Daniel 3:9-12

‘They responded and said to Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king live for ever. You, O king have made a decree, that every man who will hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery and dulcimer and all kinds of music shall fall down and worship the golden image. And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. There are certain Judeans whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These men O king have not considered your authority. They do not serve your gods, nor do they worship the golden image that you have set up.” '

These people had every right to tell the king about this civil disobedience. It was the way in which they did so that reveals their mean mindedness. They stressed not only the failure of the accused, but the attitudes that lay behind it. They suggested that they were ungrateful. First they cited the decree, and then they pointed out that ‘the Judeans' who had been privileged to receive appointment to important posts in Babylon were flouting his authority. Indeed they were committing treason. They had no regard for the king's authority, and they did not serve the king's gods.

This latter fact would have been especially noticeable to the wise men in their contacts with them because they would refuse to involve themselves in the magic rites and superstitions of the others. But the final charge was fatal. They refused to worship the golden image, and that was open rebellion. It could not be allowed to happen. It undermined the decree of the king. Everything that they said was designed to arouse Nebuchadnezzar's anger, although it is very possible that they felt indignant themselves. They would not have understood the reasons for the Judean's position which would have seemed to them incomprehensible.

‘Responded and said.' Possibly to the question, what are you here for? Or something similar. ‘Answered' often means merely responded to the situation as it was.