Hi River,
This is from Ray's article 'The Synagogue of Satan - There's One Near You,' it shoud give you some help with this subject.
http://bible-truths.com/lake10.html -------------------------------------
God "created evil" (Isa. 45:7). God does not create things that do not serve a good purpose. By the way, the word translated into "evil" in Isa. 45:7 is the Hebrew word ra, and it is the very same word translated hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times as "evil" throughout the Old Testament.
Now the word ra does not have a conscience and therefore has no moral bias. Evil is not ‘SIN.’ God created evil; God Himself is not evil. And strictly speaking, God did not create sin, nor has God Himself ever sinned. What God has done is created humanity in a spiritually weakened state that is totally incapable of even understanding spiritual laws and principle, let alone being capable of obeying them. And this was not a sin or mistake on God’s part, this was weakness by design. Therefore, God is responsible (certainly not accountable), but responsible for all sin. And God has already taken responsibility for all sin by Sacrificing His Son, Jesus Christ:
"Behold the Lamb of God, which TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD (John 1:29);
"And He [Jesus] is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD" (I John 2:2).
v
The Scriptures assure us that God did not create things that had no purpose for existence in the first place. All that God created was "very good." God "created evil," how can evil be good? That sounds like something God Himself said that we should not say: "Woe unto them that call evil good…" (Isa. 5:20).
First let me clarify that it is God Who says to US not to do this. In Gen. 1:31 it is God Who says:
"And God saw every thing that He had made [‘I make peace, and create evil’ Isa. 45:7] , and, behold, it was very good…"
Is this a contradiction? No, but it takes a bit of wisdom beyond childhood to properly understand it. God makes things that are "good," even "very good," that are not inherently good. That is, they are not good in and by themselves, but they are very good, in fact, PERFECT, for the purpose for which they were created.
v
Next, let’s see a few of the evils that God Himself has used after Adam sinned:
"I create EVIL" (Isa. 45:7)
Out of God’s mouth "proceeds…EVIL" (Lam. 3:38).
"…an experience of EVIL has God given to the sons of man…" (Ecc. 1:13, Concordant Liter Old Testament).
"…I [God] will raise up EVIL against thee…" (II Sam. 12:11).
"…has not the Potter [God] the right… to make… one [vessel] for DISHONOR?" (Rom. 9:19-25).
"I [God] created the waster to DESTROY" (Isa. 54:16).
"The Lord has made…the WICKED for the day of EVIL" (Prov. 16:4).
"…I [God] will bring EVIL from the north, and a great DESTRUCTION (Jer. 4:6).
"…Hear, O earth: behold, I [God] will bring EVIL upon this people…" (Jer. 6:19).
God told a "lying spirit" to "…go forth, and do so [lie]" (I Kings 22:22).
"He [God] turned their heart to HATE His people…" (Psalm 105:25).
"Behold I [God] frame EVIL against you…" (Jer. 18:11).
"For God locks up all together in STUBBORNNESS [that’s an evil]…" (Rom. 11:32).
"O Lord, why have You MADE us TO ERR from your ways…" (Isa. 63:17).
"…so shall the Lord bring upon you ALL EVIL THINGS…" (Josh. 23:15).
"…shall there be EVIL in a city, and the Lord has not done it?" (Amos 3:6).
"Yet He [God] is SCOURGING [severely beating] every son to whom He is receiving" (Heb. 12:5).
"What? Shall we receive good at the hand of God and shall we not receive EVIL" (Job 2:10).
"Thus saith the Lord of hosts… go and SMITE Amalek… DESTROY… SLAY both man and woman, infant and suckling…" (I Sam. 15:2-3).
"…God shall send them strong DELUSION, that they should believe A LIE" (II Thes. 2:11).
I do not take delight in presenting these Scriptures to you. They are hard saying, for sure, but they are the truth; they are Scriptural; and they are all done by God; and they are "very good" in accomplishing the desired end result that God has planned from the beginning. God is justified in all that He does. All is out of love and for the advancement of turning every human creature into the very "Image of God."
v
The Scriptures are quite clear on this subject. And the twenty some verses I quoted above should be sufficient proof to even the most stubborn reader, that God is both the Creator and User of many forms of evil, and yet is without sin and not evil, Himself. God uses evil for good. And this is a prerogative that only God uses righteously 100% of the time.
Why do I spend so much time on this subject of evil’s Authorship? Because it is one of the most import truths in the whole world! It is the answer to maybe the most colossal enigma in all creation—Why is there, and must there be, evil in the world? Let me state with all humility that no theologian who believes that Satan is the author of evil, can ever explain why God put evil in the "tree of the knowledge of GOOD…"!! They might attempt a feeble explanation if God had put evil in its own tree, but not when God put it in the same tree with good! God is responsible for not only all the evil in the world, but God is responsible for EVERYTHING IN THE UNIVERSE, and God is the most responsible Being in the universe. Just Who’s responsible for this mess? God is! And just Who’s going to clean up this mess? God is!
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Hope this helps.
mercy, peace and love
Kat