Creator of darkness and evil

18-01-2013 - Posted by Andre Piet

The Lord God, by the mouth of Isaiah, declares in chapter 45:7:

Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of good and Creator of evil. I, Yahweh Elohim, made all of these things. (CLV)

good and evil

However much God’s own revelation is being opposed by countless people, His declaration could not be more clear. Nothing happens apart from God, not even evil. Of course, in association with GOD, Who alone is good (Luke 18:19), evil is not a goal in itself. Evil has only a decor-function. Evil makes good visible. Knowledge of good is not available, separately – call it a package deal. Since man ate the forbidden fruit, he not only obtained knowledge of evil, but, as well, the knowledge of good – “knowledge of good and evil.” Never would man come to know God’s love and grace without the dark background of sin.

darkness and evil

In Isaiah 45:7, darkness and evil are spoken of as comparable quantities. Until recently, the meaning of this eluded me, but by now this has become very meaningful to me. The comparison between darkness and evil is significant, because it helps us to understand the nature of evil. For, what is darkness? Darkness is not really something, but rather it is the absence of something. Where there is nothing, it is dark. For it to become day, the sun must rise, but for it to become night, not anything has to arise. The absence of the sun, automatically creates the night. Well, the same goes for the creation of evil. To create evil, God only has to withhold good. Where the sun of God’s light disappears, it automatically becomes dark.

forming versus creating

The above we see confirmed in the verbs used in Isaiah 45:7: God forms the light and He makes peace, but … He creates the darkness and he creates evil. It is noteworthy that in the creation of darkness and evil, there is no mention made of forming or making. The idea is: darkness is automatically present, where there is no light. The same is true for evil: it is automatically there, where goodness is absent.