Rebellion

Have you ever rebelled in your life? Rebellion is nothing but defiance of authority or control – it refers to the resistance against the order of any established higher authority. It could be your parents, your teachers, your educational institution, your government, etc. Sometimes it is just that we do not like a person or a group and hence will be rebellious to everything they say or do. Or sometimes it is to fight for our rights or a certain cause. Rebellion is promoted in the times that we live. Does that mean it is the right thing to do?

We will look into the treasure book to find clues.

OPENING THE TREASURE BOOK

Rebellion against God means defying His supreme authority and control over our lives. It also means disobeying His commands and statutes.

For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

1 Samuel 15:23

Rebellion against God is SIN. More than our actions, God is interested in our hearts (What does God notice in me?). So upon weighing our hearts, if found to be rebellious and stubborn, then it is sin and evil in the eyes of God!

But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, ‘I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.’ 

Ezekiel 20:8

As we learned in “The anger of God”, disobedience is evil in the eyes of God and continuous evildoing without repentance arouses His anger. Ezekiel 20:8, also says that disobedience and rebellion brings about the anger of God!

However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

1 Samuel 12:15

But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them.

Isaiah 63:10

Our triune God is the ultimate power in the entire universe. He is the beginning and the end. There is no one else who is like Him. As the word of God says in Romans 8:31, when this powerful God is on our side, what can bother us – If God is for us, who can be against us? He becomes our strength and our fortress. However, if we choose to disobey God and be rebellious, then it is not going to be easy! Rebellion grieves God and turns Him into our enemy!!! His hand will be turned against us. How could we stand against the all powerful God? Do we stand a chance against HIM? If God becomes our enemy, whom do we turn to? That will be unbearable and a state that none of us would want to be in.

Rebellion against God is a SIN. It grieves God and brings about His anger. It causes His hand to be against us and to fight us like an enemy.

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them, then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city. And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

Deuteronomy 21:18-21

For God commanded, saying, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’

Matthew 15:4

The punishment for being rebellious to parents was very harsh under the law given to Israelites. Rebellious children were supposed to be stoned to death if they did not repent and heed to parents because rebellion is evil in the eyes of God. For God, death is the deserving punishment for rebellion to parents. It is that serious before God. God wants us to honor our parents and give them the respect that is due to them. It pleases Him.

Rebellion against parents is serious before God and deserves the punishment of death.

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

Romans 13:1-2

Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

Romans 13:7

God is the highest authority in the entire universe. So all governing authorities on the earth are appointed by Him. There is no authority that exists without God appointing them. So He wants us to be subject to these authorities, pay the right taxes and give honor to those who are deserving. Resisting them is to resist God. This brings about judgement.

The rulers are all appointed to bring about good and resist evil. However, what if the ruler itself turns evil. In that case, are we allowed to rebel? Let us look into an example from the book of Daniel chapter 3.

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon built a huge image of himself in gold and set it up in his province to be worshipped by all people. When music is played with different kinds of musical instruments, all the people should fall down and worship the golden image. Those who disobey will be cast immediately into a burning fiery furnace. Now, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego were young Jews who were put in charge of affairs of the province of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar was told that these men were not obedient and did not worship the golden image. He was furious and brought these young men to be questioned. When asked, they said they will not worship other Gods or the golden image of king, but only the living God. Since they disobeyed the king, he was furious and ordered the furnace to be made seven times hotter and threw these men into the furnace. The furnace was sooo hot that the men who took these young Jews were killed in the flame. The three young men fell into the middle of the furnace and when the king looked he saw four men instead of the three men who were thrown in. Seeing they did not die, the king called out to them to come out. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego came out of the furnace and those who gathered saw that the fire had no power over them. Neither their hair nor their garments were affected. There was not even any smell of fire on them. The King was astonished and praised the God of the young Jews and promoted them.

In this example we see that King Nebuchadnezzar ordered an evil decree – to bow down and worship a golden image of himself. This violated the commandment given by God – “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image and not bow down to them nor serve them”. So the young Jews here refused to obey the command given by king because it violated God’s commandment. They did not rebel against the authority of the king but disobeyed the decree as it was against God’s command. Their heart’s intent was not to rebel against the king but to obey God’s command.

We see a similar case with Daniel. Daniel was asked to pray to King, and did not. So he was thrown into a den of lions but came out without being eaten by them. His intent was to obey God and keep his commands. God delivered Daniel from the lions.

If the decrees issued by our authorities is in direct violation of God’s commands, we should make every effort to obey the commands of God who is the highest authority, no matter what the consequences are going to be. But our heart should not rebel against the authorities. God will definitely deliver us out of the consequences, like how he did supernaturally for the young Jews and Daniel.

Rebellion against authorities ordained by God is to resist God Himself and brings about judgement. If decrees and laws put up by authorities are against God’s command, rebellion is not the option but choose to obey God’s commands as He is supreme authority.

Treasures uncovered

God hates rebellion and considers it Sin. Because our God hates a rebellious heart, rebellion is never an option for us except when it comes to devil. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for teaching us that rebellion is never an option for us because you hate a rebellious heart. Father, help us to not follow the world and what it considers right but be obedient to you and always keep your commands. In Jesus name, Amen.

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