Is it Wrong for Christians to Expose and Oppose Corrupt Authority Figures When Commanded to Do Evil?

This is indeed one of the toughest questions indeed especially for Christians. In Romans 13:1-3 we read that we are required to submit to the government. However one fails to see, "For rulers are not a terror to good works but to evil." That is God supports good government. There is the big problem of corrupt officials because of the evil in the world. As much as God has ordained the church and the state for man to obey, that man is required to respect officials, however if an authority figure orders something that is contrary to laws and morals, then such authority in the government must be put down. Now let us take a look at the Bible for facts:
  1. Moses himself was sent to confront Pharaoh for the unjust racism that had continued for 400 years. The Hebrews had every right to protest against the unfair labor practices that were given to them especially to make bricks without straw.
  2. In the Book of Judges, one can see God did support revolution WHEN the government was abusive aside from the truth God uses the wicked to punish the wicked as He wills it. Notice the word when. God did hand over the Israelites to pagan nations because of their stubbornness and hardheadedness but whenever they repented, God sent a deliverer to do so. Their IDOLATROUS oppressors the Mesopotamians, Moabites, Canaanites, Midianites, Ammonites and the Philistines were extremely cruel and oppressive. God only allowed the wickedness to hit Israel to purge it- then if the oppressors refused to repent and turn to God, God in turn punished them. In fact God ordained Othniel, Ehud, Shagar, Deborah, Barak, Gideon, Tora, Jair, Jephthah and Samson to overthrow these oppressive rulers. It was definitely not a sin for Ehud to kill the tyrannical King Eglon for overconsuming Israel's resources nor for Samson to defend his people from the Philistines so the rightful authorities can be restored. 
  3. In 1 Samuel 15:22-26, Samuel as much as he didn't spit at King Saul, however rebuked the latter for his disobedience towards God. Samuel was more afraid of God than he was of King Saul.
  4. In 1 Kings 16-21 we do read of the evils of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Remember King Ahab was the most wicked king in the northern kingdom of Israel ever recorded and what's worse was his marriage to Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal and he supported her all the way to promote the worship of Baal in Israel. Was it wrong for Elijah to oppose Ahab? Absolutely not. God even ordained Elijah to oppose Ahab for his activities like when he supported his wicked wife's propaganda to kill the prophets of the LORD and replaced them with the "prophets" of Baal. It was definitely not wrong for Elijah either to put it into Ahab's face that it was the latter's fault that God shut the rain for three years from the Northern Kingdom while the territory of Jehoshaphat presumably had rain.
  5. In 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 23 we do read the story of the wicked Queen Athaliah. Athaliah was in fact the most horrid woman in the Bible, a feminist brat and what she did aside from promote Baal worship in Judah like her mother Jezebel did to Israel was this- she did the unthinkable to murder her own family to keep herself in power. Remember that was in fact treason for her to kill her own grandsons so she could secure herself. Six years she terrorized the land. Jehosheba opposed her mother and rescued the sole heir to her throne- Joash and raised him for seven years. Then the revolution started to restore the rightful heir Joash to his throne and ended the rule of Athaliah.
  6. Jeremiah was opposed to the government of his day. In the whole book of Jeremiah, we see the prophet oppose the government of his day while not raising arms. He rebuked King Zedekiah for disregarding the latter father Josiah's reforms. Josiah was a godly king unfortunately his successors weren't.
  7. Daniel and his three friends Hananiah (Shadrach), Misael (Meshach) and Azariah (Abednego) in Babylon as much as they submitted to authority, however opposed King Nebuchadnezzar in some occasions because he told them something contrary to the Law of God. In Daniel 1:8-14 we read that Daniel refused the king's food because it was against their dietary laws. In Daniel 3 we read that the the three friends opposed the king by not bowing down to the worship of the golden image, the god of Babylon because it was plain wrong. Although they did not disrespect the king, they opposed him nonetheless because he commanded them to do wrong.
  8. In the book of Esther it does also raise a difficult issue. Remember that Haman the Agagite was really planning an overkill. If one is familiar with the story, one can see that Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman because it was in fact idolatry. No doubt Mordecai was respectful to authority like when he turned over the traitorous guards who planned to kill the king. Also, Esther had every right to tell her husband, lord and king Xerxes that Haman was going to kill her people. Haman as much as he was in power, he had NO RIGHT to kill for an overkill of the Jewish people out of his bitterness towards Mordecai and his prideful lifestyle. Esther did what had to be done, even break that mandate because it could have ended the Jews in unfair racism.
  9. We also read to that of Herod Antipas and John the Baptist. Remember the scandalous affair? In Mark 6:18 we read that John the Baptist did not hesitate to criticize Herod Philip for his live-in relationship with Herodias. Note that he was also married to the daughter of Aretas IV and Herodias was his half-niece, daughter of his much older brother Aristobulus making it both adultery and incest at the same time. 
  10. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself was an opponent of the Pharisees and called Herod as a fox for their corruption. Although Jesus did not lead a revolution to overthrow the Roman government and commanded them to pay taxes, however He opposed the authority figures of the Pharisees because they were dangerous to the spiritual well being of Israel. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John recorded many of these instances. In fact in Matthew 23, He really gave the Pharisees a full blast even if it would cost Him His life!
  11. In the Book of Acts, the Apostles preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ even when they were prohibited from doing so. Although they did not resist arrest, however they did oppose corrupt authority figures by continuing to preach. Beyond that, they didn't call to overthrow corrupt authorities. 

Beyond that, Christians are called to oppose the government when it does evil. Seriously Christians should not remain silent on issues like the Jesuit infiltration of governments that has led to Communist policies such as unjust taxation and returning back the days of Naboth's vineyard and cruel Roman oppression systems (ex. taxation of property that's not earning any income), legalizing polygamy for Muslims which will bring in the Shariah law (now America enters its second Islamic term), legalizing same sex marriages, banning the Bible from the public schools, sex education, planned Herodhood (abortion is NOT planned parenthood nor is it really family planning), pornography, unscrupulous government officials who allow immorality all for money, women who refuse to submit to their husbands and husbands who refuse to love their wives are but a few of the many evils that need to be voiced against.