"The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, whose names were Shiphrah and Puah,"When you are helping the Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool, if you see that the baby is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, let her live."The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live...So God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own." (Exodus 1: 15-21)
Rosa Louise Parks, who is recognized as the "mother of the modern day civil rights movement" in America, due to an act of disobedience, in refusing to surrender her seat to a white male passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, December 1, 1955, as required by the unjust laws of her time, set in motion a wave of protest December 5, 1955 that impacted the whole of the United States. Her courage to disobey began the transformation of America, the destiny of black people and changed history. Her disobedience was courageous and virtuous.
As in our text today regarding the Hebrew midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh's wicked instruction, all through Scriptures, we also see various individuals who through acts of disobedience demonstrated courage. Some examples are that of Daniel who refused to obey the decree not to pray, the Hebrew boys who refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's idols, Esther who broke protocol to approach the king and the apostles who defied the instruction not to preach Jesus again, saying they "ought to obey God rather than men."
All these examples show that there are times when disobedience is the virtuous way to go. How do you recognize such instances. From all the examples, it can be seen that what warranted the disobedience of the actors was that the instruction or law goes crosswise with the laws of God. God is the highest authority. His laws are the highest laws and in the scheme of things, you are to submit to the higher authority. When the instructions of a lower authority contradicts the higher one, you must opt for the higher one at the expense of the lower. This implies that disobedience in these cases are actually obedience to a higher authority, God's.
Are you going through a conflict now in which you are being forced to do something that contradicts God's instruction by someone in authority over you? Maybe a parent is pressurizing you to marry an unbeliever, a spouse is asking you to compromise, a boss is threatening you with losing your job if you don't heed his sexual advances or compromise your ethics, or you live under an oppressive government subverting your values and faith. In all these cases and similar ones, you have God's backing to say no. He will defend you for standing for what is right just as he did for these Hebrew midwives. So be courageous and stand your ground. If you don't bow, you won't burn.
Decision of the Day
My highest allegiance is to God and His laws. All other laws are subsidiary. I obey these laws if they align with God's but if they violate His laws I have the liberty and the backing of God to disobey. I will not compromise and I will not burn.
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