The People’s Obligation to obey the Civil Authorities is conditional upon the Civil Authorities obeying the Higher Law. *
The Bible shows that civil government is a covenant between God, the King and the People. God makes the Laws; the king promises to obey and apply those Laws; and the people pledge themselves to the Covenant. Out of this relationship between God, the king and the people arises the people’s obligation to protest lawlessness on the part of the king. If they don’t protest, God punishes the people because of the misdeeds of the their kings – the people will suffer if they go along with the unlawful acts:
- God sent a 3 year famine because Saul put the Gibeonites to death (2 Sam 21).
- God sent a pestilence which killed 70, 000 Israelites because David took the census (1 Chronicles 21 and 2 Samuel 24).
- God (via Elijah) sent a famine because Ahab and his house forsook the commandments of the Lord (1 Kings 16:29-33, 17:1, 18:1, 18:17-19).
- God struck a heavy blow at Joram’s people because of Joram’s wickedness (2 Chronicles 21:1-14)
God visited 4 dooms upon Jerusalem and the southern Kingdom because of the sins of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:10-17 and Jeremiah 15:3-4).
*from a document “The Biblical Foundation of Our Constitution” prepared by Publius Huldah.