running from authorities

So many Christians today see disobeying the government as a sin. To be sure, in many cases it is a sin. But, if the Bible teaches submission to the government in all or almost all situations, why do tyrant governments ban Bibles studies? You’d think that evil rulers would require Bible reading, if that’s what the Bible taught.

The reason bad governments don’t like the Bible is that it doesn’t teach unlimited submission to the government. In fact, it teaches us to defy tyranny. Here are some examples:

1. Running from the police.

The job of the police is to enforce the law. If the laws are good, that’s not a problem. But, if the laws are bad that can become a big problem. Sometimes, the police are used by tyrants to enforce, not the law, but the will of that tyrant. Either way, it is the job of the police to arrest those who defy the will of the government.

One day Paul got into some trouble. He made the government mad, and they sent the police to arrest him. Did Paul submit? Did he let them arrest him? Nope. He ran.

In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul is reluctantly “boasting” about some of his qualifications for being an apostle. After mentioning some of the things he suffered (vv. 23-28), he then goes on to “boast” about the time he escaped from the authorities that were sent to arrest him (vv. 32-33). He even enlisted the help of other disciples to escape the police (Acts 9:24-25).

2. Breaking out of jail.

Peter also made the government angry, and they sent the police after him. Peter, however, was unable to escape the police like Paul did. Peter was arrested and put in jail (Acts 12:4). While he was in jail, God sent an angel to break him out. (vv. 6-10). At first, Peter thought he was seeing a vision, but after realizing that he really had escaped the jail, he praised God for his deliverance (v. 11).

While it is rather unusual for an angel to break people out of jail, the point is that God doesn’t consider escaping from jail to be immoral (assuming one is jailed for unjust reasons, of course).

3. “Lying” to the government.

Generally speaking, God is opposed to taking another person’s life. However, there are exceptions (Exo. 22:2; Deut. 20:12-13; etc.). Generally speaking, God is opposed to saying things that aren’t true. But again, there are exceptions. There are many times in Scripture where God approves of people being deceitful, and in every such case (that I know of), that person is lying to the government.

In Exodus 1, the Hebrew midwives were told by the government to kill babies (vv. 15-16). The midwives defied the government. When asked why they weren’t obeying orders, the midwives lied, and said that the Hebrew mothers were giving birth before the midwives could get there (v. 19). However, this wasn’t true, it was merely an excuse. The real reason the midwives disobeyed was that they feared God, not because they couldn’t get there in time (v. 17). God approved of their disobeying and deceiving the government, and He blessed them for it (vv. 20-21).

In Joshua 2, Rahab hides the Israelite spies that the government is trying to arrest (vv. 1-4). When the government asks her to turn the spies over to them, she lies to the police and says that the spies escaped through the city gate (v. 5). This wasn’t true, and Rahab knew it. The spies were hiding on her roof and she was the one who put them there (v. 6)! Did God approve of Rahab’s deceit? You bet He did! In fact, Rahab’s lying is what God considers as proof of her faith (Heb. 11:31; Jam. 2:25)!

Some may say that God approved of hiding the spies, but not of the lying. However, the deception was part and parcel to the hiding of the spies. The government wanted her to give the spies over to them. If she had told the truth (or even just said nothing), the police would have known the spies were there, and would have searched Rahab’s house instead of leaving. Rahab sent the spies out “another way” (Jam. 2:25). She did that in order to deceive the authorities. In fact, the very act of hiding something is a form of deception.

There are many more examples of God blessing His people when they disobey, deceive, and run from ungodly governments. That being said, I need to remind you that these examples which I have cited are all dealing with life and death situations. In each case, someone’s life was in danger. I’m not saying that is the only time to disobey (see Acts 5:27-29), but we should do our best to live at peace with all men, including the government (Rom. 12:18). However, when governments are a threat to life, gospel proclamation, or a godly living, we don’t have to bow down to them. God is not only okay with disobeying the government in those cases, He actually blesses that disobedience.

I’ll leave you with a quote that represents what Christians from the past have thought about defying the government (“princes”) when they are behaving in an ungodly way:

“For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind. We ought, rather, to spit upon their heads than to obey them.” – John Calvin (1509-1564)