Civil Disobedience
We don't hear a lot about civil disobedience these days, but it is an important spiritual concept. We find examples in the both the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as many down through history. However, none is more powerful than the 2 we find at the beginning of the book of Exodus. (Exodus 2:7,8) It should be something about which all of us pray and seek to obey the Lord.
Civil disobedience is disobeying the government, when the laws or edicts established by our government require us to do something against God's Word or prevent us from doing something commanded in His Word. We, as believers, are always to obey God, instead of men when there is a conflict between the two. Then, we leave the consequences to God, who cares for us more than we care about ourselves.
The Egyptian midwives disobeyed Pharaoh's command to kill all of the male Hebrew babies because they feared God. When they did, they were blessed by God, even though they stretched the truth about the birth habits of the Hebrew ladies. This story reminds us of Rahab, the harlot, in Jericho who protected the spies and was blessed to have her whole family preserved through the conquest of the city. Also, after the decree to the midwives failed, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew mothers to throw all of the baby boys in the Nile River to kill them. However, the mother of Moses disobeyed. She waited 3 months, put him in a little wicker basket sealed with tar, and put him in the river. She also sent his sister to watch, because that was where the daughter of Pharaoh came to bathe. When she did, she saved the child alive, against her father's decree, and she even paid the mother of Moses to nurse the child and raise him until he was old enough to come to the palace with her.
Isn't that amazing? God honored the civil disobedience of Moses' mother and Pharaoh's daughter in order to raise up a deliverer for his people, who was perfectly suited for the job. Now, if God did those things and many more when people obeyed Him instead of the government, don't you think we should fear Him and obey Him in such circumstances? Don't you think He can bless us in those instances? If He doesn't, the most drastic thing that could happen is that we get to be with Him in heaven. The consequences of disobedience to God would be far worse.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 3-5.
Civil disobedience is disobeying the government, when the laws or edicts established by our government require us to do something against God's Word or prevent us from doing something commanded in His Word. We, as believers, are always to obey God, instead of men when there is a conflict between the two. Then, we leave the consequences to God, who cares for us more than we care about ourselves.
The Egyptian midwives disobeyed Pharaoh's command to kill all of the male Hebrew babies because they feared God. When they did, they were blessed by God, even though they stretched the truth about the birth habits of the Hebrew ladies. This story reminds us of Rahab, the harlot, in Jericho who protected the spies and was blessed to have her whole family preserved through the conquest of the city. Also, after the decree to the midwives failed, Pharaoh ordered the Hebrew mothers to throw all of the baby boys in the Nile River to kill them. However, the mother of Moses disobeyed. She waited 3 months, put him in a little wicker basket sealed with tar, and put him in the river. She also sent his sister to watch, because that was where the daughter of Pharaoh came to bathe. When she did, she saved the child alive, against her father's decree, and she even paid the mother of Moses to nurse the child and raise him until he was old enough to come to the palace with her.
Isn't that amazing? God honored the civil disobedience of Moses' mother and Pharaoh's daughter in order to raise up a deliverer for his people, who was perfectly suited for the job. Now, if God did those things and many more when people obeyed Him instead of the government, don't you think we should fear Him and obey Him in such circumstances? Don't you think He can bless us in those instances? If He doesn't, the most drastic thing that could happen is that we get to be with Him in heaven. The consequences of disobedience to God would be far worse.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Exodus 3-5.