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Daniel 2

READ FOR THIS WEEK’S STUDY: Daniel 2.

MEMORY VERSE:“In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set upa kingdom. It will never be destroyed. And no other nation will ever take itover. It will crush all of those other kingdoms. It will bring them to an end.But it will last forever” (Daniel 2:44 NIrV).

A YOUNG MAN WAS STRUGGLING WITH QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD. Hesaid to a Christian, “I will give you an hour to prove to me that God is real!”Without wasting any time, the Christian took him through Daniel 2. When theChristian finished, the young man said, “Now I know there is a God!”

Daniel was written in the sixth century B.C. It shows the history of the worldfrom Daniel’s time through our time. It also shows beyond our time. How couldany thinking person refuse to accept the prophecy in Daniel 2, and the God whohas shown Himself to be the true God? Daniel 2 is a powerful witness1 for theChristian faith. In early centuries of the church, many people argued wrongly thatDaniel was written in the middle of the second century B.C. They claimed it waswritten after the events2 it talked about. Many still believe this today. But there isno proof that Daniel was written in the middle of the second century. And thesepeople cannot explain how Daniel foretells events that happened many hundredyears after their second-century B.C. date.

This week, we will study the wonderful prophecy in Daniel 2. This prophecy isthe foundation (basis) for our study on the judgment and the gospel.

Easy Reading Edition July 8-143

SABBATH—JULY 8

1witness—something that gives powerful proof that something is real.2events—things that happen.

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Lesson 3 Daniel 2

THE BIG PICTURE (Daniel 2:1-25)

Read Daniel 2:1-25. Then answerthe following questions:

1. Why did the servants want theking to tell them the dream?

2. What were the only two possibleends of all the wise men under theking’s command?

3. How did Daniel’s actions showhe was helpless without God?

4. Why was Daniel so sure he couldshow the king this secret?

Daniel’s prayer of thanksgivingshows the main message of his book:The Lord is King. He even canremove or set up kings. With ourhuman limits (1 Corinthians 12:12),we may feel overwhelmed by events.But we have the assurance3 that Godis in total control.

Even more important, Daniel 2:1-25 shows that He is also close toeach one of us. Look at how He cameto Daniel in a “night vision” andshowed him what he needed to know. Talk about a close connection!Daniel was a prisoner in a largeworld empire. But the God of all theearth (Joshua 3:11) showed Hispower and His care to this simpleHebrew man. This is the same God

whom we worship and serve today.

When was the last time you werein a “hopeless” situation? How didGod show His power and care toyou at that time? Share youranswer with the class.

Pix #9

SECRET SHOWN (Daniel 2:26-45)

Read Daniel 2:26-45. Then writea summary of the dream and itsinterpretation. To the best of yourknowledge, what are the fourearthly kingdoms represented inthese verses?

SUNDAY—JULY 9

MONDAY—JULY 10

3assurance—a promise that gives hope to people.

Jesus is our King.

Lesson 3 Daniel 2

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Pix #10

Daniel lived six hundred yearsbefore Jesus was born. Daniel isshowing the history of the world. Thehead of gold is Babylon. The chestand arms of silver was the Medo-Persian Empire. The belly and thighsof brass was Greece. And the iron inthe legs was the Roman Empire. Thisempire later became the nations ofmodern Europe. These nations arethe feet of iron and clay.

This is not an Adventist invention.Jewish and Christian Bible studentsfor many hundreds of years haveinterpreted Daniel 2 this same way.

How does the prophecy end?What kingdom is finally estab-lished? What does the answershow about Daniel 2?

Daniel 2 shows a large picture ofhistory. One world power succeeded

another beginning more than fivehundred years before Christ and end-ing sometime in the future. ThenGod’s eternal4 kingdom will be estab-lished after Christ’s return. So, Daniel2 is taking us to the end of the world.People who limit Daniel 2 to the firstcoming of Christ are seriously twist-ing the truth about an importantteaching in the chapter. This is thesame with the whole book of Daniel.Without question, Daniel is a bookthat shows events right up to theSecond Coming and afterwards.Daniel is truly dealing with the time of“the end” (Daniel 8:17, 19; Daniel12:4, 9, 13).

THE ROMAN EMPIRE (Daniel 2:33, 34)

If you read Daniel 2, you will noticesomething interesting.

What metal was used forBabylon?____________What metalwas used for Media-Persia?____________What metal wasused for Greece? ___________What metal was used forRome?____________

Babylon was replaced by a newmetal. Media-Persia was replaced bya new metal. And Greece wasreplaced by a new metal. But, inDaniel 2:33, 34, the iron (Rome)stays until the stone cut out “without

TUESDAY—JULY 11

4eternal—forever; without beginning or end; lasting forever.

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Lesson 3 Daniel 2

hands” (Daniel 2:34) destroys every-thing.The iron that comes after Greeceremains until the end. But in the feet,the iron mixes with clay. This showsthat the metal of the fourth kingdom(iron) remains until the end, eventhough it is mixed with clay (Daniel2:40-44). The point is clear: The fourthkingdom (power) arises after Greeceand remains until the end in a differentform. In Daniel, the fourth power, thepower coming after Greece, stays thesame power. It is iron all the waythrough, unlike the past powers whosemetal disappeared when a whole newpower arose. But at some point, thefourth power did change form. So, it isRome from the time of Greece until theend of the world. Rome continuestoday as a world power. But its form isvery different from when it first aroseafter Greece.

Many centuries ago, one ofEngland’s greatest political thinkerswrote “first, a man thinks about thebeginning of this great religiouspower. Then he will easily see thatthe Catholic Rome is the same oneas the ghost of the fallen RomanEmpire, sitting crowned on the fall-en Rome’s grace.”—Adapted fromThomas Hobbes, Leviathan. Howdoes this quote help us under-stand what Daniel 2 teaches aboutthe Roman Empire?

Think for a few minutes abouthow wonderful this prophecy is.Think about how such a perfectprophecy could be made so manyhundreds of years ago. How

should this give you more faith totrust in the Bible and its promises?

MULTIPLE (MANY)FULFILLMENTS? (Daniel 8:20, 21)

Daniel 2 shows five kingdoms. ButDaniel 2 names only two: (1) Babylon(Daniel 2:37, 38) and (2) God’s king-dom (Daniel 2:44). Daniel 7 andDaniel 8 cover much of the samematerial as Daniel 2 with differentviewpoints. Also Daniel 7 and Daniel 8name two more of the five kingdoms.

What two kingdoms do Daniel8:20, 21 name?

If we were to “map” the kingdomsnamed in Daniel, it would look likethis:

Babylon (Daniel 2:37, 38)Media-Persia (Daniel 8:20)

Greece (Daniel 8:21)Fourth kingdom

God’s eternal kingdom (Daniel 2:44)

Read Daniel’s own interpretationof the vision in Daniel 2:37-45. Doyou see anything there showingthat these prophecies can have dif-ferent meanings in different times?Explain your answer.

Daniel does not name the fourthkingdom. But it can be only one king-dom. We will learn more about thislater. Of the five kingdoms shown, four

WEDNESDAY—JULY 12

Lesson 3 Daniel 2

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are named.The prophecy says nothingabout their having different meanings.These are kingdoms so well known inworld history that they could not havedifferent meanings in different times.

We live in a world where thingsare always changing. For example,ground can fall from under ourfeet. But the past does not change.Look at how solid a foundation(basis) God has given us withDaniel’s prophecy. How can youuse this foundation to make yourfaith stronger?

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ANTIQUITY (OLDEN TIMES) TOETERNITY5 (Daniel 2:37-45)

It is clear that Daniel 2 is an histori-cal study. Some of Daniel 2 leads intoour time and afterward. But Daniel 2 isbased in history.

Summarize the basic message ofDaniel 2:37-45.

This prophecy begins in antiquity(the olden times) and follows world his-tory to “the time of the end” (Daniel12:9). This means after our time andinto God’s eternal kingdom.

Daniel 2:37-45 also shows themethod for how we should interpretDaniel’s prophecies. Daniel 2:37-44holds the key to understanding theprophecies, because these versesinterpret the prophecies. This showsthe historicist method of interpretingwhat the verses say. Adventists arealmost alone of all religious groups inusing this method. The historicistmethod teaches that these prophe-cies follow human history from thebeginning to eternity. The historicistmethod shows that these propheciesare not focused alone on events inthe far past or alone on events in thefuture. Instead, the prophecies coverthe order of world history from thepast into the future. So, in the firstprophetic part of Daniel (Daniel 2),we have the key to understandingthese prophecies.

Read Daniel 2:34, 35 and itsinterpretation in Daniel 2:44, 45.What do these verses tell us aboutthe future of this last kingdom?What do we find in these versesthat proves this kingdom has notyet come?

THURSDAY—JULY 13

The world is always changing.But the Bible never changes.

5eternity—life without end.

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Daniel was correct about the riseand fall of all the kingdoms in hisprophecies. Daniel’s propheciesabout Europe have come true.How much reason do you have totrust him on the promise of thecoming of God’s final kingdom?

ADDITIONAL STUDY: “Some will takethe truth for their time, and put it in thefuture. Events in the order of prophecythat had their fulfillment in the past are made future. In this way, these the-ories destroy the faith of some believ-ers.”—Adapted from Ellen G. White,Selected Messages, vol. 2, p. 102.

This week, we have seen that Daniel2 presents a powerful argument fortrusting that the Bible is God-inspired.How could someone six hundred yearsbefore Christ have outlined world histo-ry exactly as history has happened?

That is something we cannot give anatural explanation for! The point is soclearly seen that some people claimthat the book of Daniel was written inthe second hundred years beforeChrist’s birth and that Daniel’s proph-ecies had been fulfilled before theywere written. But this argument will nothold for several reasons:

First of all, Christ’s words in Matthew24:15 prove that He believed some ofDaniel’s prophecies were still for thefuture.

Second, suppose a person refusedto accept words about when he lived(Daniel 1:1; Daniel 2:1; Daniel 7:1;Daniel 9:1) and date the book in thesecond century before Christ. Then,how does this explain the wonderfulfulfillment of prophecy showing bothRome’s control of the world (which hadnot happened yet) and Rome’sbreakup into modern Europeannations? Also, the present condition ofRome is exactly as Daniel had written.Not bad for a man writing many hun-dred years before some of theseevents really happened! So, there is noreason for us to accept the second-century B.C. date for Daniel. This ideawas started by people who wanted tomake Christianity look bad. AsChristians, we must take the Bible forwhat it says. We should not depend onwhat humans say about the Bible.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:1. As a class, talk about your

answers to Sunday’s question.

2. How can the prophecy of Daniel 2be a powerful witnessing6 tool?

Daniel 2:37-45 is the key to understandingother prophecies in his book.

FRIDAY—JULY 14

Lesson 3 Daniel 2

6witnessing—showing that God is real.