Government and the Bible: God gives one reason to disobey
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God loved Nebuchadnezzar. God loved him so much, he gave Nebuchadnezzar dreams about the future.
The first time we actually read Nebuchadnezzar's words in the book of Daniel, he laments a mysterious dream that he had in Daniel 2. It was of a large statue made of different materials that was destroyed by a rock and replaced by a mountain. Though Nebuchadnezzar had not told him what the dream was about, Daniel revealed that God himself had given Nebuchadnezzar this dream. God used the dream to show Nebuchadnezzar the kingdoms of history that would follow his and to show him how the Kingdom of God — represented by the mountain — would supplant them all. Nebuchadnezzar praised Daniel's God because only a true and powerful God could reveal another man's dream along with its meaning.
The chapter divisions in Daniel are unfortunate because it was right after this lesser-known story that Nebuchadnezzar naturally decided to build himself a 90-foot golden statue. Because God had seemed to bless his kingdom, Nebuchadnezzar thought it reasonable to force the people of his kingdom to worship an image of his kingdom.
Heretofore, Daniel's friends Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego had proved model citizens. They worked in Nebuchadnezzar's government faithfully and had already demonstrated a submissive and obedient posture toward the government God had placed over them. But in Daniel 3, the command went out that when the trumpet sounds, everyone should bow and worship the statue. The three friends knew from Exodus 20 that God had commanded, "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them" (Exodus 20:4-5).
God explicitly commanded them to serve the Babylonian government through the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 27:17). Now the government they had served in obedience to God so faithfully commanded them to disobey a command of God.
This is the moment to disobey, and it is the only moment to disobey.
When Christians are obligated to disobey government's laws or officials is actually a remarkably simple issue. When a law or official commands that we do that which God has prohibited or prohibits that which God has commanded, we obey God rather than the law or government official.
Daniel himself did this when he was told not to pray. Peter and John did this when they were commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus. Believers in Nazi Germany did this when they gave aid and comfort to Jews thought they had been forbidden from doing so. God had clearly commanded one thing, and the governing authorities had clearly contradicted this command.
The question of how we disobey is quite another issue. What we do before and after we disobey matters the most.
In every case in the Bible, where you see Godly disobedience to governing authority, you find it exercised by people who were otherwise good citizens. Daniel and his three friends were excellent examples. Until they were commanded to disobey God, they worked for the good of the government under whose authority they found themselves. We are also called to be excellent citizens: to obey the law and pay our taxes. The Christian's default position should be submission and obedience to the government's authority. It means nothing to disobey if all you ever do is to disobey.
The other thing that distinguishes Godly disobedience is the way they handle the consequences: they submit to and obey the government.
Even after they refused to stop preaching in the name of Jesus, Peter and John submitted to being flogged. After he refused to stop praying, Daniel submitted to being thrown into a pit with hungry lions in it. After they refused to bow to the golden statue, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego submitted to being thrown into the same furnace that was used to make the statue. They did not defend themselves. They obeyed God, then accepted the consequences the government assigned to them.
When called to give an account to Nebuchadnezzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said, "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" (Daniel 3:16-18).
They trusted God to either deliver them from their punishment (which he did) or to allow them to die. It does not seem they prefer one alternative over the other here. Instead, their priority was to serve and worship God alone. May that be our priority as well.
If we find it necessary to disobey our government, it is important that we be ready to accept the consequences. Let God take care of us. He can deliver us. But if not, let it be known whom we ultimately serve.