2. THE WHEN AND HOW OF RESISTANCE
Different situations call for different measures. And different jurisdictions call for different tactics. We need to understand the specific tactics saints used at different times — and why — before we start making our own strategies.
In theory, we have a right to challenge anything the state requires that God doesn’t authorize it to require. But that doesn’t mean we should. Not every state overstep must be resisted. There are times when it can be both lawful and profitable to forfeit an actual right. Christ Himself set an example of knowing when it was better to fold than to hold. There were cultural battles that Jesus absolutely would not back down on, and there were others where Jesus avoided conflict because it was not an issue He needed to fight that day. For example, in Matthew 17 Jesus made it clear that He didn’t owe the tax that the officials were trying to collect from Peter and Jesus, but had Peter pay for both of them anyway, for the reason, “lest we offend them” (v. 27). Why did He not want to offend them? He was quite willing to offend the governing authorities on many other issues — for instance, when He disobeyed the direct orders of Pontius Pilate (Matt. 27:13-14), and Herod Antipas (Luke 23:9); when He refused to answer their interrogations in court; and when He refused to perform a miracle (Luke 23:8-9) or to prophesy (Matt. 26:68) when officers desired him to do so. Why?
Jesus says that even earthly kings have enough wisdom to count the cost of resisting another king or not (Luke 14:28-31). When the Philistines stopped up the wells that Isaac had been using and asked him to move away (Gen. 26:15-22), Isaac could have insisted on his contract with Abimelech — and he had the superior force to win that fight. But he chose not to. Isaac rightly recognized that the lives that would be lost were worth more than the water rights and contract. When Jesus willingly paid a tax He did not owe, His example authorized obedience to earthly rulers beyond what is strictly required by God.
There are also times when either option, resistance or compliance, would technically be lawful — for instance, when Paul was asked to leave his prison cell quietly in Acts 16:35-40 — but there are important strategic advantages in choosing to refuse, as Paul did. Many of Scripture’s exemplars of resistance could have obeyed without sinning — but they were honored by God for their resistance to tyranny regardless.
In Part III, we’ll look at how to personally strategize through these difficult decisions. But first, let’s examine the kinds of situations where compliance is not an option.
SITUATIONS WHERE COMPLIANCE IS NOT AN OPTION
When innocent life is at stake
The Hebrew midwives are an excellent example of individual citizens interposing themselves between a tyrant and the innocent to save innocent lives. Obviously the parents of Moses likewise interposed themselves (Ex. 1:15-21; 2:2-3; Acts 7:20; Heb. 11:23).
Rahab defied and deceived the authorities in order to save the lives of the Hebrew spies (Joshua 2) and was praised by God for it (Heb. 11:31; James 2:25).
Even though Saul commanded, “Return, my son David” (1 Sam. 26:21), David refused to do so, knowing that to turn himself in would cost him his life.
Jehosheba rescued the infant Joash from the murderous intentions of Queen Athaliah (2 Kings 11:2-3).
Joseph fled to Egypt to save Jesus from the edict of Herod (Matt. 2:13-15).
When the means of protecting or sustaining life is at stake
Food is essential to life. Thus it is proper to hide or protect your food supply from authorities that want to seize it. Example: Gideon defended his right to provide food for his family by hiding parts of his crop to keep it from being seized by the Midianite authorities (Judges 6:11). The right to survival food allowed David to eat the showbread under the oversight of godly Ahimelek (1 Sam. 21). When civil authorities in Revelation prohibited any buying and selling of food without the mark of the beast, it is clear that the 144,000 and others resisted that unlawful decree, and did so with God’s permission (Rev. 12:11-14:5).
The right of self-defense is essential to life. Scripture clearly gives us the right to bear arms in self-defense against common enemies (Luke 22:35-38; Ex. 22:2; Neh. 4:16-18, 23; Esth. 8:11; etc.). When that right is removed by authorities, citizens have the right to disobey and to keep their weapons of self-defense. Jesus Himself commanded civil disobedience to weapons-control mandates when he commanded His disciples, “He who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one” (Luke 22:36). As has already been mentioned, it was illegal for private citizens to possess swords in Israel, so He was urging the purchase and carrying of illegal concealed military weapons. Two of Jesus’ disciples were already conceal-carrying short swords. When they whipped their swords out, Jesus said they were enough (v. 38).
David also exercised this right (1 Sam. 16:18; 18:4; 21:8-10, 13; 25:13) in times when the government sought to disarm the citizens (the Philistine disarmament in 1 Sam. 13:19, 22 and Saul’s inferred disarmament in 1 Sam. 22:13).
Though God wanted only a small on-call army (Deut. 17), He authorized a large militia consisting of every male 20 years of age and older (Numb. 1:3,18-45; 26:2; 2 Chron. 25:5; cf. 1 Chron. 5:17-18; 12:23-40). Thus every male had the responsibility to be trained, armed and ready for war at a moment’s notice should a civil magistrate need them for a just cause (Judges 3:27; 4:10; 5:13-18, 23; 7:1-8:1; etc.). The militia always had the option of refusing to fight for a king (Deut. 20:5-9; cf. a sinful use of this option in Judges 5:14-17, 23), and always had the option of following a lower magistrate in resistance to a king (2 Sam. 20:1; 1 Kings 12:16; 2 Chron. 10:16; cf. the calls of God in Judges). Because of this, tyrants sought to disarm the people, and relied on a paid standing army instead (Judges 5:8; 1 Sam. 13:19-23).
But despite the clear right to own weapons and to even form militias, Scripture never authorized private citizens to use those weapons against a civil magistrate — unless another lawfully-instituted civil magistrate had called them to war. This is one of the differences between lawful resistance and unlawful revolution: The civil magistrate alone is authorized by God to use the sword in the “ministry of vengeance” (Rom. 13:1-5). Vengeance (Hebrew נָקָם, nāqām; Greek ἔκδικος, ekdikos) means the infliction of justice upon a criminal after the time of the crime. Killing a criminal in self-defense is not vengeance, whereas hunting down a criminal to kill him is. Vengeance is prohibited for the individual citizen (Lev. 19:18; Rom. 12:19) whereas it is commanded of the civil magistrate (Numb. 35:19; Rom. 13:4).
David is a great example in this area. He was willing to own an illegal weapon (1 Sam. 21:8-10) and use it for defense against common criminals and raiders, but refused to use it against Saul, the civil magistrate, except in two situations: 1) when using it on behalf of the civil ruler of Keilah (1 Sam. 23:1-13) and when he himself was the mayor of Ziklag (1 Sam. 27:5-7; 28:2; 30:1-26). He treated as murder any private attempt to kill a magistrate, whether that magistrate was Saul (1 Sam. 24:4-7, 26:9, 2 Sam. 1:15-16) or Ishbosheth (2 Sam. 4:11-12). He understood that our powers to resist tyranny are limited to the powers we as individuals have been given by God. We can try to stop runaway authorities through the powers we have access to (rebuke, recruiting other magistrates, etc.), but not by taking up powers we don’t (e.g. excommunication, execution, etc.).
When the state oversteps the family’s jurisdiction
In 1 Kings 21, Ahab tried to use eminent domain to take away Naboth’s family farm, his children’s generational inheritance. This was a matter of family jurisdiction and Naboth refused the state’s unlawful intrusion.
When the state oversteps the church’s jurisdiction
In 2 Chronicles 26:16-23, King Uzziah overstepped the jurisdiction of the temple when he went in and offered incense. God honored Azariah and 80 other priests when they withstood him at great peril to their lives and pushed him out of the temple. Though “Uzziah became furious,” they held their ground, saying, “It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have trespassed!” (2 Chron. 26:18).
When we are commanded to stop doing what God commands us to do
Obviously, if we are asked to sin, we must disobey. When God commanded the apostles to preach in Jerusalem, and the civil authorities countermanded Christ’s command, ordering them to stop, they had to respond, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
When Darius signed an edict making it illegal to pray to any other god for thirty days, Daniel disobeyed that order (Dan. 6:5-10).
The prophets Haggai and Zechariah ordered the Jews to rebuild the temple, in direct disobedience to Artaxerxes’s edict (Ezra 4:19-5:3, Hag. 1-2).
Paul and Silas were commanded to preach in Philippi; when the magistrates beat and imprisoned them and then asked them to leave quietly, they refused (Acts 16:35-38).
When we are commanded to do what God prohibits
The parents of Moses refused to throw Moses into the river, choosing “illegal” obedience to God’s laws rather than “legal” obedience to man’s laws (Ex. 1:15-21; 2:2-3; Acts 7:20; Heb. 11:23).
Jonathan refused to obey King Saul’s order to kill David, since that would be murder (1 Sam. 19:1-3).
King Saul’s army refused to obey his order to kill the priests of Nob (1 Sam. 22:17), leaving Doeg (poster-child of the Divine Right of Kings theory) to do the deed.
Daniel and his three friends refused to eat the food that Nebuchadnezzar demanded they eat (Dan. 1:8, 16).
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to violate the second commandment by bowing before Nebuchadnezzar’s statue (Dan. 3).
Mordecai refused to pay the commanded homage to Haman (Esth. 3:1-5), since God had forbidden any honor for the Amalekites but instead had declared “war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Ex. 17:16).
TYPES OF LAWFUL RESISTANCE TACTICS
Resistance Tactics for Individuals
Repent
Since God often uses the sinful actions of tyrants as a spanking stick to discipline His people, we need more than simply moral outrage or good resistance strategies against the tyrants: We need a proper response to God.
Louis DeBoer said, “Ultimately, what is the church confronting when it faces the issue of tyranny? We may say we are dealing with wicked men. We may go a step further and say we are not dealing with mere flesh and blood but are confronting principalities and powers, even Satan himself. But ultimately we are dealing with God. He is the great first cause of all things. As the writer to the Hebrews puts it, ‘it is with Him that we have to do.’ If we face the question of the problems of tyranny squarely, we cannot possibly do so apart from the recognition of its source and its place in the providential purposes of a sovereign God who works all things according to His purpose.”17
So rather than complaining about the increasing tyranny, we should recognize that this may be God’s tool to bring the church to repentance, and the sooner the church comes to repentance, the sooner the tyranny can be removed. We are looking at things backwards when we start with politics. Without repentance there is no deliverance.
Daniel, as ruler over almost all of the Babylonians (and thus, the exiled Israelites), prayed a prayer of repentance on behalf of the whole nation (Dan. 9).
The priest and scribe Ezra began a personal prayer for forgiveness for Israel’s sin of intermarriage with pagan nations, “and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel,” weeping bitterly for their sins. And they bore fruit in keeping with their repentance, making a covenant with God to put away their pagan wives (Ezra 9-10).
The governor Nehemiah, with Ezra and the Levites, led the whole nation in a ceremony of public repentance, confession of “their sins and the iniquities of their fathers,” reading of the Law, and entering “into a curse and an oath to walk in God’s Law” (Neh. 9).
Evangelize and disciple
Paul preached the Word to a proconsul in Cyprus who then believed (Acts 13:12), and went out of his way to create opportunities to witness to Felix, Festus, King Agrippa, and by inference, Caesar (Acts 23-25.)
Jehoiada instructed King Joash until his own death (2 Chron. 24:2, 2 Kings 12:2), during which time Joash was a model king. After Jehoiada’s death, Joash forsook the Lord and went his own way, proving that discipleship didn’t accomplish regeneration — but was still a powerful restraint.
Jonah called the degenerate pagan nation of Nineveh to repentance, and “the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.” The king himself repented and commanded that everyone ‘“cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’ Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3).
Do we believe that God’s Word is powerful enough to accomplish this again?
Rebuke, protest, cry out
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is full of rebukes against unjust or tyrannical authorities. In fact, the whole book of Revelation is a rebuke against statism. Most of the prophets of the Old Testament had to rebuke civil magistrates for violating the law of God, which they were bound to uphold.
Abraham rebuked Abimelech because his servants had stolen a well from him (Gen. 21:25).
Nathan the prophet rebuked David for his dealings with Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam. 12).
Abigail appealed to and reproved David for planning to kill Nabal and the men of his household (1 Sam. 25).
Joab protested David’s numbering of Israel (1 Chron. 21:3), then reluctantly carried out the orders at first (vv. 4-5), but eventually stopped doing so (v. 6), passively resisting David’s unlawful command.
The wise woman of Abel of Beth Maachah reproved Joab for not following due process in besieging the city. Her intervention ended the siege, saving the city from destruction (2 Sam. 20:14-26).
Daniel called Nebuchadnezzar to “break off your sins by being righteous, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor. Perhaps there may be a lengthening of your prosperity” (Dan. 4:27).
John the Baptist rebuked Herod Antipas for his incestuous marriage to his brother Philip’s wife Herodias, which disqualified him from office (character does matter in politics), and also for “for all the evils which Herod had done” (Luke 3:19-20).
An important caveat: Exodus 22:28 commands us, “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.” The Christian’s general disposition to rulers should be one of respect and submission. Honoring the office sometimes requires rebuking those who abuse the office (Matt. 23:13-28; Luke 13:32; John 18:23; Acts 23:1-4; etc.), but the right attitude and motive is critical. If our rebukes are accompanied with bitterness, wrath, hatred, or malice, they become sinful even if they might have otherwise been righteous (Eph. 4:31-32; Col. 3:8 — note that “all” such attitudes must be put off).
1 Timothy 5:1 says, “Do not rebuke an older man, but exhort him as a father, younger men as brothers…” The word for rebuke there is ἐπιπλήξῃς, epiplēxēs, which has the idea of bullying with words. The normal words for rebuke (ἐλέγχω, elenchō, and ἐπιτιμάω, epitimaō) both involve disagreeing with and pointing out the wrong, but in a very different spirit. One kind of rebuke is forbidden, the other is commanded.
Expose and denounce rulers’ sin
When rulers are in sin, exposure of their sins to the public is a valid option.
In Ezekiel 8, Ezekiel writes down for all generations the idolatry that the “elders of the house of Israel [did] in the dark” (v. 12).
In Matthew 23, Jesus’ woes against the scribes and Pharisees, some of whom were civil rulers, were not pronounced in private and one-on-one, but “to the multitudes and to His disciples” (v. 1).
Ephesians 5:11 says, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Deceive or hide
Gideon hid his crops from the Midianite government (Judges 6:11).
Michal, David’s wife, deceived her father, King Saul, enabling David to escape from Saul (1 Sam. 19:11-17).
Jehosheba rescued the infant prince, Joash, from Queen Athaliah’s agents sent to slaughter him (2 Kings 11:2-3, 2 Chron. 22:11-12).
The priest Jehoiada hid Joash, the rightful heir to the throne, in opposition to Queen Athaliah (2 Chron. 22:11, 12).
Obadiah disobeyed the orders of Ahab and Queen Jezebel and instead hid God’s prophets (1 Kings 18:4).
The Hebrew midwives deceived Pharaoh about helping Hebrew mothers — saving Hebrew babies in opposition to his command (Ex. 1:15-21).
Rahab deceived Jericho’s king and soldiers and hid Israel’s spies in Joshua 2.
Disobey
During Jesus’ six trials He refused to answer His interrogators at least four times — under Caiaphas, the high priest (Matt. 26:62-63; Mark 14:60-61); under Herod Antipas, the governor of Galilee and Perea (Luke 23:9); and twice under Pontius Pilate (Matt. 27:13-14; Mark 15:4-5 and John 19:9-10).
Jesus also refused to perform a miracle (Luke 23:8-9) or to prophesy (Matt. 26:68; Mark 14:65; Luke 22:64), even though officers desired him to do so.
The Hebrew midwives and Moses’ parents defied the Pharaoh’s orders to throw baby boys into the Nile (Ex. 1:15-21; 2:2-3).
Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the high priest ignored the orders of Artaxerxes (Ezra 4-6) and began to rebuild the temple. They didn’t wait for an appeal or for a reversal of orders — they just disobeyed.
The wise men from the East clearly disobeyed a direct order from Herod the Great by not returning through Jerusalem and not reporting the location of the newly-born Messiah as Herod had ordered (Matt. 2:7-12).
The apostles in Acts 4 and 5 disobeyed the orders of the civil magistrates prohibiting their preaching.
The 144,000 refused to wear the mark of the beast (Rev. 13:16-18; 14:9-11; 15:2; 16:2; 19:20; 20:4) and ignored the orders against buying and selling without the mark (Rev. 13:7, 16-17).
If you go this route, be willing to pay the price. In Acts 4, illegal preaching and meeting resulted in beatings. For many of the prophets of old, faithfully carrying out their calling resulted in death. Many of the examples of civil disobedience laid out in Hebrews 11 suffered for their stands. But others were given miraculous victories. God sometimes leads people to resist even when the potential cost is far greater than the earthly return, and He rewards “the one who overcomes” for their faithfulness regardless of earthly success or failure.
Flee
Jesus said, “When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Matt. 10:23). Thus, if the government commands you to turn yourself in to be jailed or executed, there are circumstances where Christ says it’s legitimate to run.
When “a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem” in Acts 8:1-4, the believers scattered and took the word throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria.
David’s flight from Saul is a classic example of disobedience to a tyrant while still honoring the tyrant. Saul clearly commanded, “Return, my son David” (1 Sam. 26:21), yet David refused and continued to flee.
The Exodus is the classic example of people leaving an oppressive nation to go to where they can worship and serve God freely.
These are tactical retreats — a decision to take the fight elsewhere, not just to run away and give up.
Hire a lawyer and/or use the law against the government
Besides appealing to Caesar in Acts 25, the Apostle Paul frequently stymied his persecutors by appealing to their laws. (Paul’s appeal to Caesar also gained him more chances to preach the gospel before heads of state.)
In Acts 22:24-26, Paul avoided a scourging by appealing to his rights as a Roman citizen.
Paul’s personal lawyer Zenas (see Tit. 3:13) no doubt helped him strategize on how to use the law against the government.
Pit wicked people against each other
In Acts 23, Paul gained support from one of the political factions by highlighting what he had in common with one party, and why persecution of him could result in persecution of them. He slowed down the persecution by getting the enemies to fight with each other. It was only a slowdown — it was not a long-term strategy. But it is an option that needs to be in the Christian’s arsenal in our culture wars. The same tactic can be used by pitting political party factions (or bureaucrats, or agencies, or other government entities) against each other.
Appeal to other civic officers to help
Esther appealed to King Ahasuerus to save the Jews from murder by Haman (Esth. 7:3-4).
Nehemiah appealed to the Persian king to allow him to assist Israel (Neh. 2:5-8).
When one magistrate persecuted the early Christians, they could appeal to another magistrate (or faction within government) to use force to protect them (Acts 21:31-36; 22:24-29; 25:11; 27:42-43).
When Paul’s nephew found out about a Jewish conspiracy to kill Paul, he informed the Roman commander about it, and the Roman commander used his power to protect Paul by moving him to a safer place (Acts 23).
The main job of a civil officer is to protect his citizens from harm — that includes protecting them from tyrants.
Get magistrates to use their “power of the sword” to declare war against tyrants
See the following section, Tactics for Magistrates, for more detail on this.
Pray the war psalms against these persecutors
Pray the imprecatory psalms and prayers asking for God’s judgment to come (Acts 4:25-31; Rev. 6:10; 8:1-7; etc.; see David’s use of Psalms 52, 54, 57, 59, 63, 109, etc.). Many of the imprecatory psalms were written by David against Saul or Absalom. These prayers were asking God to give justice where no justice was available on earth.
Jehoshaphat had the Levites sing as they advanced against the aggressor tyrants, and God answered in a miraculous way, with the enemies killing each other off (2 Chron. 20:19-23).
Acts 4 shows the early church praying imprecatory prayers against Pontius Pilate and the Jewish leaders.
The book of Revelation is filled with the imprecations of the saints against the bestial kingdoms of Rome and Israel. Of the twenty-eight songs in Revelation,18 the majority pronounce God’s judgments on the persecuting state, while others affirm God’s kingship over nations.
Jury nullification
Numbers 35:25 gives an example of the men of a city being appealed to by a man accused of murder. When they deliberate and find him innocent, “the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood.”
Make a statement by going the extra mile where you can
Submission itself can be an act of “resistance” when we make it obvious that we submit of our own free will. Jesus said, “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matt. 5:41). This way it is clear that our submission is in our power, not simply compelled. When Joseph was unjustly thrown into an Egyptian prison in Genesis 39, he could have insisted on his rights even if it meant his death. But instead, he went the extra mile and the LORD granted Joseph the favor of his guards and fellow prisoners. Friends of mine in underground countries have ministered to their persecutors and as a result won grudging admiration and openness to the Gospel. The Holy Spirit can prompt us when to go the extra mile, versus when to rebuke or in other ways resist.
Resistance Tactics for Churches
Of the four governments (individual self-government, family government, church government, and civil government), the church is often overlooked when it comes to resistance to tyranny. But Revelation shows us a picture of the church’s power, as the primary human force in resisting the kingdom of the Beast. The united prayers of the church corporate (Rev. 8:1-6) are what unleashed regiments of angels from the heavenlies and unleashed God’s judgments (the seven trumpets) upon the world (Rev. 8:6-11:19). It was the church corporate who overcame the dragon (Rev. 12:1-12). And when church elders are willing to practice church discipline (including on magistrates within the church who are out of line), God honors it by binding in the heavenlies what the church binds on earth (Matt. 18:15-20). Throughout history, church discipline has been used to stay the hand of many a tyrant. Though there is some overlap between what individuals, families, and churches can do, there is additional weight to the actions of Christ’s body, the church.
Challenge unbiblical statutes
Churches sometimes have to break man’s edicts (such as prohibitions of church gatherings and communion, capacity requirements, requirements for licensure, etc.) when they thwart God’s purpose and instructions for the church.
Though Jesus perfectly kept the Sabbath laws of the Old Testament (Heb. 4:15), He “broke the Sabbath” laws of the civil leaders of Israel (John 5:18). (See Lev. 23:1-3, Isa. 58, and Neh. 8:9-12 for God’s intent for the day). Jesus went out of His way to heal, eat, and fellowship on the Sabbath. He was challenging man’s unbiblical statutes and in the process was teaching his disciples the joyous true intent of God’s Sabbath.
When Ahab and Jezebel outlawed worship of Yehowah and put all the prophets they could find to death, one hundred prophets refused to leave Israel (1 Kings 18:4,13) and Elijah challenged Jezebel’s ungodly religion, her murders, and her rebellion against God (1 Kings 18-19).
By the time Revelation was written, Nero had outlawed Christianity and was seeking to stamp out the church. This means that every church in Revelation 2-3 was willing to challenge those ungodly edicts by their very existence.19
In Revelation 12:13-17, the church hid them from the persecuting decrees of Herod, and this challenge to Rome’s decrees lasted three and a half years.
Go underground
In the book of Acts, the church not only refused to be licensed by the Jewish state (Acts 4:1-31; 9:2; etc.), but it also clearly violated Roman statist law when it established churches without applying for the collegia licita or corporate status from Rome.20 In Acts 18:12-17, as one example, Paul was teaching “contrary to the law.” This indicates there was a lawful way to teach that Paul neglected. It is precisely Rome’s insistence that all religious groups get licensed and incorporated that explains both 1) the boldness of Jewish lawsuits against Paul in Roman courts and 2) later Roman persecution of Christianity.
As just one Old Testament example, Abiathar joined David’s men in starting an underground church (1 Sam. 23) after Saul killed all the priests of Nob (1 Sam. 22). He ministered God’s Word to David’s growing band over the next seven years.
Revelation 12:6, 14-17 shows that God authorized and protected an underground, unlicensed, illegal church that continued to operate on every level without heeding the government’s restrictions. In China and many restricted countries, simply existing is a constant act of disobedience on the part of churches.
Provide a long-term hiding place
Even when the church is “above-ground” and public, the church can hide individuals from the state. The temple priests engaged in righteous treason by hiding Joash for six years to prevent Athaliah from killing him (2 Kings 11:3). The most famous modern parallel of this is the hiding of Jews from Nazi German persecution.
Support sympathetic leaders and godly causes
Saul disqualified himself in 1 Samuel 15 and the LORD rejected him as king, sending Samuel in chapter 16 to anoint a replacement. Even though Saul didn’t step down, God chose a replacement (David) to wait in the wings.
After hiding Joash for six years, the priests joined with nobles in putting him on the throne (2 Kings 11) even though that was considered treason by Queen Athaliah (2 Kings 11:14).
This was very similar to the joint efforts of clergy and nobles to interpose and force King John to sign the Magna Carta.
Stop and hold accountable civil leaders within the church
David was censured and restored by Nathan the prophet over his dealings with Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam. 12).
2 Chronicles 26:19-20 is an example of the church stoutly resisting state intrusions into the church’s jurisdiction — Azariah forcing King Uzziah out of the church for offering incense there.
Through history, many magistrates have been put under church discipline because of their tyrannical acts or gross sins. The most famous was the Roman Emperor Theodosius I, who was excommunicated by Bishop Ambrose of Milan for executions without due process. Only after repentance and restitution was he brought back into the communion of the Church. Likewise, Patrick of Ireland called for the excommunication of the murdering and slave-trading Chieftain Coroticus.
For tyrants outside the church (or for tyrants whose church officers refuse to discipline them), see the next section about appealing to the heavenly court.
Arraign the enemies of God before the court of heaven in corporate prayer
When justice is not available on earth, Luke 18:1-8 calls us to bring our case before the Judge of all the earth and receive justice from His hand. When we do so according to the protocols of His heavenly courtroom, He guarantees that He will avenge His saints speedily (v. 8). But He ends that parable by saying that this courtroom appeal must be done in faith. Acts 4:23-31 is an abbreviated window into this process. I have also developed two extended lessons from Psalm 5 on how to go about getting a heavenly court judgment.21
Resistance Tactics for Civil Magistrates
Civil governments have powers entrusted to them that individuals and churches don’t — the power of the sword, the power to take vengeance, the power to enforce contract law, etc. — and can challenge or restrain each other in ways that others can’t. This resistance can come either from the top down (see the reformations brought on by Joash, Josiah, Hezekiah, and other kings), or it can come from the lower magistrate against the tyranny of a superior (for example, Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, and Jephthah in the book of Judges), or it can go sideways (nobles protecting Jeremiah from other nobles and the king) or it can take place between the branches of government (executive, legislative, and judicial branches nullifying what is tyrannical in the other branches).
A brief summary of the rights of resistance by the civil magistrate:
Interposition
Interposition is any act of protection by coming in between an aggressor and a person or body that will otherwise be harmed. In many books (including Black’s Law Dictionary), interposition only refers to a lower magistrate protecting citizens under them from the tyranny of the federal government, but Biblical interposition in civics can involve any branch of local, state, or federal government protecting citizens or groups being harmed by any other branch of government that is threatening that harm. Likewise, individuals and families can come between a tyrant and a defenseless citizens by hiding the citizen.
Judges is filled with examples of lower governments resisting a national government, sometimes passively; other times actively (see particularly Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar in Judges 3, and Jephthah in Judges 11-12).
Jonathan (a prince) interposed himself on behalf of David in defiance of King Saul’s order to kill him (1 Sam. 19:1-3).
Four civil leaders, heads of the Ephraimites, “stood up against those [Israelites] who came from the war” and refused to let them keep their Judean captives (2 Chron. 28:12-14).
Nullification
Saul’s army rescued Jonathan from King Saul’s unjust death sentence (1 Sam. 14:24-45), which was a clear example of nullification.
Prince Jonathan nullified his father’s death decree against David (1 Sam. 19:4-7).
Nicodemus unsuccessfully attempted to engage in nullification when he tried to stop the conspiracy against Jesus by asking, “Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?” (John 7:51).
Protest
Jonathan’s words to King Saul (which Saul heeded, that time) in 1 Samuel 19:4 are one of many examples of lower magistrates protesting the actions of higher magistrates.
In 2 Samuel 24, Joab rightly thought that it was wicked for David to try to number Israel the way he was doing it and protested. (When David prevailed, Joab did part of the job, but didn’t finish because he found it so disgusting. This was a form of passive resistance.)
Secession
The book of Judges gives us many examples of secession from tyrants — and Hebrews 11 showcases them as models of faith.
In 1 Kings 12:22-24, when Jeroboam led the northern ten tribes in secession from the south’s grossly tyrannical taxation, and the south mustered an army to stop the secession, God sent a prophet to warn Rehoboam in these words: “Thus says the LORD, ‘You shall not go up nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel. Let every man return to his house, for this thing is from Me.’” In these words God enshrined the right of secession into His Word.
The Levitical city of Libnah (cf. 1 Chron. 6:57) seceded from Judah because the king “had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers” (2 Chron. 21:10).
War
Jesus said that if He were a civil magistrate, “My servants would fight [against the authorities who arrested him], so that I should not be delivered to the Jews” (John 18:36). This is as explicit an authorization of war by magistrates against tyrants as one could get from Jesus.
The judges Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar in Judges 3 and Jephthah in Judges 11-12 protected the citizens through war against foreign rulers.
Kings including David, Asa, and Jehoshaphat fought to protect Israel and Judah from encroaching foreign tyrants.