The problem of government overreach is as old as the Scriptures. God himself warned the Israelites about the tendency of governments toward tyranny (1 Sam 8:11-14), and the Old and New Testaments furnish plenty of examples to prove his warning was well-founded.

One of the most striking examples comes from the actions of the Israelite King Uzziah in the book of Chronicles. The chronicler tells us that Uzziah was a good king (2 Chronicles 26:4), but at the end of his life he grew proud and overstepped his God-given authority with disastrous consequences. The writer introduces the story with the lesson, “When [Uzziah] was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction.” Then he succinctly explains what happened:

For he was unfaithful to the Lord his God and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the Lord who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ‘It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the Lord God.’ Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the Lord, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the Lord had struck him. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the Lord.

2 Chronicles 26:16-21

This text not only warns against pride in leadership, it gives us a glimpse into the jurisdictional nature of Hebrew national life.

First we learn that Uzziah’s position as king did not set him over the priesthood, nor did it give him any special temple privileges. When it came to temple worship the king had no more authority than any other non-Levite Jew. As Azariah forcefully pointed out, God prohibited the king from burning incense, making sacrifices, or generally meddling in the affairs of the priests. Israelite kings had vast authority over the nation’s civil and military affairs, but none whatever over her religious worship. All religious authority in Israel was vested in the priesthood. God limited the authority of both the kings and priests to their specific jurisdictions, thus creating a check on their power, not unlike the checks and balances in the United States government today.

Second, Uzziah’s intrusion into the affairs of the priests was not a minor infraction but a serious breach of God’s established order. No evidence other than Uzziah’s leprous forehead is needed to prove this point. Note that Uzziah’s leprosy persisted until the day of his death.

Third, the writer is explicit that Uzziah’s abuse of power was motivated by the sin of pride.

Numerous applications can be drawn from these facts, but one that seems pertinent at the present time is this: civil governments should beware of intruding into the affairs of the church. From a biblical point of view, the principle of jurisdictional authority has not changed since the time of the Israelite kings. God simply has not given the state authority to tell the church to shut down, stop singing, forego communion, or silence the preaching of the gospel. The worship and activity of the church is and will always be totally outside of the state’s jurisdiction. God will never give the state authority over his church because that place is reserved for Jesus Christ.  

But what about the teaching of the New Testament that Christians must submit to the governing authorities? Both Peter and Paul are crystal clear that Christians must obey the governing authorities (Romans 13, 1 Peter 2), but they do not teach that the government has unlimited authority. On the contrary, when Peter and John were told not to preach Jesus, they responded “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Later, when Peter was arrested and thrown in prison, God sent an angel to rescue him. When the angel arrived, Peter did not conclude he had a duty to stay in prison in obedience to the governing authorities, but wisely followed the angel out the door (Acts 12:6-12)! Clearly the apostles did not believe in unilateral submission to the government. Taken as a whole, the teaching of the New Testament is that Christians should obey the government as far as they able. But when government passes laws or uses it’s power in ways that interfere with our obedience to God, it is not only our right to disobey the government, it is our duty to disobey the government.