The Bible Condemns All Unruly Mobs (Don’t Ever Riot)

In Acts chapters 21 and 22 we see the Apostle Paul attacked by an unruly mob doing the things which make a mob unruly. This mob was screaming falsehoods, being emboldened in violence by a lack of restraint of others, they were doing things which they would never do without the protection and temporary emboldening of the mob that they were part of, they were trying to take the law into their own hands without committing the matter to the proper authorities, and there was an overall spirit of irrationality and sensuality. No regard for principle. No regard for decency. No regard for order. They were utterly out of control until their sense of self-preservation demanded that they back off.

The Bible has nothing good to say about unruly mobs and rioting- though it contains many accounts of these things happening. They are the work of ungodly, wicked people 100 percent of the time.

Usually, the cause of the unruly mob itself is a wicked cause. However, even if the assembled group’s cause were actually a righteous cause, a mob which descends to unruly behavior and rioting is only adding more evil to the equation and making things worse by its behavior.

The Bible does indeed know of righteous mobs- mobs supporting a righteous cause which are not unruly.

We see one such example organized by Nehemiah. He was the Governor over the Jews for a span in Old Testament times. He organized a great multitude to stand against rich Jews who were oppressing other Jews through predatory lending (Jewish predatory lending goes back a long way). This was the most orderly and efficient way for him as a leader to nip a major problem in the bud and reverse the horrid consequences of the oppression done by those being stood against (see Nehemiah 5:1-13).

Some of the worst criminals are politicians and ultra-rich people who control politicians. They seek to make laws to establish wickedness and to oppress righteousness to fulfill their own covetous, insatiable desires. Such are the worst kind of unruly mob. One aspect of their insidious wickedness is manipulating others to openly riot to aid in the achievement of their desired wicked outcomes.

Even in the extreme cases when the authorities themselves are the problem, appeal to other authorities and absolutely do not riot (that cannot be stressed too much). If you cannot go to a higher earthly authority, then go to the highest possible lesser authority.

This allows for the provision of accountability and oversight to do things as orderly and as peacefully as possible to deal with the evil without committing evil.