Daniel’s Reward (Daniel 2:46-49)

Daniel has recounted and interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s troubling dream, successfully in the eyes of Nebuchadnezzar.  As happens with the interaction between Nebuchadnezzar and the Hebrew children in chapters 1, 2, and 3 and in chapter 5 with Belshazzar, they are rewarded for providing the wisdom and direction they needed in these situations.

Daniel’s public triumph is seen in vv. 46-49.

Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him.  The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.”  Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.  Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon.  But Daniel remained at the king’s court.

Nebuchadnezzar was so emotionally overcome by Daniel’s definitive recall, description and interpretation of the meaning of his dream and the monstrous image that appeared.  First he “fell upon his face”—perhaps because he was grateful or overwhelmed or fearful— and then impulsively “paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him” (v.  46).  

John Calvin remarks: “Nebuchadnezzar was really a very powerful monarch, and it was difficult for him so to regulate his mind as to attribute the glory to God.  Thus the dream which Daniel explained could not be pleasing to him.  He saw his monarchy cursed before God, and about to perish in ignominy others, too, which should succeed it were ordained in heaven; and though he might receive some comfort from the destruction of the other kingdoms, yet it was very harsh to delicate ears, to hear that a kingdom, which appeared most flourishing, and which all men thought would be perpetual, was of but short duration and sure to perish.”  So to prostrate himself before Daniel IS a sign of humility.

Clearly, Daniel had done what everyone considered humanly impossible.  He had told the king the dream that Nebuchadnezzar alone knew (and stubbornly wouldn’t tell anyone) or had perhaps even forgotten, and Daniel had given an interpretation of the dream that made sense to the king.  Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar concluded that Daniel must be some sort of god, and he proceeded to treat him as one by bowing before him, presenting an offering to him, and burning incense to him (cf. Acts 10:25; 14:13).

Nebuchadnezzar was not yet personally bowing his knee to this God of the Jews.  Notice that he still says that this is Daniel’s God (“your God is God of gods and Lord of kings”), to which Calvin admits he’s “not quite in his senses.”  Nevertheless, his respect for Daniel’s god was growing. 

Immersed and raised within a polytheistic culture, Nebuchadnezzar may simply be stating that Daniel’s God is the greatest among the pantheon of Babylonian deities.

By “God of gods” he may be beginning to doubt the existence or power of his own familiar gods and by “Lord of lords” “he claims for him the supreme dominion over the world; he means to assert that Israel’s God not only excels all others, but holds the reins of government over the world” (John Calvin)

In falling down before Daniel (and his God) in deference, king Nebuchadnezzar demonstrated the truth of this statement, “May all kings bow down to him and all nations serve him” (Psalm 72:11); “By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; by me princes govern, and nobles—all who rule on earth” (Prov. 8:15-16); Jesus will be “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5).  In the final war against the Lamb, he will overcome them because “He is Lord of lords and King of kings” (Rev. 17:14).  This is written even on His thigh (Rev. 19:16).

He adds, he is a revealer of secrets.  This is our proof of Divinity, as we have said elsewhere.  For Isaiah, when wishing to prove the existence of only one, true God, takes these two principles, viz., Nothing happens without his permission; and his foreseeing all things. (Daniel 48:3-5.)  These two principles have been inseparably unified (John Calvin)

At this point we might say Nebuchadnezzar was a henotheist, placing the Most High at the “head of the line.”  As Gleason Archer Jr. says, “The king’s praise to the Lord does not necessarily mean that he doubted the existence of other gods, much less that he had experienced any sort of conversion” (Daniel in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 49).

The instance is instructive, as showing to what extent a mind clearly not under the influence of any genuine piety – for subsequent events showed that no “permanent” effects were produced on him, and that he was still an idolater Dan. 3, and a most proud and haughty man Dan. 4.

John Calvin concurs, “Let us learn from this passage, how insufficient it is to celebrate God’s wisdom and power with noisy declamation, unless we at the same time reject all superstitions from our minds, and so cling to the only God as to bid all others heartily farewell. No fuller verbal confession can be required than is here set before us; and yet we observe how Nebuchadnezzar was always involved in Satan’s impostures, because he wished to retain his false gods, and thought it sufficient to yield the first place to the God of Israel.”  God deserves not first place, but sole place.

This great king was obviously impressed.  He just wasn’t in the habit of showing such respect to anyone, especially to a foreign slave he had almost executed with the rest of the wise men.  This serves to confirm that had Daniel accurately reported the dream and had skillfully explained its meaning to the king.

First, the king praises Daniel (2:46-47).  He is astounded at Daniel’s ability to interpret his dream and orders that he would be honored as if he were a god.

While “King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him” he seems to be doing this in recognition that Daniel’s God was unquestionably, incontestably superior to his gods, for He was “God of gods and Lord of lords.” (By the way, this prefigures what kings and presidents and premiers will do when Jesus Christ appears: fall down and worship, the King of kings and Lord of lords.)

In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul concludes:

9 Therefore [since Jesus humbled himself to serve and die for us] God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Nebuchadnezzar falling prostrate before Daniel prefigures Gentiles bowing the knee before Jesus and the eventual submission of Gentile governments to Israel in the Millennial Kingdom (Jer. 3:17; Zech. 14:16).

Josephus records a similar instance in which Alexander the Great bowed before the high priest of the Jews.  One of his generals asked him why he would lower himself to bow before a mere Jewish priest when even other kings would prostrate themselves before Alexander the Great.  The world conqueror replied, “It was not before him that I prostrated myself, but the God of whom he has the honor to be high priest.”

We see this in v. 47 where he also acknowledges, as Daniel desired, about Daniel’s God, “your God is God of gods and Lord of lords” and it was Daniel’s God who is “a revealer of mysteries.”  This is because at every stage Daniel had turned the spotlight from himself and cast it upon his God.  He was not, by receiving these honors, claiming the glory for himself.  By this statement we know that Nebuchadnezzar understood that Daniel was the ambassador and representative of God but not deity himself.

“In the process of offering worship to Daniel’s God, Nebuchadnezzar actually pays a great tribute to the God of Daniel.  It is most significant that he does not even mention his own gods which had failed to produce a suitable revelation, except in the statement that Daniel’s God is “a God of gods,” that is, Daniel’s God is supreme over any other gods commonly worshiped in a polytheistic system.  Although Nebuchadnezzar was short of true faith in Daniel’s God at this point in his life, the evidence that Daniel’s God could reveal a secret and may indeed have been the author of his dream impressed Nebuchadnezzar with the fact that no other god could be greater” (John Walvoord, Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation).

One can hardly doubt that Nebuchadnezzar was sincere in this proclamation, however, the next two chapters indicate for us that Nebuchadnezzar could hardly be called a committed follower of Yahweh yet. As Wiersbe says, “this was the first step.”

We should not miss the evangelistic influence of Daniel’s faithful walk in the events of this chapter.  Although Nebuchadnezzar has not yet come to full faith in Daniel’s God, Daniel’s trust and faith led to an unprecedented opportunity for Daniel to provide evidence of the power and authority of God later.

Second, the king promotes Daniel (2:48-49).  Since Daniel had so decisively proved himself a true prophet with access to the great God he worshiped, it was only logical that Nebuchadnezzar place him in charge of all the diviners at the court of Babylon.  He had proved his worth, while they had failed miserably and absolutely.

He gave Daniel “high honors” and “made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.”  He opened the royal treasury and showered gifts upon him.  Why?  Because Daniel affirmed that Nebuchadnezzar was a great king and because he had interpreted the dream.

“As far as concerns gifts and the discharge of public duties, we can neither condemn Nebuchadnezzar for honoring God’s servant, nor yet Daniel for suffering himself to be thus exalted. All God’s servants ought to take care not to make a gain of their office, and we know how very pestilent the disease is when prophets and teachers are addicted to gain, or easily receive the gifts offered them. For where there is no contempt of money, many vices necessarily spring up, since all avaricious and covetous men adulterate God’s word and makes, traffic of it. (2 Corinthians 2:17.) Hence all prophets and ministers of God ought to watch against being covetous of gifts. But as far as Daniel is concerned, he might receive what the king offered him just as Joseph could lawfully undertake the government of the whole of Egypt. (Genesis 41:40)” (John Calvin)

“In times of adversity, believers usually have their greatest spiritual growth spurts and greatest spiritual moments, but most do not do nearly as well when they are enjoying times of prosperity (cf. Deut. 8:10-11).  Daniel, however, will live consistently well for the Lord during the years ahead of him even though he is prospering as few ever do” (Paul Benware, Daniel’s Prophecy of Things to Come).

Now, it is important for us to recognize here that “Daniel is not placed among these specific classes of diviners, but is “chief prefect” (רַב־סִגְנִין [rab–-siḡnîn]) over them (Dan. 2:48).  He is their supervisor, but he is never one of them.  Later too, Daniel is not among them, but separate from them.  He is not included among them in Daniel 4 and is brought to the king only when they cannot interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Dan. 4:7-8).  Nor is Daniel among them in chapter 5.” (Steinman, Daniel, p. 110).

The appointment of Daniel over the wise men is undoubtedly connected with the arrival, hundreds of years later, of wise men seeking the king of the Jews.

There is no means of determining whether the μάγοι ἀπˊ ἀνατολῶν [magoi ap anatolōn] of Matt. 2:1, 7, 16 are specifically Babylonian astrologers or astrologers in general.  The former is more likely, since it is only in Babylon, by contact with the [Jewish] exiles, that the μἀγοι [magoi] would acquire an interest in the Jewish king (Messiah) (Gerhard Delling, “Magos,” in Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromily, and Gerhard Friedrich, eds., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964-c1976), 4:358)

Subsequent revelation given to Daniel concerning the Seventy Sevens (Dan. 9:24-27) would have allowed prediction of the time of the arrival of Messiah.  This knowledge may have been passed down among the Babylonian wise men until the arrival of the predicted time.

Earlier in the chapter, Daniel’s life was in danger (v. 13).  Now, he not only was spared from death and given gifts (cf. the promise of reward in 2:6) but also had ascended in rank under Nebuchadnezzar’s authority.  This was indeed noteworthy.  As Gleason Archer Jr. says, “Normally this position would be reserved for a Chaldean nobleman, a member, like Nebuchadnezzar, of the master race.  For a Jew from the Captivity to be so honored was unprecedented and shows how deeply his intelligence and integrity had impressed the king” (Daniel in The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, p. 50).  Daniel had clearly prospered under God’s favor.

It wasn’t all good, however, for being appointed “over all the wise men of Babylon” was sure to fire up latent jealousies and envy.  Some of these same men may have been the ones who brought him before Darius as a violator of the edict to pray to none other than Darius himself.

Nor did Daniel forget his friends.  He remembered how they had prayed with him for God’s revelation with him.  He was too wise to promote himself.  He did, however, bring their names before the king, and the king, on the basis of his trust in Daniel’s integrity and insight, did not hesitate to promote them as well.  He was loyal to his friends.  How they handled the special snares of advancement is told in the chapter that follows.

Like Daniel, his companions had once been under a royal decree of death (v. 13), but now not only have their lives been spared but they have ascended to a new rank.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego became overseers in the province, which probably implied managerial duties over the citizenry.  God’s vindicating hand was upon these faithful Israelites as they depended on him during their exile.

The first chapter ended with the king granting Daniel and his three friends a standing in his court (1:19, 21), and the second chapter ends with even greater positions (2:48-49).  This pattern of faithfulness resulting in blessing or promotion will be repeated in chapters 3, 5, and 6, showing us that it is God’s pattern to reward faithfulness to him, especially when we do not seek the glory for our success.  Where Lot was a compromiser, Daniel was inflexible for truth.

The cycle of Daniel’s life thus far (being taken to a foreign country, remaining faithful to Yahweh, becoming an adviser to a pagan ruler, interpreting a ruler’s dreams, being promoted within the kingdom) is reminiscent of Joseph’s.  As God did not abandon Joseph, he has not abandoned Daniel. Rather, God is with Daniel and his people in Babylonian captivity.  Further, the Egyptian captivity ended with an exodus when God later raised up a deliverer.  Daniel, a new Joseph, is in Babylonian captivity, and another exodus is perhaps in store.

Daniel himself remained in the palace and was available to Nebuchadnezzar as an adviser when the king needed him.  God prepared for the arrival of thousands of exiled Judahites (in 597 and 586 B.C.) by placing men in authority who were sympathetic to their needs (cf. Joseph).

John Walvoord concludes: “Thus Daniel, the obscure Jewish captive who could have been lost to history like many others if he had compromised in chapter 1, is now exalted to a place of great honor and power.  Like Joseph in Egypt, he was destined to play an important part in the subsequent history of his generation” (Daniel: The Key to Prophetic Revelation, p. 78).  Thus Daniel was in a condition to be a helper to, and relieve much oppression over, his own people, just as Joseph did down in Egypt before him, as described Genesis 41:1-44.

Tom Constable ends this chapter with this chart, which he borrows from Arnold Fruchtenbaum.

An Overview of Daniel’s Prophecies in Chronological Order
Date	Daniel’s Age	Reference	Prophecy
602 B.C.	ca. 18	2:1-45	Great image
553 B.C.	ca. 67	7:1-28	Four beasts, Ancient of Days
551 B.C.	ca. 69	8:1-27	Ram and he-goat
539 B.C.	ca. 81	5:1-31	Fall of Babylon
539 B.C.	ca. 81	9:1-27	Seventy sevens
536 B.C.	ca. 84	11:2-45	Future of nations
536 B.C.	ca. 84	12:1-13	Future of Israel

Next week we will begin chapter 3, that wonderful story of the three brave Hebrew men who defied the king and trusted God to protect them.