AUTHORITY AND SUBMISSION #2
REBELLION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

1.SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS LESSON
Anyone who understands and lives this principle will be as successful as ever.

The principle of authority and submission is:
1st-Submit upwards;
2nd-Submit downwards;
3rd – Do not interfere with the parallels;

God has established authorities. All authority comes from God and in order to obey Him we must obey the authorities that God has established.

God does not choose qualified people, but he qualifies the chosen ones.

Obedience brings success and blessing, but disobedience brings failure and curse.
It is necessary to exercise authority, because there are serious consequences if you do not do so.

2.REBELLION AND CONSEQUENCES
God forgives sin against holiness, but he does not forgive sin against authority instituted by God.

3.BIBLICAL EXAMPLES
a)ADAM AND EVE – Genesis 3:1-19
God created the perfect human being who would live forever. When Eve was tempted by the devil, she gave in. They were both punished and there were dramatic consequences: the earth was left in the devil’s hands and there were all sorts of curses – disease, poverty, pain, death, etc.

b)NADABE AND ABIU – Leviticus 10:1-2
They were the sons of Aaron and tried to steal his authority.
They offered strange fire – they did a task for which they had no authority.
As a consequence, they died.

This means that if a person has not been appointed and consecrated to a position, they can not exercise authority. The same applies to the church today – to play a role in the church, you need to be appointed (be it pastor, musician, etc).

c)SEDITION OF MIRIAM AND AARON – Numbers 12:1-10

Moses failed / sinned against God’s holiness by marrying a Cushite woman, but Miriam and Aaron began to challenge the authority instituted by God and to question / point the finger at Moses (authority).

God defended Moses, not because he was putting a stamp of approval on Moses’ sin, but on the authority he had. Miriam was punished for insubmission to the authority instituted by God.

d)Dathan, Korah and Abiram’s revolt – Numbers 16:1-35
Dathan, Korah and Abiram defied God’s leadership by showing logic rather than obedience and ended up dragging 250 people with them. As a result, they all ended up in hell.

The Bible teaches us not to get involved with people who, despite claiming to be Christians / brothers, are rebels, murmurers, etc. – 1 Corinthians 5:11

e)KING SAUL – 1 Samuel 15:3-23
At this time, the prophet was in charge of the king. The prophet was God’s representative/official. He was chosen and anointed and received instructions from God to pass on to the king.
The prophet Samuel had instructed King Saul to go to war and destroy everything. But King Saul disobeyed and brought live animals with him for sacrifice, rejecting the instructions.

From this story we can draw conclusions:
1st-God is not looking for sacrifices;
2nd-God seeks obedience;
3rd-Porpering = refusing – is a sin like idolatry;
4th-Disobedience = defying – is a sin like rebellion (just like Satan’s).

King Saul was punished by being handed over to the devil and made king.

Next Friday, come to a Maná Church near you!