Isaiah 45:7 and God's Sovereignty Over Good and Evil
Isaiah 45:7 and God's Sovereignty Over Good and Evil
Isaiah 45:7 states, "The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these" [1]. This verse asserts God's sovereignty over all aspects of existence, including both good and evil. The passage is part of a larger section in Isaiah where God speaks through the prophet to assert His divine authority and uniqueness.
The literary context of Isaiah 45:7 is a declaration of God's sole dominion over the world. The surrounding verses emphasize God's power and uniqueness, stating that there is no other God besides Him (Isaiah 45:5-6, 18) [3]. The historical setting is the period of the Babylonian exile, where the prophet Isaiah is addressing the Israelites, assuring them of God's control over their destiny and the fate of their conquerors.
The key terms in Isaiah 45:7 are "light" and "darkness," "well-being" and "calamity." The Hebrew words for "forming" (yatzar) and "creating" (bara) highlight God's creative power. Yatzar implies giving form to existing matter, while bara signifies creation from nothing [4]. The use of these terms underscores God's comprehensive sovereignty.
A major exegetical decision revolves around the interpretation of "darkness" and "calamity" (or "evil" in some translations). Some interpreters see these as referring to natural phenomena or the moral evil that exists in the world. According to Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, "create evil" refers not to moral evil but to calamity or disaster, emphasizing God's control over all circumstances [4].
The range of interpretations on Isaiah 45:7 includes understanding God's sovereignty as encompassing both prosperity and adversity. The Tyndale House commentary notes that everything is under God's control, highlighting the verse's emphasis on divine sovereignty [2]. John Gill interprets the "light" and "darkness" as having both natural and spiritual meanings, including the light of grace and the darkness of judgment [6]. Rashi, a Jewish commentator, interprets "forming light" as referring to the righteous, suggesting a more nuanced understanding of the verse within Jewish tradition [5].
This passage has functioned in tradition to affirm God's absolute sovereignty and control over all creation. It has been used to comfort believers in times of adversity, reminding them that even calamities are within God's sovereign will. The verse is also seen as a counter to dualistic beliefs that posit two equal, opposing principles of good and evil, affirming instead that God is the creator of all that exists [4].
Sources
- Isaiah “Isaiah 45:7 (NASB) — The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”
- Isaiah (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Isaiah 45:7: 45:7 light . . . darkness . . . good times and bad times: Everything is under God’s control.”
- Isaiah (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Isaiah 45:5: God here asserts his sole and sovereign dominion, as that which he designed to prove and manifest to the world in all the great things he did for Cyrus and by him. Observe, I. How this doctrine is here laid down concerning the sovereignty of the great Jehovah, in two things: - 1. That he is God alone, and there is no God besides him. This is here inculcated as a fundamental truth, which, if it were firmly believed, would abolish idolatry out of the world. With what an awful, commanding, air of majesty and authority, bidding defiance, as it were, to all pretenders,”
- Isaiah (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Isaiah 45:7: form . . . create--yatzar, to give "form" to previously existing matter. Bara, to "create" from nothing the chaotic dark material. light . . . darkness--literally (Gen 1:1-3), emblematical also, prosperity to Cyrus, calamity to Babylon and the nations to be vanquished [GROTIUS] . . . Isaiah refers also to the Oriental belief in two coexistent, eternal principles, ever struggling with each other, light or good, and darkness or evil, Oromasden and Ahrimanen. God, here, in opposition, asserts His sovereignty over both [VITRINGA]. create evil--not mora”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Rabbinic)) “Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) on Isaiah 45:7: Who forms light for the righteous.”
- Isaiah (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Isaiah 45:7: I form the light, and create darkness,.... Natural light, or that light which was produced at the first creation, and of which the sun is the fountain and source; or day which is light, and night which is darkness, the constant revolutions of which were formed, appointed, and are continued by the Lord, Gen 1:3, moral light, or the light of nature, the rational understanding in man; spiritual light, or the light of grace, by which things spiritual and supernatural are known; the light of joy and comfort from Christ, the sun of righteousness; and the light of eternal gl”