Revolt

Is revolt against the government ever justified in Scripture? How far do we go before we have to take militant action? Where is the point at which we can no longer stand by and see our freedoms and all that our country used to stand for taken away? These are hard questions, put some thought into them before you reply.

y'all:
me:

2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 23 tell about the account of Athaliah. How the priest Jehoiada took some of the faithful soldiers put eight year-old Joash on the throne and killed Athaliah. There you have a clear example of the people revolting against the government for a good cause.
Now what this tells us about when the limit is I don't know. This passage alone probably does not give us that answer. We have the tension of obeying those in authority over us but I believe if they are going against the Bible it is a case of obeying God rather than men.

There is another question which I have been pondering and have not yet heard anyone else on is this: God has ordained three spheres of authority, the civil magistrate, the church, and the family. Roughly the civil magistrate is responsible to punish evil and reward good, essentially protection of righteous people. The church is responsible for things like excommunicating people, etc. The family is responsible especially for the schooling and raising of children. Mind you these are very rough and I am not trying to make a comprehensive list of each entities' particular authority.
The question I have been wondering is if it is right to revolt simply when the state is over stepping its authority. For instance the civil magistrate has no God given authority to school our children. Is it sin and therefore right for us to revolt when the government seeks to school our children?

Legolas Greenleaf wrote:2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 23 tell about the account of Athaliah. How the priest Jehoiada took some of the faithful soldiers put eight year-old Joash on the throne and killed Athaliah. There you have a clear example of the people revolting against the government for a good cause.
Now what this tells us about when the limit is I don't know. This passage alone probably does not give us that answer.

The question I have been wondering is if it is right to revolt simply when the state is over stepping its authority. For instance the civil magistrate has no God given authority to school our children. Is it sin and therefore right for us to revolt when the government seeks to school our children?

I agree with you that the line is not very clear...I do think that what we should NOT do under any circumstance is compromise. I think that if the time comes, our decision will be made for us because if we do not bow to sinful legislation or authority, we will be persecuted and have to defend ourselves and our families.

It's a very hard question, but one that deserves some thought and comment. I intend to do more searching of the Scriptures to see if there is more direction somewhere...