Rebellion is everywhere in the world. Children rebel from parents. Students rebel from the rules at school. Even adults rebel from the law set in place. Why do people rebel? Is it the temptation of freedom that drives people to rebel from stipulations set in place? God’s word has a lot to say about rebellion and that is what we are going to discuss today. So let’s discover what God says about rebellious people.

The wonderful psalmist David has a word or two to say about rebellion. He says in Psalms 68:6, “God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” Basically God will not provide for those who rebel. Whether it’s rebellion against the law of the land or God’s law, it doesn’t matter. If we follow the rules God will provide for us.

There is also a call in God’s word for children to obey their parents. Ephesians 6:1 says,”Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” God tells us we should obey our parents, because it is right in the Lord’s eyes. We should not need any more than that.

God also tells us we must listen and obey the law of the land. Romans 13:1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” We must obey the law because God told us to. If we do not obey the law, not only are rebelling against the law, but we are rebelling against God as well. For authority comes from God.

Even though we must obey man, we must obey God all the more. A great example of this lies in Acts the 5th chapter. The apostles had just been brought before the council and were told that they were not allowed to teach the name of Christ in that city. Peter’s response is held in Acts 5:29, “But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”” Knowing that suffering is right around the corner, Peter and the apostles still say they have to obey God rather than men. This shows incredible faith, and the ability to withstand the temptation of rebellion. They have two options in this situation, rebellion or obedience. If they rebel against God, they promise to no longer teach the name of Christ in that city and move on. If they don’t rebel against God they continue teaching the name of Christ, and that’s exactly what they did. As verse 42 of Acts chapter 5 reads, “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” How amazing it is that because they did not rebel, the apostles kept on teaching the good news of Christ. This is an excellent example of not to rebel against God.   

As we can see, those who rebel against the law rebel against God. It is never a good idea to rebel, unless you rebel for the better. Even if we do rebel against God, which happens every time we sin, he will always accept us back. However, we must confess our sins and return to him.- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9