Another "Sticky" Passage

This weekend at Crossroads I'll be speaking on envy and jealousy and what it does to our hearts. Our case study will be the Biblical character Saul who cast a "jealous eye" on David. Saul's jealousy wrecked his life.

1 Samuel 18:10 says that as the result of Saul's jealousy, "a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul."

Some translations say "an evil spirit from God" messed with Saul. Either way, we have a hard time getting our arms around this verse. Does God send evil spirits/demons into our lives when we screw up? Is this consistent with the character of God?

One thing I learned a "hundred years" ago in Seminary was to allow the clearer teachings of the Bible to interpret the more obscure teachings. God sending evil spirits to torment people sounds a little weird. It certainly contradicts clearer teachings like James 1:17 that says "Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above..."

So what's the deal? Do I have to worry about an evil spirit coming my way and possessing me when I sin? Here are 3 quick thoughts:

1. In the Old Testament God's Spirit came and went. The Spirit filled people for certain tasks and then departed. All that changes in Acts 2. The Spirit comes for good and when the Spirit possesses a believer in Christ its a permanent deal. Therefore, Christians cannot be possessed by evil (temped...yes; harassed...yes; possessed...no; see 1 John 4:4). The Spirit certainly departed from Saul, but if you're a believer in Christ today you have no reason to fear evil spirits possessing you.

2. Saul deserved whatever God "sent" his way. Whatever happened was the direct result of Saul's willful disobedience and refusal to take his sin seriously.

3. The Hebrew linguistic data lends itself to different interpretations of this passage. I am NOT a Hebrew scholar (nor any other scholar, unless there's such thing as a "coffee scholar"). The little reading I've done says that EVIL SPIRIT could be a generic/broad term referring to any type of consequences or torment. Also, the phrase "from God" could be interpreted as something that God "allowed". In other words, Saul's tormenting spirit/painful consequences were not so much sent but allowed by God.

This is deep stuff. The Hebrew language is complex and sheds new light on this interpretive question.