom at war with the Kingdom of God.
2. In the NT moral evil is never ascribed to God (Jas 1:13), being essentially hostile to His mind and will (Ro 1:18-21; 5:10; 1Jo 1:5-7; 2:16,29; 3:4,9); but to the Evil One (Mt 6:13; 13:19; 1Jo 5:19), an active and personal being identical with the Devil (Mt 13:39; Joh 8:44) or Satan (Mt 4:10; Mr 4:15; Lu 22:31; Joh 13:27), who with his angels (Mt 25:41) is cast down from heaven (Re 12:9, cf. Lu 10:18), goes to and fro in the earth as the universal adversary (1Pe 5:8; Eph 4:27; 6:11; Jas 4:7), and will be finally imprisoned with his ministering spirits (Re 20:2,10, cf. Mt 25:41). Pain and suffering are ascribed sometimes to God (Re 3:19; 1Th 3:3; Heb 12:5-11), inasmuch as all things work together for good to those that love Him (Ro 8:28); sometimes to Satan (Lu 13:16; 2Co 12:7) and the demons (Mt 8:28 etc.), who are suffered to hurt the earth for a season (Re 9:1-11; 12:12).
The speculative question of the origin of evil is not resolved in Holy Scripture, being one of those things of which we are not competent judges (see Butler's Analogy, i. 7, cf. 1Co 13:12). Pain is justified by the redemption of the body (Ro 8:18-25; 1Pe 4:13), punishment by the peaceable fruits of righteousness (Heb 12:7-11), and the permission of moral evil by the victory of the Cross (Joh 12:31; Ro 8:37-39; Col 2:15; 1Co 15:24-28). Accept the facts and look to the end is the teaching of the Bible as a guide to practical religion (Jas 5:11). Beyond this we enter the region of that high theology which comprehensive thinkers like Aquinas or Calvin have not shrunk from formulating, but which, so far as it is dealt with in the NT, appears rather as a by-product of evangelical thought, than as the direct purpose of revelation (as, e.g., in Ro 9, where God's elective choice is stated only as the logical presupposition of grace). St. Paul is content to throw the responsibility for the moral facts of the universe upon God (Ro 9:19-24; cf. Job 33:12; Ec 5:2; Isa 29:16), who, however, is not defined as capricious and arbitrary power, but revealed as the Father, who loves the creatures of His hand, and has foreordained all things to a perfect consummation in Christ the Beloved (Eph 1:3-14 etc.).
J. G. Simpson.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, you shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: read more. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.
For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in unto your houses to slay you.
If she please not her master, who has betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he has dealt deceitfully with her.
He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are justice: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
They sacrificed unto demons, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came in of late, whom your fathers feared not.
There shall not any man be able to stand before you all the days of your life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with you: I will not fail you, nor forsake you. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shall you divide for an inheritance the land, which I swore unto their fathers to give them. read more. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded you: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.
And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may you go your way.
Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that you may know the way by which you must go: for you have not passed this way before.
And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, Come here, and hear the words of the LORD your God.
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
But the spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he incited David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.
Behold, in this you are not just: I will answer you, for God is greater than man.
He cast upon them the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and indignation, and trouble, by sending avenging angels among them.
Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter anything before God: for God is in heaven, and you upon earth: therefore let your words be few.
Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the thing made say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing formed say of him that formed it, He had no understanding?
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create calamity: I the LORD do all these things.
Then said the LORD unto me, What see you, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad.
Out of the mouth of the most High proceeds not evil and good?
And if the prophet is deceived when he has spoken a thing, I the LORD have deceived that prophet, and I will stretch out my hand upon him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.
Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be calamity in a city, and the LORD has not done it?
You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity: why do you look upon them that deal treacherously, and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he?
And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Begone, Satan: for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
And when he came to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with demons, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
When any one hears the word of the kingdom, and understands it not, then comes the wicked one, and catches away that which was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the way side.
The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
And these are they by the wayside, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan comes immediately, and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
And after the morsel Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, What you do, do quickly.
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has showed it unto them. read more. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and deity; so that they are without excuse: Because, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. read more. For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, read more. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creation, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You will say then unto me, Why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me thus? read more. Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had before prepared unto glory, Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God: and I would not that you should have fellowship with demons.
For now we see in a mirror dimly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his cunning, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: read more. Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, in which he has made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Which he has abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he has purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will: That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Neither give place to the devil.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto you as unto children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives. read more. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not?
If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chastens not? But if you be without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then are you illegitimate children, and not sons.
But if you be without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then are you illegitimate children, and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are trained by it.
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are trained by it.
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Behold, we count them happy who endure. You have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very compassionate, and of tender mercy.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour:
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. read more. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when it strikes a man. And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them. And the shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared unto battle; and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle. And they had tails like unto scorpions, and there were stings in their tails: and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, who is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he has the name Apollyon.
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! for the devil has come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has but a short time.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, who is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.