Here, Peter hits on the very heart of the matter regarding our duty to kings and princes. In the end, it is not about what sort of man is in charge, our duty to obey him personally or whether he is popular, wise or benevolent. That is not finally the point. What is at the bottom of all these commands and principles and teachings is the same issue Samuel and the Israelites of his time struggled with: trusting in God's plan for the world or trying to alter it for our own satisfaction.
Because the early Christians obeyed God and thus remained loyal to the emperor, even as they were martyred for their faith, they set an example of innocent and heroic virtue that ended in the conversion of Rome and the establishment of Christianity as the leading religion in the western world. What could have been an alternative to this?
If the early Christians had instead fought a rebellion against Rome, they would have undoubtedly suffered the same fate as the Jews: they would have been crushed by the Caesar's legions and most Romans, truly according to Peter, would have felt they died a just traitors death. After this was done, they would have remained committed to their pagan gods, no souls would have been saved, no nations converted and in all liklihood, Christianity would have withered on the vine.
It all relates back to trusting God's judgement rather than our own, which itself is spelled out simply in the Bible, "lean not on your own understanding" as it says. Any legitimate ruler must be chosen by God rather than man. The word 'republic' actually comes from the latin res publica, which was used by the emperors and really means only the rule of law. 'Democracy' on the other hand, comes from the Greek and means that the people rule. However, neither of these are mentioned in the Bible, but in Hosea 8:4 the people are reprimanded by God who says, "They have set up kings, but not with my consent, and appointed princes, but without my knowledge".
The creation of the united monarchy was obviously part of God's plan, and destined to come to pass. However, God's anger was with their reason for demanding it at that particular time; because they had lost trust in God. In the same way, Israel brought down the wrath of God whenever they tried to replace the legitimate king with a more "popular" choice. Hosea 8:10 includes the warning that, "I am going to disperse them this minute; that will soon put a stop to their anointing kings and leaders". It was such tinkering that caused Jesus, the true King of all Israel, to be born in a barn rather than a palace.
It is well recorded that the Jews expected their Messiah to be a glorious champion for Israel (and Israel alone), a king with the heart of David and the glory of Solomon. Perhaps if they had kept faith with God and remained loyal to their ancient kings, they would have had just what they were looking for. As it worked out, Jesus' humble origins, despite being from the Holy House of David, required more faith than many in Israel had.
In the end, God's ultimate victory will be achieved, in one way or another. These issues which we are dealing with can only effect our own condition, and determine whether we place our ultimate fate willingly in the hands of God, or try to manipulate our destiny according to our own flawed judement. That is the only real choice of loyalty we have to make.
