Isaiah 45

Isaiah 45:6-7:
I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the LORD, who does all these things.

the Hebrew word translated as “evil” in the above King James translation is translated as “calamity” (NASB, ESV) or “disaster” (NIV) in other major translations. Even the updated New King James translation renders it as “calamity.” That’s because, like any word, it can have multiple meanings, and it’s usually the context that determines which meaning was intended by the author. That brings us to the final point.
Third, the context of this passage (and the message of the prophets of the Old Testament in general) is about blessing those who are faithful and punishing those who disobey (Isa. 45:9, 24). It’s within this principle that God declares that he creates “well-being” and “calamity.” He’s responsible for bringing prosperity to those who are faithful and calamity to those who rebel. That’s even consistent with his treatment of his own people—Israel. He rewards them when they obey and punishes them (e.g., slavery, exile, etc.) when they disobey. In that sense, yes, it is God who creates calamity.
God didn’t bring evil into existence. It’s the result of sin and our fallen world. God, however, does bring instances of calamity on people. In fact, it’s his prerogative to do so. Even in these cases, though, it is good for him to render judgment on guilty people. Though we might subjectively not like the calamity we face, it is objectively good to punish those who do wrong. Present-day justice systems operate in a similar fashion. Prison is subjectively a bad experience for prisoners, but it is an objectively good thing for justice to be rendered. The same is true for God. Isaiah 45:7 was a reminder that God blessed those who honored him and brought calamity upon those who disobeyed. -Alan Shlemon; Stand To Reason

At the present day, I am afraid that nine people out of ten do not believe in the God who is revealed to us in the Bible. “What?” you say. It is so, I grieve to say. I can point you to newspapers, to magazines, to periodicals, and also to pulpits by the score, in which there is a new god set up to be worshiped; not the God of the Old Testament, he is said to be too strict, too severe, too stern for our modern teachers.

They do not believe in him. The God of Abraham is dethroned by many nowadays; and in his place they have a molluscous god, like those of whom Moses spoke, “new gods that come newly up, whom your fathers feared not.” They shudder at the very mention of the God of the Puritans. If Jonathan Edwards were to rise from the dead, they would not listen to him for a minute, they would say that they had quite a new god since his day.

But brethren, I believe in the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob; this God is my God—ay, the God that drowned Pharaoh and his host at the Red Sea, and moved his people to sing “Hallelujah” as he did it; the God that caused the earth to open, and swallow up Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and all their company—a terrible God is the God whom I adore—he is the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, full of mercy, compassion, and grace, tender and gentle, yet just and dreadful in his holiness, and terrible out of his holy places.

This is the God whom we worship, and he who come to him in Christ, and trusts in him, will take him to be his Instructor, and so shall he learn aright all that he needs to know. But woe unto the men of this day, we have made unto themselves a calf of their own devising, which has no power to bless or to save them!

Isaiah 45:15:
Verily thou art a God that hidest thyself, O God of Israel, the Saviour

God is often portrayed as the initiator, yet sets a high premium on his people living by faith, which can only be exercised in circumstances that allow for us to have doubts.

Isaiah 45:23:
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

Since God said one day, “at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:10–11), we can all be certain that sooner or later we will bow our knee to God the Son. The decision is ours whether we will bow now, confessing Jesus Christ as Lord, or bow later, when we are called before His judgment seat. Bowing today will bring forgiveness of sins, salvation, and eternal life. But waiting until that later date, when we bow because we are forced to do so, will not result in any eternal benefits. So wisdom cries out that every thinking person do it now. -Pastor Ed Rea