Isaiah 45:7 - “ . . . I make peace, and create evil.”

Isaiah 45:7 - “ . . . I make peace, and create evil.” — Does God create evil?

My daughter watched a video this morning where a deconstructionist, an exvangelical, was attempting to profane the goodness of God, by pointing out that Isaiah 45:7 says God creates evil. She was referring to the KJV version of this passage which says, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.” So, what do we do with that? Below is a brief response.

Proper biblical interpretation considers context when seeking the meaning of a passage. Furthermore, when it comes to difficult or obscure passages, a helpful rule of interpretation is to look to the plainer passages of the Bible and draw examples from them to shed light on the more obscure passages (thanks Augustine). We let Scripture interpret Scripture. The point is to remove all hesitation on doubtful passages. So, in this passage, on the face it seems to imply that God creates evil, thus making God evil. But is that what the Bible teaches about God? The plainer passages tell us all that God has made was “very good” (Genesis 1:31); James 1:13 says, “No one undergoing a trial should say, “I am being tempted by God,” since God is not tempted by evil, and he himself doesn’t tempt anyone”; 1 John 1:5 says, “God is light, and there is not darkness in him”; And lastly, the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And Scripture says Jesus was without sin (Hebrews 4:15), never committed a sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 John 3:5), and “no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). So, if we do not consider these passages in light of the passage of Isaiah 45:7 to offer a consistent interpretation about the character of God, then we will misrepresent what the Bible teaches about God.

So, in light of these passages, taking them equally as Scripture declaring true statements about God, it seems we have a contradiction. What is a contradiction? So many skeptics of the Bible throw this term out there not understanding what a true contradiction is. A true contradiction is to say something is one thing but not that one thing at the same time. Or, more technically put: something is a and not a. For example, it is a contradiction to say my car is in the garage and not in the garage at the same time. Or, I am typing on my computer right now, but I am not typing on my computer right now. It cannot be both things at the same time; it has to be one or the other. As to our texts at hand, it seems we have Scripture saying that God is evil but God is not evil. So, what do we do?

Well, it is important to note that modern translations do not follow the KJV version, in their rendering of this passage that God creates evil. Rather, modern translations translate the Hebrew word ra as “calamity,” “disaster,” “bad times,” and “woe.” Why the difference? The word ra has a wide range of meaning, from a nasty taste to full moral evil, being used some 640 times in the Old Testament, with 275 instances where ‘trouble’ or ‘calamity’ is the meaning. Why did the KJV translators render it as evil? One possibility is that as English was in it’s infancy stages, the range of English words was quite narrow, with evil being the closest they could use to translate ra. With that said, we don’t know for certain why evil was the word the KJV translators used. But while ra is often translated as evil in Scripture, how do we ultimately determine that the translation is correct? The context of the passage. Many errors and misunderstandings are created when people take a single verse out of its context to determine what it says. We would never do it with any other historical document, but many people think they can do that with the Bible.

This chapter is full of historical calamities coming on people through Cyrus, whom the Lord raised up to restore Israel. And throughout this chapter, we see God through Isaiah asserting the uniqueness and power of the only true God, Yahweh, in demonstrating how he will raise up Cyrus, a leader from another nation, whom he called by name, to carry out his will of restoring Israel. The chapter continues, saying that God will go before him opening city gates, provide riches for him, and will strengthen him. And he will do this for his people, as a demonstration that he is the only true God and there is no other besides him. And to show that God is the true Creator God who governs his creation, God through Isaiah says, “I form light and create darkness, I make success and create disaster; I am the Lord who does all these things.”

This is a historical passage, not a philosophical passage about God creating good and evil; rather, in the text, God is contrasting shalom, which means “peace; prosperity” with ra. Well, what would the proper contrasting word be in light of the context? What is the opposite of peace and prosperity? Disaster and calamity. One could make a case for “evil” if Isaiah were contrasting evil with righteousness. But based on the context, calamity is the more accurate rendering of the Hebrew word ra than “evil.” And therefore, Isaiah is telling us that God is in control of everything; the good times that bring peace, prosperity, and well-being as well as the terrible times, when war, calamity, natural disasters, and death come upon people. So, in this context, ra functions as an antonym of shalom (peace) (cf. Ps. 49:1–2). A passage similar in context to this one, employing the same word ra is Jeremiah 18:11, where the Lord says through Jeremiah, “So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem, ‘This is what the LORD says: Look, I am about to bring harm [ra] to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds.” God, as sovereign over his creation, brings peace and also disaster to it because of humanity’s evil and wicked ways (see Deuteronomy 30:11–20; 32:39; cf. Amos 3:6).

If you know the history of Israel, then you know that they consistently strayed from God’s commandments, following after false gods and the sinful practices of other nations. And so, though God has brought them peace and prosperity as his covenant people, so too he brought them war and calamity for breaking that covenant (see Deut 28). But how does this chapter end? He continues, passage after passage, declaring his righteousness, power, sovereignty, and glory as the only Savior of Israel, who comes to redeem and restore them because of his love for them. God’s intention, through Isaiah, is to comfort his people. He is the God who has made all things, governs all things, and is the Holy One of Israel, who will redeem them. So, does God “create evil”? No, he extends grace to those who are evil, because of his patient, steadfast love, who wants to do good for his creatures. It is he, the God-man Christ Jesus, who paid the penalty for their evil, so that they might experience God’s mercy and grace, being reconciled to him by faith in Christ Jesus.

~ Roman 11:36 ~

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Bibliography:

J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction Commentary (InterVarsity Press, 2015).

Gary Smith. Isaiah 40-66. Vol. 15B. The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B&H, 2009)

John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66 (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998).

Paul, Shalom M. Isaiah 40–66: Translation and Commentary (Eerdmans Critical Commentary, 2012).

John, Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010).

St. Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah (Emmaus Academic, 2021).

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