Daniel grew up in Jerusalem, in the shadow of Solomon's great temple. Despite the fact that the king and priests of his day were unfaithful to God and cruel to the nation's people, Daniel's parents had provided him with a sound education of Jewish law and history and modeled a fervent reverence for God.
But when Daniel was still a teen, all that changed. Jerusalem was attacked, the temple was burnt to the ground and Daniel and other young men of Judah were taken captive to Babylon to serve their king.
At the time Babylon was a great and prosperous nation, but also evil and immoral. Life was good there, seductive in its abundant riches, culture and knowledge. Yet Daniel lived there all of his life, kept his faith, his integrity and prospered. How did this young man survive and thrive in such an environment? How can anyone live a God-honoring life in Babylon?
Our country is a lot like Babylon: prosperous but growing more immoral and further away from God. Life is good here but seductive, just like Babylon. What can we learn from Daniel that we can use today?
* * * *
Daniel Part 1 - Following the Law When It's Not Easy
Read Daniel 1
1. How did Daniel end up in Babylon?
2. Describe the men of Israel who were captured and brought to Babylon, see verses 3-4.
3. Why were these men brought to Babylon? What did the king want them to do and why?
4. What troubled Daniel about his captivity? See verse 8. What did he ask of the chief eunuch?
5. Why was this a problem? See Leviticus 11:1-2, 41-47. This whole chapter lists food restrictions of the nation of Israel. Why would God ask the Israelites to restrict their diet?
6. Daniel had been taken captive, away from his home, his family and everything he knew. What other requests could he have made to the chief eunuch? But he did not.
7. How did God help Daniel and his friends?
8. Describe Daniel's relationship with the chief eunuch.
9. What does this scripture tell us about how to live a God-honoring life in Babylon? How can we apply this to our life today?
* * * *
Daniel Part 2 - Dreams of Destiny
Read Daniel 2:1-12
1. After Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream, who did he call on for help?
2. What did Nebuchadnezzar want his counselors to do for him? Why did he ask them to do this?
3. What was their response? See verses 4, 10 11.
Read Daniel 2:13-23
1. What was Daniel's response to Nebuchadnezzar? See verses 16-18.
2. How did God help Daniel?
Read Daniel 2:24-49
1. Daniel was able to tell the dream and the interpretation where the other wise men in the kingdom could not. Why?
2. God used Daniel to reveal this dream to Nebuchadnezzar and to us. What does this dream tell us about all nations and their destiny? What does this tell us about our nation?
3. What does this dream tell us about God?
4. What does this scripture tell us about how Daniel survived and thrived while living in evil Babylon?
5. How can we apply this to our lives today?
* * * *
Daniel Part 3 - Into the Fire
Read Daniel 3:1-7
1. What did Nebuchadnezzar do in verse 1?
2. What did Nebuchadnezzar want all the people to do? See verses 4-5.
3. How did Nebuchadnezzar encourage the people to do this? See verse 6.
4. Why do you think Nebuchadnezzar did this?
Read Daniel 3:8-18
1. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to comply with Nebuchadnezzar's wishes. What did they tell Nebuchadnezzar in verses 16-18? What were they willing to have happen to them? What was their tone and attitude?
2. What do you think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego?
3. How might you have reacted if put in this position?
Read Daniel 3:19-30
1. How did God vindicate Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego?
2. What was the result of their obedience to God in verses 28-30?
3. Like Nebuchadnezzar, our God also wants us to worship Him. How is God different from Nebuchadnezzar?
4. What is God trying to communicate to us in this scripture?
5. What does this scripture tell us about how to live a God-honoring life in Babylon? How can we apply this to our life today?
* * * *
Daniel Part 4 - Dreams of Warning
Read Daniel 4:1-18
1. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream and asked his counselors to interpret it for him. Describe his dream. See verses 10-17.
2. When his counselors could not interpret the dream Nebuchadnezzar called Daniel. Why did he trust Daniel? See verses 8,9 and 18.
Read Daniel 4:19-28
1. What did Daniel say the dream meant?
2. What did Daniel recommend to Nebuchadnezzar in verse 27?
3. Describe Daniel's attitude towards Nebuchadnezzar. See verses 19 and 27.
Read Daniel 4:29-37
1. Did Nebuchadnezzar heed God's (and Daniel's) warning to him? See verses 29-31.
2. What happened to Nebuchadnezzar because he did not heed the warning? See verses 31-33.
3. Why did Nebuchadnezzar not heed God's warning?
4. Can you think of a time when you did not heed God's warning? Why didn't you?
5. What was the result of Nebuchadnezzar's receiving God's punishment? See verses 34-37.
6. What does this scripture tell us about God? About us?
7. What does this scripture tell us about how Daniel survived and thrived while living in evil Babylon?
* * * *
Daniel Part 5 - Handwriting on the Wall
Read Daniel 5:1-9
1. 23 years after the death of Nebuchadnezzar, his grandson Belshazzar is ruling Babylon. Describe the feast he held.
2. Why would Belshazzar take the gold and silver vessels from the temple of the God of Israel to use at his feast? These vessels had been plundered from Jerusalem, see Daniel 1:1-2.
3. How did Belshazzar react to the writing on the wall in verses 6-9? What did he promise to the man who could interpret the writing in verse 7?
4. What does this tell you about Belshazzar's character? What kind of man is he?
Read Daniel 5:10-31
1. Daniel's reputation for wisdom and insight lasted for decades even after Nebuchadnezzar's death. What does the queen mother tell Belshazzar about Daniel in verses 10-12? What does this tell us about Daniel?
2. Daniel refused Belshazzar's reward. Why do you think he did that?
3. Daniel claimed Belshazzar did wrong and that he should have known better. What did Belshazzar do wrong? Why should he have know better? See verses 18-23.
4. Despite this very bad news, Belshazzar still gave Daniel the promised gifts in verse 29. Why do you think he did not execute Daniel instead?
5. Nebuchadnezzar's evil and subsequent punishment ends with his being restored in chapter 4. However Belshazzar's evil ends in his immediate death. Why did Nebuchadnezzar ultimately receive mercy from God and Belshazzar did not? Do you think this was fair?
6. What does this scripture tell us about evil leaders?
7. How did Daniel honor God and still earn the respect of generations of leaders in Babylon? How can we apply this to our lives today?
* * * *
Daniel Part 6 - Into the Lions Den
Read Daniel 6:1-11
1. At this time, what position did Daniel hold in the kingdom of the Medes and Persians? What did King Darius think of Daniel? Why do you think he had this opinion of Daniel? See verses 1-3.
2. What did the other governors think of Daniel? What did they do in verses 4-9? Why do you think they did this?
3. What did Daniel do about this law in verse 10? Why do you think he did this?
Read Daniel 6:12-20
1. Darius did not want Daniel harmed but when you get bad advice you often find yourself in a bad situation. Have you had a time when you listened to bad advice and things went downhill? Tell us about that.
2. What did Darius tell Daniel (verse 16) and what then did Darius do (verses 17-19)? Why do you think he did that?
Read Daniel 6:21-28
1. What was the result of Daniel's faithfulness to worship and pray to God? See verses 22-28.
2. Daniel displayed significant courage. Do you think he was certain God would deliver him?
3. Can we always depend on these kind of results when we stand up for God? Why or why not?
4. What does this scripture tell us about how to live a God-honoring life in Babylon? How can we apply this to our life today?
* * * *
Daniel Part 7 - Prayer for the Nation
Read Daniel 9:1-19
1. This last scripture we will look at is a prayer of Daniel. In verses 1-2 he tells us why he is praying. Why is he praying at this time?
2. See verse 3. How is Daniel praying? What is he also doing? Also see Daniel 10:2-3 for another time he prayed. What did he do during that time?
3. What is the first thing Daniel prayed for in verses 4-6?
4. What does Daniel claim about God and about the nation of Israel in verses 7-11?
5. All of Daniel's life he has been in captivity. Although he served kings, in essence he was a slave and his life was not his own to live, but he was subject to foreign and pagan kings. Who does Daniel blame for this? See verse 13.
6. What did Daniel request in verses 16-19? On what basis did Daniel make his request to God?
7. How is this prayer like your prayers? What aspects of this prayer, if any, would you like to incorporate to your prayer life?
Read Daniel 9:20-23
1. What is the effects of Daniel's prayer? What is going on in the spiritual realm while Daniel is praying?
2. The rest of the chapter is a description of the vision given to Daniel about the coming of the Messiah. Also Daniel's prayer in chapter 10 brings him another vision from God. Although every period of fasting and prayer does not necessarily bring a vision from God, do you have a story when a period of intense prayer brought a blessing in your life? Please share.
3. What does this scripture tell us about prayer? About God? How can we apply this to our lives today?
* * * *
Reflection: What can we learn from Daniel?
- Daniel and his friends stood firm in their faith. Even though it was disruptive or dangerous, they fought to follow God's law. They trusted God to provide for their needs, but confidence of favorable for them were not a prerequisite to their obedience. They stepped forward to obey even thought they knew they could not be assured of a good result.
We also need to obey and trust God with the results. - Daniel and his friends were captives. They were slaves of the king and had no personal freedom. They were separated from their families. They had lost their life style as nobles and of the ruling class in their own nation. They had watched as the temple of their God was destroyed and all of the holy articles in it were carried away to Babylon. Yet all of these things did not affect their faith.
Just because our current situation looks grim or hopeless does not mean our God has abandoned us. He continues to work behind the scenes for good. He is with us always. He sees us and cares for us. Often God is playing the long game and we can't see His point, but we can be sure He has one. - Daniel did not rebel, feel sorry for himself or play the victim. He tried as best he could to obey God within the culture and situation he found himself in. He served, honored and respected the king. He trusted God in his situation and never petitioned his captors for freedom. He knew they were not ultimately in charge, God was.
God has put us where we are with a purpose. Honor God and trust Him for His blessing. As much as possible, be obedient to the law and our leaders. Be respectful and kind to everyone. Pray for our needs. Find friends to encourage and support us in the journey. - Daniel was straightforward with his requests when he had needs. He did not try to hid anything, lie in any way or do a work-around. He wasn't sneaky. We should do the same.
- Daniel served several kings of Babylon in his life. He was not dismayed with their evil. He was confident God ruled over the world. He knew and we should also, that all leaders are imperfect sinful men and nations devolve into more and more evil. Is our nation any different? Ultimately all governments will give way to Christ who will have the victory.
- Daniel and his friends served the king, but they trusted God. When the king's law conflicted with God's law, they chose to obey God. They did not complain, rebel or run away from punishment, but they stood firm in obedience to God.
- Change is hard and we need to be patient and expectant with others. Sometimes they will not heed God's warnings. Sometimes people need to experience trouble in order to wake up to God's truth. That's why we should embrace trouble as a gift, knowing God will work for the good and as He does, bring us closer to Himself.
- When we do right, when we trust God, others will take notice and we earn their trust.
- Pride can be deadly. We must root it out of our life at all cost.
- Flattery, lies, half-truths never help others. Truth is always best, as long as it is given with kindness, compassion, and respect.
- Some people are dangerous and we need to wary of them. Here are some of their qualities: constantly angry, bitter, jealous, scheming, controlling. If you see these qualities in yourself, repent. If you see them in others, especially people close to you, stay alert.
- Prayer is powerful and effective. Purposeful prayer was Daniel's life-line to God. Daniel prayed with his whole body: he fasted, he mourned with sackcloth and ashes. He repented not only for his sins but for the sins of his nation. His prayer included adoration, confession, as well as requests. He prayed with rituals several times a day: standing, facing the temple in Jerusalem -- that had been destroyed! He also read scripture and scripture directed his prayers. He was humble but confident that God heard and would respond to him.
Beloved, help me to obey like Daniel, to serve others in love like Daniel, to pray like Daniel, and to stand firm in faith like Daniel.
No comments:
Post a Comment