"My people are destroyed for the lack of knowledge : because
thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject the..." Hosea 4:6
"Therfore my people are gone into captivity because they have
no knowledge : and their honourable men are farmished, and their
multitude dried up with thirst." Isaiah 5:13. KJV (King James Version).

One thing is to have a weapon, it is another thing entirely to know how where and when to apply it. An effective and efficient weapon that is employed without the right knowledge of its application will not yield the right and appropriate result. It can even be applied to the detriment of its user. In the verses quoted above, lack of knowledge destroys and sends people into slavery. Honourables can be farmished and the masses thirst for water.
So it is with the Scriptures.

During this period of COVID 19, precisely in the first week of April, I visited a minister of God, we discussed about the trending menace and the closure of worship centers. He then went ahead to remind me of the story of Shedrach and his colleagues who disobeyed the government order. He went ahead to state that if this men were alive today, they will not heed any government order that will shut their mouth to pray in a congregation.

Is this right or true?

Let us consider it this way: It is noted that there is a wide gap between what these three Hebrews stood for and what is happening now. I believe strongly if these Holy men of God were alive today, they will obey the order to stay at home where it is declared.

Current lockdown in place in some cities, states or nations is strictly to preserve lives. Whose lives? Lives of individuals resident in those places. This is to prevent such a fellow from contracting CONVID 19. Any person who thinks he can defy such order does so at his own peril. That is why the verses quoted is so relevant to trending menace. Whoever chooses to disobey a stay at home order wants to hurt himself and those around him only. So, it is not faith exercise to work against any step that will preserve your life, most importantly where the pandemic reigns supreme.

Any lockdown in respect of COVID 19 is to reduce or prevent casualties resulting from attack by the threat posed by the current menace.
On the order hand, there are certain instances when certain government orders can be flouted with impunity. The government can wield its authority on those who fail to obey them but the Living God whom those who act on their faith will be covered by their Lord. He will also exercise His authority on those who are in position but use it to disobey God.

In the case of the three Hebrews in Daniel chapter number three, what the authority decreed was pitching the Jews against their God. They resisted him, the King. They said,
"O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter.
If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
Furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, o King." Verse 16-17.

This was a reply to the authority's threat to destroy them. The government did their worst while the Lord did His best. Instead of serving an image of gold set up by the King, they chose to stand straight and tall for the living God. They were casted into the burning fiery fire but their God saved them. The same king who said, "who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands," changed his words afterwards to,
"Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him and have changed the King's word and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God... there is no god that can deliver after this sort" verse 28-29.

That is a faith that can change decrees!
Do you know that their action is similar to that of Apostle Peter when the Apostles faced strong opposition from religious people of his days? When those people wanted to silence the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Apostles Peter and John said,
"Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than
unto God, judge ye.
For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard". Acts 19-20.

In a nutshell, there is a time to completely obey Government order, laws or directives and most importantly when it is meant to preserve the lives of the citizens.
Also, there is a time to put faith into action when you are being drawn away from the Lord to serve other gods or to prevent you from spreading the Good News to the lost.

May the Lord grant unto every Beliver the wisdom to know the difference between the two and the faith to act right in Jesus name.
Stay blessed and prepared for the coming of the Lord for His Saints 

The Author is the set man of CTFM(WORLD OUTREACH)and Presiding Pastor of Christ Restland Gospel Church.He is a Poet and author of many books. Visit his blogsites www.4thlink.wordpress.com and www.peacelink.wordpress.com for more quality contents.