“He sent and brought him in. With ruddy cheeks, red hair and bright eyes, he was a good-looking fellow. Adonai said, ‘Stand up and anoint him; he’s the one.’ Sh’mu’el took the horn of oil and anointed him there in his brothers’ presence. From that day on, the Spirit of Adonai would fall upon David with power. So Sh’mu’el set out and went to Ramah.”-1 Samuel 16:12-13
So God has publicly identified David as Israel’s next King.
In response, Samuel anoints him with oil.
Then in verse 13, we’re told something mighty interesting:
“From that day on,
the Spirit of Adonai would
fall upon David with power.”
What happened was that God withdrew His spirit from Saul and placed it upon David.
The lesson to be learned here is that any King of Israel must have God’s Spirit with him to succeed in the job.
However, what happens next in verse 14 is even more mind-blowing.
We’re told that in place of the Spirit of Adonai leaving Saul, an evil spirit was put inside of him.
Oh boy, does this stir up one hell of a hornet’s nest!
What in the world does the Scripture mean when it says Adonai sent an evil spirit to torment King Saul?
Some people think this shows that God, who is both the source of good and evil, took away His good spirit and replaced it with a malicious spirit that was just another part of His nature.
Others believe God removed His good spirit and sent a bad spirit (a demon) to trouble the king as punishment.
Another idea is that when the Lord left Saul, Saul’s bad side took control because there was nothing good to balance it.
Some think this is just an old-fashioned way to say that because God and Samuel left Saul, he became sad and clinically depressed.
Of course, there are many variations of these ideas that are bantered back and forth.
The next time we meet I’m going to introduce the three key verses from the Hebrew Bible that tell us the true source of evil.
I’ll give you one little hint.
It ain’t the devil.
See ya all next time.
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