Creator of darkness and evil

Originally posted on November 15, 2007 – by Andre Piet

God, the LORD, declares through Isaiah in chapter 45:7 (KJV):

I am forming light and creating darkness,
Making peace and creating evil.
I, YHWH, am doing all these things.

good and evil

However much God’s own declaration provokes resistance among countless people, the statement leaves nothing to be misunderstood. Nothing happens apart from God — not even evil. Of course, in the purpose of the good GOD, evil is never an end in itself. Evil serves a background function. The evil makes the good visible. Knowledge of good is not available separately — you might call it a package deal.

Ever since man ate from the forbidden fruit, he received not only the knowledge of evil but also the knowledge of good — “knowledge of good and evil.” Humanity would never have come to know God’s love and grace if not for the dark backdrop of sin.

darkness and evil

In Isaiah 45:7, darkness and evil are presented as comparable realities. Until recently, I had missed the significance of this, but much has now become clear to me. The comparison between darkness and evil is telling, because through it we come to understand the nature of evil.

What is darkness? Darkness is not a thing or substance, but rather the absence of something. Where there is nothing, it is dark. To make it day, the sun must rise. But to make it night, nothing needs to rise — the absence of the sun automatically creates the night.

Well then, the same applies to the creation of evil. In order to create evil, God only has to withdraw the good. Where the sun of God’s light disappears, darkness arises automatically.

forming versus creating

This is affirmed in the verbs used in Isaiah 45:7:
God is forming the light and He is making peace, but…
He is creating darkness and He is creating evil.

It is striking that in the creation of darkness and evil, there is no mention of forming or making. The idea is: darkness exists automatically where there is no light. The same applies to evil: it arises automatically where the good is absent.

Delen: