Five Bible Verses on Rebellion

Rebellion is something that virtually every person deals with in their lives. We are imperfect human beings and our nature going all the way back to the dawn of men was rebellion against the desires of God! Our first rebellion was to disobey God, and after this we were cursed and left in a desolate landscape. It is through pain and suffering that we learn to lose this intense desire to rebel against all things good and true. It's very easy to see, especially in teenagers the desire to rebel and do anything but what they're told. Sometimes if they are told the wrong thing, this rebellion can be just. The root of all this rebellion is of course pride. Pride is the most insidious of all sins. It slips in when we are doing well, because why should we not be confident when everything is going quite well? The only answer is humbleness. If we cannot find it ourselves, God gifts it to us through utter suffering and misery.
Rebellion being part of our nature as humans must be overcome, but those who are stubborn and stupid will remain in their rebellion longer than they should. These are five quotes that tell us God's answer to persistent stubborn rebellion.

1. Proverbs 17:11 An evil man seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

There is a great high of righteousness that we feel when rebelling. We feel unmistakeably right about everything. It is a lie. Only humbleness can speak righteousness, and by being so it does not speak it. There is some debate as to whom the "cruel messenger" referred to in Proverbs 17:11 would be. The general consensus seems to be that it could be an angel from God, the devil, or some earthly men sent to cause trouble by God. In any case God's answer to a rebellious heart is to send swift trouble to it.

2. Proverbs 25:26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

Rebellion can easily spring from the wicked. The wicked will slip in within the ranks of righteous men and whisper things that make our heads start going. When we get into that wrong thinking, it can turn bad fast. That is our nature as humans however, we are easily lead astray! It is extremely easy for someone to pull us off our course with a few pretty words. So it's important to have a daily routine of strong spirituality. This passage makes reference that a righteous man is like a pure fountain or spring. If that person gives way to the ideas of the wicked, they become polluted.

3. 1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

This passage from Samuel tells us that rebellion in general is exactly the same as sinning through witchcraft. Witchcraft in general is a term that refers to improper spiritual practices. Rebellion is indeed improper for a Christian. Only a fool revels in their own rebellion. In this passage stubbornness is said to be the same as iniquity and idolatry. So this passage in Samuel is telling us that being stubborn in coming to God is a character flaw, and the same as keeping a false God!

4. Job 24:13 They are of those that rebel against the light; they know not the ways thereof, nor abide in the paths thereof.

This passage in Job is telling us that there are those that are in rebellion against all good things, which come from God. They do not know the ways of God, and do not search out the paths to God.

5. Isaiah 65:2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts.

This passage in Isaiah is talking about the tribe of Israel. It says that God has reached out to all the people of the tribe, but they are rebellious and seek only to satisfy themselves. It says they walk, or live in a way that was not right. They follow their own minds, not the ideas in the Bible. This passage tells us that God will continue to reach out to us in our rebellion! He is always there for us, showing himself to us.