What if government officials came to you and demanded you openly acknowledge allegiance to the country over your allegiance to Christ; how would you respond? What if the government said you could avoid certain penalties or be exempt from certain mandates if you would only deny your faith in Christ; how would you respond? These are questions the Explore The Bible Study: Demonstrate Allegiance will help to answer.

In Daniel 3, a moment of decision comes for Daniel's three friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (known also as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). Nebuchadnezzar had erected a large golden image on the plain of Dura near Babylon. The dimensions of the statue were designed to gain attention. It was 90 feet high and nine feet wide. All of Nebuchadnezzar’s subjects were to obey his decree to fall down and worship the statue when they heard the sound of various musical instruments. Those who refused to worship the image would face certain death in a furnace of blazing fire.

It was reported to the king that these three men did not serve his gods, nor did they worship the image.  Because they knew what and in whom they believed, and because of their love for God, they did not bow. As you examine their response in Daniel 3:14-26 determine how you might have responded. 

What would you have said? Would you have bowed down? When all is on the line, who will you worship? When a moment of choice comes, who will you obey?

Allegiance is demonstrated when one remains faithful to Christ no matter the outcome – Daniel 3:14-18

Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah knew God’s purpose would be served, whether He delivered them from the king’s power or whether they died in the furnace. Had they compromised they would have violated the Second Commandment (see Exodus 20:4-6) and would have communicated to everyone observing that God was not worthy of their faithful allegiance. They were sure of God and His power and trusted Him.

When we face faith-challenging situations, it is all the more important to declare our allegiance to God. God will choose His response, but He calls us to faithfulness. We need to be ready to take our stand for God whatever the cost. As we examine the next set of passages, imagine that you were one of the three men. Nebuchadnezzar is infuriated, the heat to the furnace is turned up, and you are taken by his soldiers to the furnace

Do you think someone could really respond as did the men in this story? Why or why not Do you really think we should be expected to die for loving God? Would God really expect that from us? Would we expect that of ourselves?

Allegiance is demonstrated when one willingly faces whatever consequences that come because of remaining faithful to Christ – Daniel 3:19-23

The men’s disobedient reply had occurred before many witnesses; consequently, the king had to respond strongly, despite the men’s faithful service to him. He desired their execution to serve as a public deterrent to disobeying him! However, their response only further demonstrated their love for and allegiance to God. The reality of their decision is hitting home. They are being taken to an extra hot furnace. Death was imminent.

Believers can expect many different forms of persecution from non-believers. Many in the world do not want to confront the reality of their sin. Consequently, they consider the gospel, with its challenge to repent and place faith in Jesus, a threat to the lifestyles they have chosen.  Forms of persecution might include missing a promotion or a loss of a job because of our stand for Christ. Former friends may choose to shun us and turn away from their relationship with us. In some countries, Christians will face imprisonment and even death for their faith.

However great or small the persecution, once we make a decision to remain faithful to Christ, we should pray that we will respond to the consequences as did these three men. 

Responding faithfully and with dignity to the decisions we make to remain faithful to Christ further demonstrates to a lost and watching world that we trust Christ with all our hearts.

Our allegiance reveals God to a lost and watching world – Daniel 3:24-26

Though the pagan king did not fully understand whom their God had sent, describing the fourth man as His angel, he nonetheless gave God full credit for the three men’s deliverance. Nebuchadnezzar responded to this unforeseen change of events by expressing praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! These three men had trusted in God’s presence and power. They had resisted all pressure to falter in their faith in Him. As a result, the most powerful ruler of their time ended up proclaiming praise to God. 

While we may not experience what these men experienced, how has God protected you when you remained faithful to Him?

In what ways have you experienced Jesus’ presence and power during extreme circumstances or trials?

Had this story ended with their death, would that have changed your view of God? Why or why not?

Is God any less powerful, loving, or present when someone stands faithful, and the result is pain, suffering, or death instead of safety or deliverance?

The Outcome

These three men were willing to take a stand for God, regardless of the cost, and had no guarantee He would save them. Without their faithful demonstration of allegiance to God, the Bible would contain no account of a deliverance from a blazing furnace. Daniel 3:28 summarizes the impact of these three men’s faith in this way, Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel and rescued his servants who trusted in him. They violated the king’s command and risked their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.

Are you confident and passionate enough about your faith that you would be willing to stand up for Christ even when your well-being, job, families, or homes are threatened? What if the outcome may result in death?

Be grateful that our challenges are not as threatening as they might be in other countries around the world. Take advantage of our freedom by willingly demonstrating your allegiance to Him by faithfully sharing and showing the Good News of Jesus.

What situations place pressure on you to compromise your faith in Christ? While we may find our situations difficult, they are nothing like what many are facing around the world today. Yet, no matter how great or small the situation may be, all professing Christians must deal with how to live with integrity when tempted to compromise one's faith in Christ. The Explore the Bible Study: Integrity Established, will focus upon this challenge as it begins a new study of the Book of Daniel.

Imagine being ripped out of your homeland, separated from your parents, and taken to a foreign country. This is what happened to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (the last three better known as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego). These young teenagers were ripped from their homes, family, and culture and taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This is how the book of Daniel begins. 

Daniel, his friends, and others were taken into captivity because they were considered some of the “best” of Judah. They became a part of the king’s training program that involved three years of intensive instruction. During this period, they were to be taught what foods to eat and wine to drink based on the Babylonian culture. They were educated in vast knowledge and wisdom that the Babylonians had acquired and were taught the cultural ways of the Babylonians. All of this was for the purpose of grooming them for royal service unto the king.

Daniel and his friends faced challenges, similar to what we face today, from a culture that was diametrically opposed to their faith in God. The prospect of serving in the king’s court was both an opportunity and an obstacle. While they were safe and comfortable, there was always an element of danger, thus lending itself to the temptation to compromise one’s belief in God in order to survive. But Daniel and his friends recognized God had strategically placed them where God could and should be honored among the elite of the Babylonian empire.

As you begin this examination of the book of Daniel, consider this question, “How can I remain faithful to God when I’m influenced or expected to compromise my faith because of the culture around me?” You will learn three things in this study that help answer that question.

First, you must determine in advance how you will respond when asked to compromise - Daniel 1:8-10.

The word determined literally means “he set his heart” or “he set it upon his heart.” This expression indicates a careful, thoughtful decision. Daniel’s decision was not an arbitrary one but one that involved careful consideration in advance as the passage indicates. The word translated defile designates Daniel’s concern to maintain the dietary laws Leviticus prescribed (see Leviticus 11). Pork and horse meat were among the unclean foods the Babylonians ate. Other acceptable meat might not have the blood drained properly (Leviticus 17:13-14) or could have been dedicated to an idol before it was eaten. Eating the king’s food would result in Daniel compromising his religious convictions. Additionally, to drink the wine the king drank could communicate to others Daniel’s unconditional acceptance of the king’s entire political and moral agenda.

Why didn’t Daniel respond differently to his situation? Why didn’t he protest or stage a “sit-in,” go on a “hunger strike,” or lead a revolt? What if Daniel had demanded his way instead of humbly asking for permission? What can you learn from the way Daniel initially handled this situation?

 Daniel sought permission from Ashpenaz, the king’s chief eunuch, not to defile himself.  God’s word tells us that God had already granted Daniel favor in the official’s sight because of his lifestyle. He and Daniel may have become friendly toward one another, but the king’s officer still bore responsibility to Nebuchadnezzar to provide the king well-fed youth trainees. Daniel and his friends might not be happy about the situation if they had to comply, but Ashpenaz risked the possibility of losing his life if Nebuchadnezzar became displeased.

Some today might think this is not that big of a deal; "Just eat the food and drink the wine so you can survive." What could happen if Daniel compromised on this one thing? Read 1 Peter 2:11-17 – How does this passage help you understand the importance of remaining faithful in the face of compromise?

One might think that all would go well since Daniel responded as he did, but it obviously didn’t. Therefore, God gave Daniel another solution to offer to Ashpenaz – a “plan B.”

Next, you need a “plan B” when people don’t respond positively to your commitment to remain faithful – Daniel 1:11-16.

Daniel suggested an ingenious solution to Ashpenaz’s dilemma. He asked permission for himself and his three friends to eat only vegetables and water for ten days, after which the official could judge their appearance against the appearance of the other trainees.

Daniel’s “Plan B” accomplished two things. First, he and his friends did not compromise their faith. Second, they were a witness to those who were observing them.What are some actions we could take to determine a “plan B” in advance?

Finally, God will open additional opportunities for you to proclaim His greatness and the gospel if you don’t compromise – Daniel 1:17-21.

Through their required secular studies and their continuing walk with the Lord, God gave these Judean exiles knowledge so they could better understand the culture in which they now lived. They did this without compromising their faith. Additionally, God blessed Daniel with the ability to understand visions and dreams of every kind, which foreshadows his ministry throughout the rest of the book. 

Daniel and his friends had no control over the forces and events that resulted in their being uprooted and removed to Babylon, but they did have some control over how they would choose to live their faith. They did not withdraw from the Babylonian culture but rather lived with spiritual discernment amid the culture, using their God-given gifts and abilities to serve with integrity so they could exalt God in the midst of a pagan culture.

Verse 21 ends with a powerful statement regarding Daniel's Godly witness and influence over a pagan culture. We are reminded that Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus. He began his training in the year 605 BC. Chapters 10–12 record a vision Daniel had in the third year of King Cyrus, which would be about 536 BC. Consequently, we know Daniel’s ministry lasted seventy years.

How difficult would it be to avoid compromise in the following situations? How could you respond based upon this passage?

1. You are asked to pray at a local event but not use the name of Jesus in your prayer.
2. You are expected to go to a work meeting held at a local bar or club.
3. You are on a work trip with your boss, and he wants you to go with him to a club during your free time.
4. You are told your child has to travel on multiple Sundays if he/she wants to be on a sports team.
5. You are told to ignore certain financials in order to report a better quarterly earnings report to the board.
6. You are asked to remove your Bible from your desk at school or work.

What compromising situations do you face? Seek out someone who would pray for you as you face those situations.

In Alistair Begg’s book, Brave by Faith, he offers this challenge based upon his observation of Daniel's life, 

“The crisis will come; the moments will arrive when we are called to go with the flow of our culture rather than obedience to our God in the workplace, or the sports club, or in how we raise our children, or what we say from our pulpits, and so on. Those crises will reveal what is inside us. Don’t assume you’ll stand firm in those moments. Equally, don’t assume you will have to give in. Resolve now. Think through where to draw the lines you will not cross.”

The downloadable teaching helps provide more details for this study, along with some tools you can use in guiding a group Bible study. Be sure to use this as a supplement to your study of the Explore the Bible Study resources provided by LifeWay.

How much is a human life actually worth? If someone asked you this question, how would you respond? The Explore the Bible Study: Values, will focus on helping you answer this question.

Broken humanity is constantly trying to define the worth of human beings. Going through the COVID pandemic has certainly made this more obvious and revealed mankind’s inability to place a value on human life outside of a moral compass. The way we value other humans is challenged on every front with regard to healthcare, the unborn, the mental and physically challenged, the aged, the environment, and even the value of a human economically speaking. According to a 2020 New York Times article, statistician and health economist Howard Steven Friedman states that many excellent economists are working continually to determine the price tag of a human life.

The value we place on something or someone, shapes our priorities and our behaviors. The Bible teaches that God values all human life; therefore, we should as well. But when we look to other sources outside of Scripture to determine the value of a human life, without any kind of moral compass, our view and value of other human beings spirals downward.

We will be looking at three sets of passages that provide insight into how we can avoid devaluing other human beings.

Ezekiel 16:20-21 - When we forget God’s blessings and grace, we will begin to devalue human beings.

Ezekiel 16 describes God’s grace to an unfaithful Jerusalem. Ezekiel 16:1-5 tells us that God had set His love on His people from the beginning, and verses 6-14 remind us that He established a covenant with them and generously provided for them. However, God’s people didn’t value God’s blessings. Instead, they turned to false idols (Ezekiel 16:15-19). This led them to violate the human rights of others, particularly their children, as described in verses 20-21.

Notice the Lord asked His people: wasn’t your prostitution enough? They themselves had engaged in illicit sexual activity as worship rites. All those things were bad enough, but then they offered their own children as sacrifices. 

The phrase bore to me communicates ownership and stewardship. God’s blessings on Israel included children. The children were entrusted to the Israelites by God and were to be nurtured and raised to love Him and live for Him. Not only were these children entrusted to parents, but they were entrusted to the community of God’s people; yet they allowed the children to be sacrificed. God’s people should have loved and treasured the children God gave them, but they didn’t. 

Their own selfish desires replaced the value they placed on human life, leading them to sacrifice their children to images as food. Pagan worship often involved leaving food and drink in front of an idol as a present for the god. However, God’s people were taking their own children and “feeding” them to the gods through human sacrifice. The expression you passed them through the fire alludes to human sacrifice. The parents dedicated themselves and their children to the images of the gods they served by ending their children’s lives while the entire community of God’s people stood by and allowed this to take place.

What are some of God’s blessings that we tend to take for granted? In what ways might adults “sacrifice” children in order to “feed their idols”? What are some examples that demonstrate the devaluing of human beings today such as the unborn, those with special needs, or older adults? How does this devaluing parallel the attitudes and actions of those described by Ezekiel?

Ezekiel 23:36-39 - When we devalue human life, callousness becomes the norm.

Ezekiel compared Samaria to a woman named Oholah and Jerusalem to a woman named Oholibah. God said, in Ezekiel 23:1-4, that both women belonged to Him. But Oholah acted unfaithfully toward the Lord and placed her faith in the Assyrians instead (verses 5-10). Tragically, the Assyrians brought destruction on Samaria and the nation of Israel. Oholibah saw all this, yet acted even more wickedly than her sister (verses 11-21). Therefore, God said He would humble Jerusalem and Judah and bring the nations in which she had trusted against her (verses 22-35). Because of this, God told Ezekiel to declare to Oholah and Oholibah their sins. In verses 36-39 Ezekiel describes the callousness of God’s people toward other human beings, resulting in their judgment.

• Their callous hearts led them to commit adultery openly, blatantly, and willingly – vs. 37. 
• Their callous hearts led them to shed the blood of the helpless – vs. 37. 
• Not only did their callous hearts lead them to commit adultery, but they committed adultery with their idols - vs. 37. Physical adultery occurred within marriage relationships, but spiritual adultery occurred as the people forsook the Lord to worship Baal and other gods of the peoples of the land.
• Again, in verse 37, Ezekiel stated that their callous hearts led them to sacrifice their children for their idols. This callousness was so heinous to God that God describes it in verse 39 as a slaughter – slaughtered their children.  The burned flesh of their children became food for the idols they served, and God hated it. 
• Their callous hearts were evident in their worship. Verse 38 states that they defiled God’s sanctuary and His Sabbaths. The people thought they became holy if they merely entered the temple area; instead, their unclean lives defiled the temple (see Jeremiah 7:3-4; Haggai 2:11-14).
• Finally, and perhaps the most disturbing the fact described in verse 39 is that, after committing these horrific and unimaginable sins, they callously entered God’s sanctuary thus profaning it. 

They callously attended worship without ever considering the sin in their hearts and the blood on their hands.

What sins today are more acceptable than they were with past generations? In what ways has life been devalued because of our increasing callousness toward sin? How can we avoid becoming so calloused to sin?

Psalm 139:13-16 - King David understood that valuing humans as God does is the key.

Psalm 139:1-6 states that the Lord knew David through and through, and understood intimately everything about him. The thought of such truths staggered David’s imagination. He affirmed that God’s presence extended throughout the universe (139:7-12), and God was present with him. This led David to acknowledge that the Lord had first claim on his life, for He had created him.

Modern science has uncovered many more details regarding the gestation period of human beings that only affirm what God revealed to David. At conception, the foundations of a child’s physical characteristics, intelligence, and personality are established. After only twenty-one days, the baby’s heart beats regularly, and the foundation of the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system already are established. After thirty-five days, fingers can be discerned on the baby’s hands. At forty days, brain waves appear. At three months, hair begins to grow on the baby’s head. At five months the baby weighs about a pound, is about twelve inches long, and responds to loud, startling noises. He or she only needs nourishment, warmth, and a secure place to grow. (Source: "A Baby's First Months." National Right to Life)

God saw David’s life and purpose from beginning to end before David was born. A thousand years later, the apostle Paul would affirm that David served God’s purpose in his own generation (Acts 13:36). Likewise, God has a plan for each one of us. Tragically, as a society has grown callous toward the value of human beings, especially the unborn, abortion has interrupted this process and ends a helpless, yet purposeful life God has begun.

How much is a human life actually worth?

This question was posed at the beginning of this post. Based on these passages, how would you answer this question?

Has God revealed areas in which you have ignored God’s blessings and selfishly turned toward fulfilling your own desires at the cost of others or your family?

Are there areas in which you realize you have grown callous to sins that you once thought were unacceptable to embrace? What do you need to do to embrace God’s values once again?

Do you struggle with embracing the fact that God made everyone and has given them a purpose? Do you struggle with realizing this is true for yourself as well? Talk with someone about your struggle.

Do you struggle with balancing all society teaches regarding personal rights versus the rights of the unborn? If so, dig deeper into God’s Word, and ask Him to help you embrace the value He places on all human beings including the value He places on your own life.

A final question every Christian should ask of oneself if they value human life as God does:

Have you ever heard someone say, or have you personally said or thought the following: “He or she is a hopeless cause”? When you examine LifeWay's Explore The Bible Study: Offers, and it's focus on Ezekiel 37, you will discover that what seems hopeless is never hopeless when God is at work. You will discover that God is able to bring new life to those who are hopeless because of sin.

If you were Ezekiel, you might assume that the restoration of the Israelites was a hopeless cause. Ezekiel has already described how the choices of the Israelites to rebel and dishonor God led them into a state of judgment involving exile and the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. Yet, in Ezekiel 33, God’s grace and mercy is described once again. God’s people were not a hopeless cause, and God had a restoration plan (Ezekiel 33:1-33). Ezekiel 37 reveals His plan.

God showed Ezekiel a vision of a valley full of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14. God used this vision to convince His prophet that the Israelites could be restored. Eventually, this restoration would include reuniting the kingdoms of Israel and Judah (Ezekiel 37:15-23), and would place a descendant of David on the throne to lead them (Ezekiel 37:24-28). 

Because we are looking back through time and through the lens of prophecy, one can understand how this vision points to God's redemptive work to restore sinners into a right relationship with Him through Christ. It should remind us that we weren’t a hopeless cause and others around us are not hopeless causes when God is at work. He is the Master at restoring people!

As believers, we need to put ourselves in Ezekiel’s shoes and consider what we can learn regarding how we should respond to all those around us who are dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). God invites us to be a part of seeing their lives restored and seeing them given new life through Christ. 

Here are three things you can learn regarding God’s work of restoration through this passage of study.

First, we should listen to God when He puts us in a valley of “dry bones.” – Ezekiel 37:1-6

God was at work to place Ezekiel right where he needed to be so he could participate in God’s work of restoration. Ezekiel tells us that the Lord was on him, God brought him, and His Spirit placed him right in the middle of the valley that was full of dry bones! God didn’t give him a cliffside view, use a drone camera to show him the valley of bones, or do a flyover in a plane! He placed him right DOWN in the middle of the valley of dry bones.

Notice how Ezekiel specifically states that the valley was full of bones and then again, he says, there were a great many of them, and that they were very dry. Dry bones indicated death had happened a long time ago. This expression signified the utter hopelessness of life coming back into them. Apart from God’s activity, it would be impossible for life to be restored. This valley of dry bones most likely represented the site of a battle symbolizing Judah’s defeat by the Babylonians, indicating that, for all practical reasons, their cause was lost and hopeless. 

As believers we are in the middle of dry bones every day that need life that can only come through a relationship with Jesus Christ. God might ask you the same question He asked Ezekiel in verse 3, can these bones live? Will you respond as Ezekiel did in Ezekiel 37:3, Lord God, only you know?

Today, God calls on believers to see the potential in all lost people. There have been obedient “Ezekiels” throughout history, who have spoken the words of the gospel, and people have been restored to life in Christ. Not everyone who spoke was a prophet, a great evangelistic preacher, or a pastor of a grand church. They were, and are, simply people who believed God could make dry bones come alive, so they spoke the words of the gospel to those who were dry bones lying in the valley of lostness. The Bible and church history are filled with unlikely individuals whose lives God changed forever because of one who was placed in the middle of the valley of dry bones!

Who was your Ezekiel? Who spoke to you regarding your need for salvation? Who believed that your dry bones could become alive again?

When we obey God, we get to observe His amazing work of restoration - Ezekiel 37:7-10

Ezekiel affirmed, I prophesied as I had been commanded. True prophets followed God’s instructions exactly. He did obey!

When Ezekiel was prophesying, he realized that God’s redemptive work was not yet complete. They were simply lifeless bodies. God gave further instruction regarding what should take place next and, again, Ezekiel obediently prophesied as God commanded, and the bodies came to life. God’s work was complete, and the bodies stood on their feet, appearing to Ezekiel as a vast army, suggesting they had a purpose and a mission. 

God brings us to life because He desires to fulfill His mission on the earth through us. As believers, we are a vast army who are to faithfully and obediently fulfill the mission of sharing and showing the Good News of Jesus.

In what ways does Ezekiel’s vision of the dry bones coming to life parallel a salvation experience?

Jesus warned the church in Sardis (Revelation 3:1), simply having the appearance of life doesn’t mean something is alive. Just like Adam in Genesis 2:7, there wasn’t life in the bodies until God breathed life into them. 

In Ephesians 2:1, Paul described those apart from Christ as “dead in your trespasses and sins.” Many of us have friends, neighbors, and coworkers who are nice people; yet they do not know Jesus. They are honest, faithful to their spouses, good parents, and good citizens. Yet, without Jesus, they have no eternal hope. They lack the new life that only comes through redemption and the indwelling life-giving presence of the Holy Spirit.

The leader commentary for Explore the Bible reminds us that the gospel is not about making bad people good; it is about making dead people alive.

“Our world today so desperately hungers for hope, yet uncounted people have almost given up. There is despair and hopelessness on every hand. Let us be faithful in proclaiming the hope that is in Jesus.” -Billy Graham