*image courtesy of ugaldew at www.sxc.hu
1 Peter 2:13-17 tells us "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."
Today, I went through the books of Esther and Habakkuk (Yeah, that's a book of the Bible, look it up.). "But," you say, "you just quoted 1 Peter!"
Yes, yes I did.
The Bible is an integrated, consistent, whole. In 1 Peter we are told that submission to authority is a must forbelievers. In Esther and Habakkuk, we see shining examples of this. If you never have, I'd recommend going and reading these two short books for yourself before you read further. I'll be discussing them both as though the general outline of both is already understood.
