They Were Putting Every Magistrate In The Roman Empire On Notice

So in view of the many times Paul and Peter were unjustly beaten and imprisoned, and in view of the horrible brutality of Roman emperors, what are we to conclude? Were Paul and Peter just kidding about the obligations of rulers? 

Far from it: “Let God’s Word be true and every man a liar” (Romans 3:4). Paul and Peter were speaking for God. They were putting every magistrate in the Roman Empire on warning: Unjust rulers will face His wrath, and sometimes it may even be delivered by His Servants. Over and over in the Bible, we see this pattern: 

God allowed Moses to beat Pharaoh back with plagues. 

The Hebrew midwives lied to the king and disobeyed him when they were commanded to kill Hebrew newborns. In a kind of ancient tax revolt, 

Ehud stuck a knife in the belly of an evil king and called it a message from God. 

The wise men refused to tell Herod where the Christ Child was born. 

Peter, when ordered not to preach the Gospel, disobeyed the religious authorities and concluded it was better to obey God than man. 

When Paul’s Roman citizenship was abused, he refused to be secreted away but demanded his jailers own up to their wrongdoing. 

We obey rulers, in other words, when they are doing what God wants them to do, and we disobey them, rebuke them, recall them, vote against them, and–depending on circumstances–confront them with arms, when they are in violation of God’s will.

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