can someone please explain Isaiah 45:7, i'm really confused here.?

Question

it states that God is the creator of light and darkness and can create good and evil, if God is holy and hates evil why would He say this?

Answer 1

"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create darkness, I , the LORD do all these things." Isaiah 45:7

This is saying that God allows bad things to happen for the greater good. We might not be able to see how something so terrible can have good, but it is in God's hands.

Answer 2

Because God is the creator of all things He can bring light or dark because He created it. I think you are having trouble with the evil part. In the NIV version it states, "I create disaster." I think that God allows evil or disasters to happen. An example of the evil or disaster caused by God would be the Great Flood. In the book of Deuteronomy 30:15-20. God tells us about blessings and curses. If we live one way we are blessed, if we live another way we are cursed, which brings about some nasty things. What this should show us is to live in peace and blessing we should love God and honour Him. If we don't then we are living in a dangerous place.

Answer 3

Maybe he creates evil or allows it to come into being by it's own rejection of truth, so that he can use it for his good purpose. He doesn't have an evil will, but will use something with an evil will to bring about a good end.

Maybe beings with free will like us humans need evil so that we can have the opportunity to choose God, or good. We need a contrast. Some people with free choice just choose evil. It is the method to separate the wheat from the chaff. Who belongs to God and who does not. A rather brilliant plan. Either way, God uses everything to work for good.

Answer 4

Hi, I think the problem may well be in certain translations for example in the Good News Bible that passage comes out as this: `I create both light and darkness, I bring both blessing and disaster`
The writer of Isaiah is trying to say that God is in control of all things and that He alone is Creator and as such can also punish the sinner and reward the faithful.

Answer 5

If you read what the chapter is about, it tells of a "shepherd" that God was going to raise up to destroy the Babylonians. God fortold the birth of the Great Persian King Cyrus 160 years before he was born in this passage. The Greek historian, Herodotus, in Volume 1 of his Histories, records the story of how Cyrus, at birth, escaped death and was brought up by a "shepherd", thus confirming God's prophecy to the prophet Isaiah, and revealing the scriptural truth of pre-election of God's future people-the Gentiles. Now, to answer your question. I used to labor over this myself until I researched it. What God is saying here is how his future servant, Cyrus, will become King of Persia, and will destroy Babylon. God says he creates light and darkness, peace and calamity, because He's saying beforehand to Babylon, basically, "I, the Lord have done these things so that you will know that I have crafted your doom and will know that I alone am God and there is no other god besides me.", which He does, in fact, go on to say in chapters 44 and 45. God said these things because He intended to destroy Babylon at a future time and would be to Cyrus light and to the extremely wicked Babylonians darkness and evil. He was letting them know ahead of time who it was that was crafting their destruction and kicking their asses all over the plains, something He still gives people today a chance to avoid. Many choose badly. Yes, God HATES evil. He did then, and He still does today, but not everybody wants to believe that. They want to say foolish things with no scriptural basis at all like "God loves the sinner, but hates the sin", which is a man-made doctrine found nowhere in the Word. It gives people the excuse to sin like, well, ancient Babylonians. Don't follow the herd. Keep asking the really good questions like you did with this one.

Answer 6

Concerning the statement that God creates evil, it does not mean a thing or a practice that is morally wrong. Evil as used here does not mean moral evil, God could never be guilty of that. It refers to a calamity or disaster or destruction, such as he brings upon his unrepentant enemies, especially at the coming battle of Armageddon.

From rebellious Adam’s time onward punishment has come from God upon those who are willful in their wickedness and this is just and righteous on God’s part, but to the ones who deserve it and suffer it, it has been as an evil. Does that make sense to you?

Hannah

Answer 7

an excelent question, if you want a detailed answer Aquinas explains it in his book on evil, but because Im sure you dont want me to type out a full chapter Ill keep at this. All things have oposition to this thing, such as hot has cold and black has white, therefor goodness could not be created without darkness or evil.

Answer 8

Maybe because he can craft some evil event to effect some positive good? For instance crucifying Christ was a moment of evil, but it was also the highest mark of God's Grace and love and man's redemption. What Satan thought was his ultimately victory was really his ultimate loss.

Answer 9

Evil drives some ppl to God. God created everthing for his purposes even evil.

Answer 10

Good and evil are one and the same, it is all relative to how you look at something. That's my rationalization and I'm sticking to it. :p

Or perhaps god is a good sadist. One cannot know good without knowing evil. No pain, no pleasure.

Or perhaps, it was incorrectly translated from Hebrew. Ah, but if we accept that then we admit the bible is incorrect. We cannot have that and be self-righteous, we cannot accept this explanation.