Exodus 22:28
“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.
Tag: Authority Matters to God
In this section of Exodus, God is giving to Moses and the nation of Israel the various commandments. All of them, as stated by Christ, can be summed up in the “love God with all your heart, soul and mind AND love your neighbor as yourself. The above “rule” could be characterized the same way. God establishes all authority (despite what our “democratic” form of government might lead us to believe). When God establishes authority, God desires that we honor that authority. It begins with our honor of Him as the sovereign God over us. It ends with honoring the leadership HE has allowed to be His authority on this earth. Perhaps the New Testament version of this passage is found in Romans 13. In Rome, at the time of the writing of the book of Romans, the authority in place was Nero. Nero was persecuting the Christians and having the killed for sport and for fuel. Very few believers would be a big fan of Nero. Yet, notice what Paul told the Roman Christians:
Romans 13:1-3 (Submission to the Authorities)
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. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
God does not like or foster ungodly leaders. God WILL deal with them according to THEIR deeds. But, God also is not pleased with believers who curse their leaders or fail to honor them. We are to be subject to them and to recognize that God has put them in the place they are to lead. Therefore they are ordained by God. All the way back to the Old Testament God has demanded a level of respect for leadership; fully knowing that leaders would be bad. But, God wants us to honor leadership and authority. It is God process.
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