When do we bow down, and when do we submit? That seems to be on the minds of many today. What is godly submission, and when do we choose God's authority over man's?If Government is placed there by God (Romans 13), when do we refuse to bow? If you're expecting me to give you a rousing, patriotic speech, I'm going to disappoint you. If you're expecting me to yell at other believers to submit and wear a mask, I'm going to disappoint you as well. The Holy Scriptures point believers in to personal accountability toward God, and so YOU are the one who has to make a choice. We must submit to the authorities God has placed over us. I don't see anywhere in the Bible where God supports rebellion. HOWEVER, there are times when God has praised those who have defied what was both morally and spiritually wrong, especially when demanded by the governing powers over them. Shiprah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives in Exodus were told to kill every Hebrew male born, and yet they defied Pharaoh, and were honored by God for it. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were honored, even saved by God for refusing to bow down in worship to a statue of the King. Daniel was rescued from the mouths of lions when He refused to stop praying to God. Stephen saw heaven open up as they were putting him to death when he refused to close his mouth about Jesus. On matters of morality, church, the Bible makes it clear. We follow those placed in authority over us. On matters of personal taste or like, we submit to the government, but when it violates our call to follow the Living God, we do not bow. Submit to governing authorities as unto God, bow only to Jesus as King. The two are not mutually exclusive. Daniel 3:13-18 Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
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