DANIEL 2:49

[Daniel 2:49 NKJV] °°°° Also Daniel petitioned the king, and he set Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego over the affairs of the province of Babylon; but Daniel sat in the gate of the king.

[Daniel 2:49 FBV] — At Daniel's request, the king placed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in charge of the province of Babylon, and Daniel remained at the king's court.

Look at this Bible verse above, and what do you read therein? "Daniel who was greatly exalted into great governmental positions used his closeness to the king to lobby for his classmates and friends to also be given appointments or great jobs too." That was a great and true friendship indeed. I have seen classmates or friends who had great privileges in government jobs or connections, but they never cared to help their fellow old classmates or friends whom they know were also good at what they do. Such self-centered friends would only be inviting their jobless classmates to come celebrate good things they achieved in their lives, and glory in the congratulations their not so well to do former classmates or friends are giving them; but they would never strive to help their former classmates to get jobs in government or highly paying jobs as God had helped them.

How much can you go, give or do, to raise at least three of your former classmates, friends or brethren, in the same faith like Daniel did? People have replaced true friendship with group meetings or associations making contributions for members whenever need arises. It's not forming charity organizations I am talking about, but forming true friendship. Charity organizations are basically for donations or contributions to members within or outside the group. But true friendship is beyond giving a man fishes, but helping him to become a successful fisherman himself. Instead of handouts, give true helping hands, even as Daniel sought for Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah to be established with royal appointments too, as he's. So both Daniel and the three friends had charge over the province of Babylon: The sky is large enough for all birds to fly, but many false friends do not like competition or are too insecure to help their fellow classmates or friends. Truly, some people are deceitful in what they call helping others; for their help never took their helpless out of poverty.

Nevertheless, I must approach the top Bible verse above with more spiritual perspective, than those at sociological levels. In this higher spiritual perspective, even Daniel's help above was insufficient help for those his classmates, friends and brethren.

[Psalms 108:12 or Psalms 60:11] — "Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man."

The help of man is vain without God's help; yes even this help of Daniel for his friends or classmates had to be reduced to vanity, before the true help of God later became what established these three men, instead of Daniel's help. How?

*1* Daniel's help by connection and prayer to the king got them those great job appointments over the province of Babylon; but as you also read above, Daniel sat in the king's gate while these three men were not given to sit in the king's gate because though the king favored them because of Daniel the king had no direct respect or relationship with them.

*2* Daniel had undoing of not reforming the king from worshiping idols or other gods except the Lord God Himself, and that undoing was going to haunt the three friends outside the king's gate.

*3* Daniel sitting in the king's gate was somehow like Mordecai sitting in the king's gate in Esther's time: Except that for Mordecai there was a king decree that all the king's servants sitting in the king's gate much bow down to the king's favorite Prince Haman, while in Daniel's time those to bow down to the king's favorite image/idol were those servants of the king sitting outside the king's gate. Thus, as Mordecai sitting in the king's gate would not bow down to the king's man according to the king's decree, so were Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, sitting outside the king's gate adamantly refusing to bow down to the king's idol.

*4* If they had not gotten the positions by Daniel's intervention, they would not have been in that temptation or trial of either bowing down to the king's idol or be burnt in the fiery furnace. Thus, that job by Daniel was either going to make them lose their "Faith" to keep their life or lose their life to keep their "Faith."

*5* No Daniel even tried to intervene for them, but they lose the Daniel's connection jobs and were cast into the furnace because they would keep their faith in God against the idolatrous king.

*6* The Lord God showed up on their behalf after the help of man failed them; and because they honored God, God honored them. Therefore, without the help of Daniel but by the help of God only:

[Daniel 3:30] — "Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon."