Daniel 3:12

The charge was disregarding the king’s command concerning pledging allegiance by bowing before the image. This constituted proof that the three Jews did not worship the king’s gods and were not loyal to him.

"In situations like this, no crime is greater then nonconformity, yet that is exactly what God asks of us when the things of the world are arrayed against the things of God (Romans 12:1-2)." [Note: Feinberg, p. 44.]

Many Israelites worshipped idols in Palestine, and Moses had predicted that they would worship them in exile (Deuteronomy 4:27-28), but these young men were as scrupulous about their observance of the Mosaic Law as Daniel. For them, death was preferable to disobedience. Nebuchadnezzar’s gods were responsible for his success, according to Mesopotamian thinking, and to disregard them was tantamount to repudiating Nebuchadnezzar.

"The Chaldeans’ attack, and Nebuchadnezzar’s reaction, suggests that they saw the Jews’ stance as involving both disloyalty (as if it were the king’s statue) and impiety (as if it were a god’s). Whatever the nature of the statue, it held religion and state together." [Note: Goldingay, p. 73.]

The term "Jew" usually appears as a pejorative term, as here, wherever it occurs in the Old Testament. It is a term that the Israelites’ enemies used to describe them (cf. Daniel 6:13).

The absence of reference to Daniel here raises questions. Had he worshiped the image? Was he away on government business, was he occupied with pressing matters, or was he ill and unable to attend the ceremony? Did he enjoy such an exalted position or such favor with the king that these Chaldeans dared not accuse him? The writer did not explain this mystery. It was the response of Daniel’s three Hebrew friends that he wanted to stress. It seems safe to assume that if Daniel had been present, he would have responded as his three friends did.

"Those who had proven themselves loyal at the royal court in Babylon would have been exempt from the ceremony. Thus Daniel did not have to appear at the gathering because he had been with Nebuchadnezzar at the royal court." [Note: Dyer, in The Old . . ., p. 706.]

"God does not test all of His children at the same time or in the same manner." [Note: Campbell, p. 33.]