LAW BREAKERS!
1. Introduction:
Are you prepared to be a lawbreaker? Before you answer that question let’s indulge in a little bit of role~play! If I asked you to take a parcel containing illegal drugs on your next vacation I guess it wouldn’t take too long for you to respond with a very quick and definite “No”! And if I handed you a suspicious looking package for you to take into another country reassuring you the contents were all above board but I couldn’t tell you anymore, your answer might be a maybe if you knew me well and trusted me or another definite “No”! But what would you say if I asked you to smuggle in some Bibles on your next trip to a Communist county? Would you say “No” because it would be against the law of that particular regime? Or would you agree to break the law and take the Bibles in knowing how desperate Christians there are for the Word of God?
I want to share an extract from a dear friend’s e~mail who took the plunge to smuggle Bibles into a country that will remain nameless: “Thank you so much for your prayers. God definitely answered them and has brought us back safe and sound. We arrived with two cases and two pieces of hand luggage. Our cases were slightly over our 20kg limit but we prayed this would not be picked up the other end. We had one case full of aid as was most of the other case. We had two Bibles in our hand luggage each, two Bibles in one case and three in the other. Upon entering the immigration hall for passport inspection we noticed they were x~raying hand luggage. They didn’t do this last time we visited. We both prayed they wouldn’t want to check our bags. We then had to individually go into a booth for passport inspection and to hand in our visas. They asked if I had been here before (no doubt knowing fully well I had) and proceeded to let me in again! Then my husband came through. Then the x~ray machine! No problems ~ both bags through OK”. Praise the Lord! Once we had done this we could see one of our cases on the carousel. We picked it off onto a trolley … this was going swimmingly!
There then seemed to be a long delay and no sign of our other case. We then spotted it on a trolley just outside where they put the cases on the carousel ~ it was with two others. It appeared they had been selected randomly or otherwise. We then saw them put the three cases on the carousel but standing instead of flat as if it was a sign to Customs Officers to stop the people whose cases they were. We began to get a bit hot under the collar and continued praying everything would be OK. We praise God because what happened next we believe was a miracle. Just as our case turned the corner of the carousel, a group of people gathered around that end of it obscuring the view of the Customs Officials. We picked off our case and placed it on our trolley. We decided to get out as fast as we could both feeling like criminals but trying to look normal! Nobody stopped us ~ thank you Jesus. We were later told by a lady from our church of a picture she had of us walking through the Customs Hall surrounded by a ring of Angels facing outwards. God is just so cool isn’t He”.
Perhaps we all would agree that we should be law abiding citizens ~ no pretending we are immune from paying our taxes or obeying the speed limits for us! But sometimes we are called to be lawbreakers, fearing God rather than men. Corrie ten Boom and her family hid Jews from the German death squads rather than obey the law to hand them over to certain death. But interestingly one Aunt struggled over the propriety of using stolen ration cards to feed them! Its not always easy being a Christian and when the laws of the land are ungodly we may have to take a similar stand to Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And if you are taking Bibles into countries where they would be immediately confiscated maybe you could end up feeling like my friends, criminals for taking the word of God to those desperate for His word in their own language.
2. Taking a Stand
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego (lets call them S.M.&A. for short) had broken the law. They faced death in a particularly cruel way ~ no community service at the weekend or a short stay in prison for them! Not even banishment. Oh no, they faced certain death in a very hot fiery furnace. So what was their crime? Nebuchednezzar (lets call him Nebs for short) sums it up in Daniel 3:28 “They trusted in Him (God) and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.”
It’s interesting to look at the stand they took. What had led them to take this difficult step? The answer is they knew and trusted the true God. They had already experienced God’s goodness and provision. The Bible says that God had given them “knowledge and understanding of all kinds” (Dan 1:17) when training for the king’s service. They had also experienced God’s protection and deliverance when they were going to be put to death with their friend Daniel (Dan 2:13), until Daniel was able to interpret Neb’s dream through a vision from God. They had already seen God act ~ albeit in the last hour!
S.M.&A. knew and were ready to obey God’s word: “You shall have no other gods before Me” and “You shall not bow down to them or worship them (see Exodus 20:3~4). They were prepared to risk their lives telling Nebs “we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up” (Daniel 3:18). They took this stand on the basis of their relationship, history, and experience of God, together with their understanding of scripture. They were on solid ground.
3. The Fiery Furnace
It was a real fire, the flames, which were so hot, killed the soldiers who threw S.M.&A. into the blazing furnace. You know things in this life can get pretty hot for us too. But the Lord was with them in the furnace and He also wants to be with us in our times of trouble. Hebrews 4:15 states “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are ~ yet was without sin”. And Hebrews 7:25 promises “He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them”.
What a remarkable statement is made by Nebs as he looks into the fiery furnace: “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods” Daniel 3:25. Who was this mysterious person Nebs is referring to? Well I hope everyone knows Who we are talking about but if you don’t let me explain, because if you are in a fiery furnace situation then He wants to be in it with you, and believe me you need Him desperately to be in it with you. We are talking about Jesus, God’s precious Son whose love took Him to the Cross to die for you and for me. But sadly in His suffering and trial for us the Lord Jesus was completely alone. Having undergone His own furnace of suffering Jesus knows intimately how you feel. He has been there. How quickly would we all surrender and run to Him if we really understood how much He loves us ~ “He loves you so much He cannot take His eyes off you” (A quote from Cardinal Basil Hume’s book called Basil in Blunderland).
4. Where Were The Others?
Sometimes it’s a very lonely thing to stand up for purposes of God. Many people faced with a choice will follow the laws of men when faced with death or imprisonment and being separated from their loved ones. S.M.&A. were not the only men of God so where were the others? Through out history we hear and read of martyrs who were willing to give up their lives ~ they are an example to us today, encouraging us to take a similar stand in our lives no matter what.
However, when we stand out from the crowd we can open up a can of worms. It was not a good career move for S.M.&A. that’s for sure. It can jeopardize your future prospects, as it may mean being deliberately overlooked for promotion, or even being ostracised by colleagues and friends when you refuse to join in with things you know are wrong. Just like S.M.&A. it could even your endanger your life.
But our God is faithful and He can deliver you just as He did S.M.&A. You know the fire did not harm S.M.&A. ~ There was no smell of fire on them, their hair was not singed or their robes scorched ~ whatever your fiery furnace God is able to deliver you from all harm.
5. Even If!
S.M.&A. believed and said: “the God we serve is able to save us” in direct reply to Neb’s challenge “What God will be able to rescue you from my hand?” Maybe the enemy is gently whispering the same sentence in your ear. But remember our God is able to save or rescue you from any situation.
Note carefully the “even if” in Daniel 3:18 ~ what a statement of faith in God as S.M.&A. boldly replied “but even if He does not, we want you to know, O king that we will not serve your god’s or worship the image of gold you have set up”. Maybe the words “even if” will be what you really need to hear right now in order to persevere in your furnace and not give way.
Just a warning though that taking this stand may not be good for your health! It made the King really mad. Refusing the enemy ground can make him hopping mad! Nebs was so furious, his attitude towards them changed and the furnace was made seven times hotter (and so might ours!) We too need to know that God can save us from the fiery furnace even if the enemy is hotting things up for us. But “even if” trust Him”! Let’s follow S.M.&A. and the stand they took. They believed God could rescue them but even if that didn’t happen they were not prepared to abandon their commitment to God whatever happened. And nor should we!
6. What Can We Learn?
I am afraid the bad news is that this does not appear to be a mandate for us to go through red traffic lights or refuse to pay our taxes. We are not above the law. It’s not something to do lightly; we don’t casually or easily break the law for we are told in Romans 13:1 “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities”. But equally when you consider that the Nazi’s would quote this scripture to Christians who were objecting to their cruel regime or hiding Jews against orders, we are still under an obligation to obey God rather than men.
I understand the teaching in Jewish law is that it is permissible to break all the commandments in a life or death situation except the first two, i.e. worshipping other gods or taking another persons life. S.M.&A. being a prime example and consider the courageous midwives who had been ordered by Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew baby boys (see Exodus 1:15~21). But it says that these brave women feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do: they let the boys live. God vindicated their stand as we are told, “God was kind to them and gave them families of their own.
Similarly we are told in Acts Chapter 4:5~19 that when the Jewish leaders instructed Peter and John “Not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” they replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God” (Acts 4:18 & 19).
Refusing to worship other gods when told to or carrying out murder, and perhaps for us the most likely one of not being allowed to spread the gospel, is a decision to follow God rather than the agenda of man, which we as Christians should be committed to. Think of the underground church that operates under communism where they are not officially permitted to meet openly or yes our earlier example of smuggling bibles into countries where they are banned. Again I believe we should choose to obey God rather than man.
Conclusion.
Look how taking a stand eventually leads to the right results: Nebs praises God and S.M.&A. are promoted. The midwives are blessed with their own families and Moses is born who will later become God’s instrument to deliver Israel. The Apostle’s stand led to phenomenal church growth. Who knows what will happen when we too take our stand in our generation.
Perhaps persecution for our Christian beliefs is not quite so life threatening for us in the West but we must remember to pray earnestly for many Christians who are having to face difficult choices because of their faith today. Maybe we face more subtle pressures from work colleagues, friends and family to compromise and who isn’t tempted to worship and follow today’s gods of success, pleasure and mammon? But one day the Bible teaches there will be a time of fierce persecution for everyone who refuses to worship the beast and his image or receive the mark of his name (Revelation Chapter 13).
Perhaps by making a stand now in the smaller areas of our lives where we are under pressure to compromise our faith in Jesus, we will be prepared to follow Him when times get even harder. For this world I believe the worst is yet to come, but for those who follow the Lord He will always ensure that for His precious children the best is yet to come!
