When the Israelites were exiles in Babylon, they had to figure out how to serve God as strangers in a strange land. Back in Judah, they had their own king, their own religion, and their own rules. Now they had to figure out how to be faithful to God while still being friendly in their new home.

Sometimes living as an exile was hard but not too complicated. The king might give them freedom to worship their own God in their own way. Or he might appreciate the Israelites for their hard work. The Jews could get along with the Babylonians as long as the Babylonians didn’t mind the Jews believing and acting like Jews!

But that wasn’t always the case. Sometimes, serving God and serving the Babylonians just didn’t go together. And when that happened, there was only one thing to do: put God first.

One time King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold almost one hundred feet high and commanded everyone to worship the image. And “everyone” included the Jews. Nebuchadnezzar was asking them to break a whole bunch of the Ten Commandments. Actually, he wasn’t asking anyone. The king issued a decree that whoever refused to worship the image would be thrown into a burning fiery furnace.

Now what would you do? Maybe bow down on one knee, but not really mean it in your heart? Maybe go along with the king’s command and ask God to forgive you later? The Jews were in a tough situation. But the right thing is the right thing.

There were three Jews who worked for the king who refused to bow to the golden image. Their Hebrew names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, but you might know them by their Babylonian names: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. “Our God can save us from the fire,” they said, “but even if he doesn’t, we will not worship your gods or bow down to your golden image.”

Nebuchadnezzar was furious. He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter, and he had the men thrown into the flames. But when the king looked in the furnace, he didn’t see the three men burning up. In fact, he didn’t see three men at all. He saw four! And the fourth one was real shiny. So the king called them out and blessed the God who sent his angel to save Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then he promoted them to even greater authority in Babylon.

We’d like to think that nothing bad will happen to us if we do the right thing, except we know that’s not the way things always work. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego didn’t know what God would do, but they knew right from wrong.

There is only one God who deserves to be worshiped and only one King whose commands are always true. And when the way of the world opposes the way of God, we ought to know which way to go.