Protests are often seen as a vehicle for voicing out discontentment, seeking justice, and advocating for change. It’s never a surprise to find echoes of similar activities and attitudes in the Bible. Characters from the Bible went up against unjust practices, raised concerns about unfair treatment, and took definitive stands, embodying the spirit of protest we see in the modern world. While the Bible does not specifically use the term “protest,” it provides insights and principles that can guide believers’ approach towards it.
What the Bible Says About Speaking Up Against Injustice
The Bible contains several instances where people of faith took a stand against injustices—many times risking their own safety and security. These stories teach that speaking up against unfair practices is not only a responsibility but also a virtue. The Bible encourages tackling the root cause of a problem rather than just dealing with its symptoms. Thus, the Bible places great emphasis on standing for justice and righteousness, sowing the seeds for the principle of protest.
Where Biblical Characters Stood Up for Their Beliefs
The Bible describes numerous scenarios where its characters displayed their conviction to stand against injustice. Characters like Moses, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and Esther are famous for acting against unjust systems, despite the personal risks involved. Their courage and willingness to defend their beliefs are examples of peaceful protests. They give testament to an important aspect of protests, which includes standing up not only for personal rights but also for the rights of the vulnerable and oppressed.
When to Maintain Peace and Order
While the Bible supports the fair fight against injustice, it also promotes peace, order, and respect for authority. It acknowledges our responsibility to live peacefully with everyone, to pray for those in power, and to obey governing authorities unless their commands contradict God’s commands. It encourages patience and peaceful resistance in the face of oppression but discourages violent retaliation. The stance of the Bible, while advocating for justice, also argues for a balanced approach, one that places great value on peace and the preservation of human dignity.
Why Prayer is a Form of Protest
The Bible presents prayer as a potent tool for protest. It is seen as a spiritual act that can peacefully resist evil and injustice. Prayer, as depicted in the Bible, reflects a deep trust in God’s power to intervene and bring justice in situations of deep distress and despair. In several narratives, when faced with oppression and injustice, characters voiced their plea for justice to God, holding steadfast to their faith. In this context, prayer can be viewed as a peaceful form of protest, conveying a powerful message of hope and resilience.
Who are Involved in the Biblical Principles of Protest
Everyone, from prophets to kings to common citizens, are found to be involved in actions that align with the principles of protest. They illustrate that anyone, regardless of status or position, can raise their voice against injustice and stand up for truth. Protests in the Bible are not confined to the powerful or the elite. Instead, they democratize the act of resistance, showing that anyone equipped with the truth and justice can form a resistance against oppression. In essence, the Bible communicates that upholding justice and righteousness is not confined to a select few, but is a calling for all believers.
Below is the full list of bible verses on protests (King James Version – KJV). The list is ranked in order of popularity and we hope you find the inspiration you need.
Most Popular Bible Verses About Protests
Proverbs 31:9
“9 Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
Related Themes: Justice Judging Others Fairness Speaking Up
Proverbs 21:13
“13 Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.”
Related Themes: Homelessness Serving The Poor Charity Generosity
Proverbs 22:8
“8 He that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”
Related Themes: Reaping Reaping What You Sow Vanity Injustice
Matthew 24:12
“12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
Related Themes: Lust Apostasy Love Indifference
Deuteronomy 1:16-17
“16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.17 Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me, and I will hear it.”
Related Themes: Strangers Social Justice Arguing Partiality
John 16:33
“33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
Related Themes: Frustration Suffering Peace Homelessness Bitterness
Acts 19:34
“34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
Galatians 4:16
“16 Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?”
Related Themes: Telling The Truth Purity
Proverbs 14:15
“15 The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”
John 14:27
“27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Related Themes: Peace Nervousness Loneliness Rest Hope
John 8:58-59
“58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.59 Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.”
Matthew 12:14-21
“14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;16 And charged them that they should not make him known:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles.19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.21 And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.”
1 Timothy 5:18
“18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.”
Job 6:20-27
“20 They were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed.21 For now ye are nothing; ye see my casting down, and are afraid.22 Did I say, Bring unto me? or, Give a reward for me of your substance?23 Or, Deliver me from the enemy’s hand? or, Redeem me from the hand of the mighty?24 Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand wherein I have erred.25 How forcible are right words! but what doth your arguing reprove?26 Do ye imagine to reprove words, and the speeches of one that is desperate, which are as wind?27 Yea, ye overwhelm the fatherless, and ye dig a pit for your friend.”
Luke 11:42
“42 But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
Micah 6:8-12
“8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?9 The LORD’S voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath appointed it.10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is abominable?11 Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances, and with the bag of deceitful weights?12 For the rich men thereof are full of violence, and the inhabitants thereof have spoken lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.”
Related Themes: Humility Justice Strangers Business Social Justice
Isaiah 51:7
“7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.”
Obadiah 1:12-16
“12 But thou shouldest not have looked on the day of thy brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither shouldest thou have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction; neither shouldest thou have spoken proudly in the day of distress.13 Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity;14 Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress.15 For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.16 For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.”
Related Themes: Loyalty
Psalm 83:5
“5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:”
Related Themes: Hate
Ezekiel 7:11-15
“11 Violence is risen up into a rod of wickedness: none of them shall remain, nor of their multitude, nor of any of theirs: neither shall there be wailing for them.12 The time is come, the day draweth near: let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller mourn: for wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.13 For the seller shall not return to that which is sold, although they were yet alive: for the vision is touching the whole multitude thereof, which shall not return; neither shall any strengthen himself in the iniquity of his life.14 They have blown the trumpet, even to make all ready; but none goeth to the battle: for my wrath is upon all the multitude thereof.15 The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within: he that is in the field shall die with the sword; and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him.”
1 Samuel 15:23-24
“23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.”
Related Themes: Rebellion Fortune Manipulation Idolatry Disobedience
Deuteronomy 17:12
“12 And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.”
Daniel 4:27-35
“27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.28 All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar.29 At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee.32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.33 The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”
2 Chronicles 15:3-13
“3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law.4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them.5 And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries.6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.8 And when Asa heard these words, and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and put away the abominable idols out of all the land of Judah and Benjamin, and out of the cities which he had taken from mount Ephraim, and renewed the altar of the LORD, that was before the porch of the LORD.9 And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and the strangers with them out of Ephraim and Manasseh, and out of Simeon: for they fell to him out of Israel in abundance, when they saw that the LORD his God was with him.10 So they gathered themselves together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.11 And they offered unto the LORD the same time, of the spoil which they had brought, seven hundred oxen and seven thousand sheep.12 And they entered into a covenant to seek the LORD God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul;13 That whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.”
Ezra 8:21-23
“21 Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river of Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.22 For I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way: because we had spoken unto the king, saying, The hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him; but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was intreated of us.”
Titus 3:1-2
“1 Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,2 To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.”
Revelation 3:9-17
“9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”
Related Themes: Satan
Acts 10:25-26
“25 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him.26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.”
Luke 9:54-55
“54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.”
Related Themes: Vindictiveness Omnipotence
Joshua 11:20
“20 For it was of the LORD to harden their hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses.”
Related Themes: Hate
