Where Do Evil Spirits Come From?

The question of where evil spirits come from is answered throughout Scripture — they ultimately come from God, who controls all spiritual beings.

In 1 Samuel 16:14, we read: “Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.”

The context is crucial. God's Spirit had come upon Saul when he was anointed as king. But after Saul disobeyed God — particularly when he chose to keep the Amalekite livestock instead of destroying everything as God commanded, and when he tried to remain king even after God had anointed David as his replacement — God withdrew His Spirit from Saul.

Saul's own subjects recognized what had happened: “Behold, an evil spirit has been sent by God to you” (1 Samuel 16:15-16). The reason? King Saul opposed God. He wanted to hold onto power even though God had chosen David as the next king. King Saul defied God, and God allowed an evil spirit to fill that void.

In Job 1-2, we see Satan presenting himself before God. In the first council, Satan obtains permission to take Job's wealth, children, and health. In the second council, he gets permission to afflict Job himself physically.

Why did God allow this? To reveal something to Job — and to us. Job was a man of great righteousness. But somewhere along the way, Job had become proud. He thought of himself as a “prince” (Job 31:37). God allowed Satan to afflict him to strip away that pride and reveal that man's righteousness is meaningless before God's power and perfection.