God’s Word for You
Daniel 2:48-49 rescue in our misery
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, September 18, 2025
48 Then the king promoted Daniel to a high position and gave him many gifts. He made him ruler over the entire province of Babylon and made him chief prefect of all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Then at Daniel’s request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to be administrators over the province of Babylon, while Daniel himself remained at the court of the king.
“Promoted to a high position” is a verb showing the king causing something to take place, and making an official statement by doing it. Whatever the gifts were, probably items of rich clothing and certain kinds of jewelry, allowed Daniel to look like a courtier and an official as well as giving him items which he might in turn give as gifts to others for certain work or favors. When Joseph was promoted by his Pharaoh, he was given lavish gifts including the king’s own signet ring, robes of fine linen and a gold chain around his neck, as well as a special chariot to ride in (Genesis 41:41-43). In Daniel’s case, this would probably also have meant a beautiful home near the palace, as well as a number of servants paid for by the royal treasury. Just who would have been ousted in favor of the young prefect over the wise men is left unspoken, unless this was a house built especially for Daniel. We will visit this home later in chapter 6, where we learn that he had there “an upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem” (6:10). But the events of chapter 6 took place much later in Daniel’s lifetime, when he found himself surrounded by enemies who were jealous of his authority, his position, and his abilities.
Daniel’s promotion over the entire province of Babylon matches what happened to Joseph as well. Pharaoh had said, “You shall be in charge of my palace, and all my people are to submit to your orders. Only with respect to the throne will I be greater than you” (Genesis 41:40). Daniel’s promotion does not seem much different from this, being ruler over the province where the king lived, being chief prefect over all the wise men, and living at the court with the king.
We should give some thought to Daniel’s promotion as chief prefect over the wise men of Babylon. They were heathens, practicing heathen magic and using unclean animals in their rituals and fortune telling. They prayed to false gods. In a word, they were not in fellowship with Daniel in any way. But Daniel was not forced to mix with them or to take part in their doings. He was, if we may use the word, “simply” set over them with authority and oversight. They may not all have liked this promotion, but we must also remember that this man Daniel had just saved every single one of their lives. If he used his authority over them with a light hand, he need not have violated his beliefs or any of the laws of Moses. As Leupold says, “His oversight of them laid no restrictions or demands upon him in matters of believing or practicing as they did just as little as the learning of the wisdom of Babylon, according to chapter one, involved the obligation to practice things that were hostile to the spirit of the religion of Israel” (p. 129).
Daniel also asked that his companions be promoted in some way as well. This promotion had at least several excellent results. First, they were rewarded for their help, since they had prayed with him when he sought the Lord’s help in answering the king’s impossible question. Second, their position gave Daniel spiritual allies in the administration of the province. Third, the companions would become Daniel’s eyes and ears when it came to intrigues brewing here and there, since he was in a sense confined to the palace and could not freely move around the kingdom. Fourth, the promotions of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego gave glory to God, for his faithful people were now promoted for all of the exiles to see, as they learned in these early years of their captivity to live and thrive where God had placed them, until the day should come when they would be allowed to return home.
In this chapter, we see the law proclaimed in the failure of human kingdoms and all human forms of power, which are subject to sin, corruption, the whims and caprices of sinful rulers who rave “from one bad thing to worse,” when the sinful man’s words begin in folly, “but in the end they are wicked madness” (Ecclesiastes 10:13). The gospel is put on display first in the Lord’s answer to Daniel’s prayer, showing God’s authority (another application of law) and his willingness to help his people in every need and especially “in the hour of utmost need.” Second, the gospel is shown in the prophecy of the stone cut or cleft from the tall mountain, smashing mere human kingdoms, and becoming itself a mountain that fills the whole earth. This is the coming of Christ and the kingdom of Christ, who gathers us all in to put our faith in him and be rescued from sin, death and the power of the devil, and brought to the home prepared for us by Christ our Lord.
When in the hour of utmost need
We know not where to look for aid,
When days and nights of anxious thoughts
Nor help nor counsel yet have brought.
Then is our comfort this alone
That we may meet before your throne;
To you, O faithful God we cry
For rescue in our misery.
(When in the Hour of Utmost Need, Paul Eber, 1511-1569)
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.