Unit 14: Captivity Daniel and Esther OT14.2 Daniel ......Nebuchadnezzar demanded, "You are supposed to know all the mysteries, so you must tell me what I dreamed. “If you can't do

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OT14.2 Daniel Interprets the King’s Dream ©Beverly Wilson 2020

Unit 14: Captivity Daniel and Esther OT14.2 Daniel Interprets the King’s Dream

Scripture: Daniel 2

Lesson Goal: Daniel is a major prophet during the time of Israel’s captivity in Babylon. Daniel was a young man who had been captured by King Nebuchadnezzar and taken to the land of Babylon. In this lesson we will see how God who is All-Knowing and the Revealer of All Secrets used Daniel to interpret the king’s dream.

Introduction: The book of Daniel is in the Old Testament. It is the last book in the section of books called the Major Prophets. Daniel was a prophet when Israel was in captivity in Babylon. In his book he tells about the faithful Jews living in captivity and shows how God is sovereign. Let's say the books of Major Prophets--Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel.

Attention Getter: “Bad Dreams” Have you ever had a dream that disturbed you very much? Have you ever dreamed of monsters coming after you? Maybe it made you so frightened that you screamed or called for your parents. Having bad dreams is not unusual for anybody. That is why some children like to sleep with a night light on in their room. This helps them to not be afraid of the dark. In this lesson we are going to talk about a king named Nebuchadnezzar who had a very bad dream that upset him very much. We will see how God who is All-Knowing and the Revealer of All Secrets used Daniel to tell him what the dream meant.

Opening Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, Thank you for being in control of all the nations of the earth. You know the beginning and the end of all things. Thank you for loving us and doing what is best for us. Help us to follow Daniel's example and pray for courage and understanding. We thank you God that you are always with us and have promised to give us strength to be brave in all kinds of situations. You are pleased when we trust in You. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Memory Verse: The memory verse is Psalm 28:7 says "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped."

Lesson Video: https://youtu.be/cdPs8hcWV30 Nebuchadnezzar was the king that ruled Babylon. Babylon was a very large and powerful empire that ruled over a large part of the world. Babylon was a fierce enemy of Israel. Because Israel had not obeyed God, the Lord allowed the Babylonians to come and march against Israel. King Nebuchadnezzar had his warriors attack every town in the land of Judah. When the Babylonian soldiers conquered Jerusalem, they brought back many captives to work as slaves in the land of Babylon. Among the captives were four young boys named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These friends loved God and wanted to obey Him even in this foreign land that worshipped idols. When they were chosen to serve the king as his special advisors, they were still faithful to God. They refused to eat the meat that had been offered to idols. God blessed them by making them ten times smarter than any of the other of the King's wise men.

https://youtu.be/cdPs8hcWV30

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One night King Nebuchadnezzar had such a frightening dream that he couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in his bed. It was different from any dream he had ever had before. When he awoke in the morning, he sat up, rubbed his eyes and shook his head. "What a dream," he said, "This is such a strange dream. It must mean something. Could it mean that something terrible is about to happen to me? I wonder what it is.” He called in his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers. They brought all their secret recipes, star charts and big books. Then the king said. "I have dreamed a dream that is troubling me. I must know what it means." "0 King, live forever," they said. "Tell us the dream and we will tell you what it means." "No," replied Nebuchadnezzar, "You must tell me what I dreamed AND then tell me the meaning." The astrologers shook their heads and shrugged their shoulders in disbelief. They begged and pleaded, "Please, Your Majesty. How can we know what you dreamed? We cannot tell you what the dream means if you do not tell us the dream first!" Nebuchadnezzar demanded, "You are supposed to know all the mysteries, so you must tell me what I dreamed. “If you can't do that, I'll know that you are really fakes, and I'll have you cut in pieces and your homes destroyed. But, if you can tell me my dream and its interpretation, then I will reward you with gifts and great honor." The magicians all trembled before King Nebuchadnezzar. How could they tell the king what he had dreamed? That was impossible! One of the bravest of them spoke up, "No one except the gods can tell you your dream." At this the king was even more furious. “You are all fakes!” he said. “I will have you all put to death, every last one of you!” The magicians turned and ran, hoping to escape, but the guards caught them and held them fast. Even though the king had not called them, Daniel and his three friends were also wise men. They had not even heard about the king's order nor why he was so angry. But they were going to be punished along with the rest of the wise men and they did not even know why! Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard, was placed in charge of destroying all the wise men in the land. When the soldiers came to get him, Daniel asked Arioch, "What has happened? Why is the king in such a hurry?” "Because the wise men cannot tell the king his dream and the interpretation of his dream," Arioch answered. "Let me speak to the king," said Daniel. Daniel knew that God would help him be brave before the king. So Arioch took Daniel to see King Nebuchadnezzar. "O King," Daniel said, "if you give me a little time I will tell you your dream and what your dream meant." The king agreed to wait. He was pleased to think that Daniel whom he had found before to be ten times wiser than the Babylonian magicians and astrologers might be able to help him now. Besides, he wanted desperately to find out what his mysterious dream meant. Daniel went home and told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah what had happened. He urged them to pray to God. If God did not help them, they knew that they would all die along with the other wise

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men of Babylon. Daniel didn't know the king's dream but he knew God who was the Revealer of All Secrets could tell him. So Daniel and his friends asked God to tell Daniel what the king had dreamed. The four men earnestly prayed. That night God answered their prayers. He spoke to Daniel in a dream and revealed the secret. When Daniel awoke he knew the king's dream and what it meant. Daniel began to praise God. He said, "Thank you God for giving me this wisdom." Next Daniel went in to see Arioch the captain of the guard and said, "Take me to the king, and I will tell him the meaning of his dream." So Arioch took Daniel to the king at once. Arioch said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.” The king asked Daniel, “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?” Daniel told the king, "There are no wise men, who can reveal the king's secret, but there is a God in heaven who reveals secrets. God has shown you what will happen in the days to come. God has revealed to me the meaning of your dream not because I am wise but because He wants you to know your dream and its meaning. Now I will tell you your dream and the visions you saw.” "In your vision, you saw a frightening, huge, shining statue of a man. The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, and its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay.” Nebuchadnezzar nodded. Yes, that was what he had seen in his dream! "Go on, go on," he urged Daniel. “While you were watching the statue, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth." Daniel then went on to explain the dream. "O King, God has given you a dream about the future. This great statue is a picture of all the kingdoms that are to come on the earth. Your Majesty, you are the head of gold. God has given you sovereignty, power, strength, and honor. He has made you the ruler over all the inhabited world.” Nebuchadnezzar leaned forward and listened eagerly. This was not bad news, it was good news; it was pleasing his ego. He liked what he was hearing. “After you another kingdom will arise to rule over the earth. It is represented by the silver chest and arms but it will be less powerful than your kingdom. This kingdom will not be as strong as yours just like silver is inferior to gold. It will be the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians. A third kingdom symbolized by the bronze or brass is the kingdom after that one. It will be the kingdom of the Greeks. It will replace the silver kingdom and rule over all the earth. Following that kingdom, there will be a fourth one, as strong as iron. Those are the legs of iron. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires. They will be strong like iron and break with cruelty everyone who opposes it. That is the Roman Empire. It was the Roman Empire that ruled the world when Jesus was here on earth. The rest of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream has not yet come to pass.

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The feet and toes you saw were a combination of iron and baked clay. This kingdom will be divided with ten kings. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron but other parts will be as weak as clay. That kingdom will be Rome Restored. There will be ten toes or ten nations in that kingdom. The people will be a mixture of nations and will not be united. During the days of these ten kings the God of heaven will come. He is the rock that was not cut by human hands. In your dream that rock crushed the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The Rock is the Kingdom that the God of heaven will set up. It will crush all other Kingdoms and will never be destroyed or conquered. God’s kingdom will last forever. Jesus will be the One that rules on that throne and He will reign forever and ever. In this kingdom will be all the nations of the earth. God's kingdom will never be destroyed. Those who believe in God will be a part of this kingdom. King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel, "Truly your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over Kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret," the king declared. The king was delighted to hear about the future events. The mystery of his forgotten dream was solved! Daniel was promoted to be the highest ruler over all the whole province of Babylon, as well as chief over all the wise men. King Nebuchadnezzar gave him many gifts. But Daniel did not forget his friends. At his request, the king appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be in charge of all the affairs of the province of Babylon. God gave to Nebuchadnezzar a glimpse into the future about the different kingdoms that would rule the world after him. What God told the king in that dream came to pass just He had predicted. Babylon ruled the world for more than 80 years, followed by the Medo-Persian Empire. Then the Grecian Empire became a world power whose great conqueror was Alexander the Great. The Roman Empire came after that with its two legs of the eastern and western divisions. Since the Romans no nation has ever ruled the whole world. But the rest of the dream has not yet come to pass. Someday just as God has predicted there will be a ten nation confederation of nations that will rule the world. This kingdom will be destroyed by the coming of Jesus the Rock of Ages. He will establish his Kingdom and rule on the earth for 1000 years. At the end of the thousand years earth will be destroyed but His kingdom will go on forever and ever. Do you think it was hard for Daniel to be brave and stand up to the king and tell him what his dream meant? I sure it was because no one else was doing it! God was the One who helped Daniel have the strength to be brave before the king. Daniel and his friends knew that the only way to know the dream and its meaning was to pray and ask God for wisdom. Sometimes we are often faced with difficult questions or hard situations. Just like Daniel and his three friends we can trust in God to give us strength and courage. We can pray for God's wisdom and help. God wants us to depend on Him. He will give us strength and knowledge to do what is right. The Rock in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream is the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus came the first time to earth to save us from our sins. He died on the cross and rose the third day. All who believe in Him are saved from their sins and will live with Him forever. One day Jesus is going to come back to this earth and rule as the King. All who believe in Him are saved from their sins and will live forever with Him. While we live our lives here on earth we are to tell others about Him so they too can one day live with Him forever. Remember God is All Knowing and He will give us courage!

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Review Questions: “Pick a Brick” Preparation: You will need a giant Jenga game for each group of 3-4 students. Label each brick in the Jenga game with a different number: 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. Say: “In this lesson King Nebuchadnezzar saw a huge image of a man in his dream. That image was destroyed by a huge stone that crushed the image. Today we are going to play a game of Jenga to answer our review questions. Like the image that was destroyed we are going to see how long we can keep our tower from collapsing.” Procedure: Divide class into smaller groups of 3-4 children each. Give a set of Jenga blocks to each group. Play a game of Jenga where players pick a brick without the tower collapsing. Ask the children a review question from the list below before they can pick a brick. When the players have collected their brick you can count up the points to find out the winner. (You can also just play a game of Jenga for fun!) Jenga Rules: 1) taking one block on a turn from any level of the tower (except the one below an incomplete top level), and. 2) placing it on the topmost level in order to complete it. The game ends when the tower falls -- completely or if any block falls from the tower (other than the block a player moves on a turn).

1. Who in this lesson were captured from Israel and taken to Babylon? (Nebuchadnezzar’s army

took Daniel and three of his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah as part of the young men taken as captives to go to Babylon as slaves.)

2. Why were Daniel and his friends chosen for a special job? (King Nebuchadnezzar had ordered Ashpenaz, his chief of staff, to select from the prisoners the very best of the young men to be educated in Babylon culture and to become chief advisors in Babylon.)

3. Why did Daniel and his friends not want to eat the food of the Babylonian King? (God had ordered that the Hebrew people were not to eat meat that had been offered to idols. Daniel and his friends loved God and did not want to disobey God.)

4. Why was King Nebuchadnezzar so concerned about the upsetting dream that he had? (He felt that something bad was about to happen to him and he wanted to find out what it was.)

5. What unusual requirement did King Nebuchadnezzar make to his wise men about interpreting his dream? (King Nebuchadnezzar wanted the wise men to prove that they could be trusted. He wanted them to not only interpret the dream but tell him what the dream was.)

6. What did the king say to his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, and astrologers when they told him that it was impossible for them to tell the king what his dream was? (If you can't do that, I'll know that you are really fakes, and I'll have you cut in pieces and your homes destroyed. But, if you can tell me my dream and its interpretation, then I will reward you with gifts and great honor.")

7. When the king’s guard came to arrest Daniel, what did Daniel request? (Daniel asked to see the king and then said to him, "O King, if you give me a little time I will tell you your dream and what your dream meant.")

8. Why did the king agree to wait for Daniel to interpret the dream? (The king agreed to wait because he was pleased to think that Daniel whom he had found before to be ten times wiser than the Babylonian magicians and astrologers might be able to help him now. Besides, he wanted desperately to find out what his mysterious dream meant.)

9. How did Daniel and his friends find out what King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and interpretation was? (Daniel and his three friends prayed to God and asked Him to give Daniel the wisdom and knowledge to know and interpret the dream. God answered their prayer and told Daniel the dream and its interpretation through a dream that Daniel had.)

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10. What was King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? (He saw a huge, shining statue of a man. The head of the statue was made of fine gold. Its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs were bronze, and its legs were iron, and its feet were a combination of iron and baked clay. While the king was watching the statue, a rock was cut from a mountain, but not by human hands. It struck the feet of iron and clay smashing them to bits. The whole statue was crushed into small pieces of iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold. Then the wind blew them away without a trace, like chaff on a threshing floor. But the rock that knocked the statue down became a great mountain that covered the whole earth.)

11. What did the golden head of the statue represent? (The head was King Nebuchnezzar’s kingdom of Babylon. It was the most powerful kingdom and God had given him dominion over all the inhabited world.)

12. What did the chest and arms of silver represent? (The silver chest and arms was the kingdom of the Medes and Persians. It was less powerful than Babylon like silver is inferior to gold.)

13. What did the belly and thighs of bronze represent? (The belly and thighs of bronze represented the Greek kingdom.)

14. What did the two legs of iron represent? (The iron legs represented the Roman Empire and its two divisions—eastern and western. That kingdom will smash and crush all previous empires. They will be strong like iron and break with cruelty everyone who opposes it.)

15. What do the feet and ten toes of mixed iron and clay represent? (The feet and toes will be a future kingdom of Restored Rome which will be led by ten kings or ten nations. Like iron mixed with clay, it will have some of the strength of iron but other parts will be as weak as clay. The people will be a mixture of nations and will not be united.)

16. What will happen during the time of the kingdom of ten nations? (During the days of these ten kings the God of heaven will come. He is the rock that was not cut by human hands or Jesus. The rock crushed the statue of iron, bronze, clay, silver, and gold. The Rock is the Kingdom that the God of heaven will set up. It will crush all other Kingdoms and will never be destroyed or conquered. God’s kingdom will last forever.)

17. Who is the Rock that destroyed all the kingdoms of earth? (Jesus is the Rock of Ages. He will establish his Kingdom and rule on the earth for 1000 years. At the end of the thousand years earth will be destroyed but His kingdom will go on forever and ever.)

18. How did King Nebuchadnezzar respond when he heard the interpretation of his dream? (King Nebuchadnezzar threw himself down before Daniel and said, "Truly your God is the greatest of gods, the Lord over Kings, a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this secret." The king was delighted to hear about the future events.)

19. What is our memory verse? (Psalm 28:7 says "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.")

20. What are some of the lessons we should learn from this story of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? (God is sovereign and in control of all the nations of the world. God is the Revealer of All Secrets. God is the Eternal King who will one day rule the whole earth for 1,000 years. His kingdom will be for eternity. God is the giver of wisdom and will give us strength and courage if we ask Him.)

Bible Memory Verse Activity: “Puzzling” (Grades K-3) Our memory verse is Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped." Have students locate the verse in scripture and read aloud together several times.

Say: “This verse means that we do not have to be afraid. We can face or endure trouble with courage from God.” Say: “In this lesson God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a difficult problem to solve. The king could not understand his puzzling dream. God gave only one man Daniel the solution to the king’s dream puzzle. We are going to solve a puzzle by seeing if we can write out our memory verse.”

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Preparation: You will need the letters of all the words in the memory verse. These letters can be printed on small squares of cardstock or the wooden letter tiles from Scrabble. You can also use magnetic letters and a white magnetic board. Have students use the letters to write out the memory verse. If your group is large, divide the class into small groups of 3-4 students and let them work together to “write out the verse.”

Group Learning Activity: “Signs from God” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need a heart shaped jewelry, a wedding ring, a cross, 5 rings of Olympics, rainbow, tree of life, fish, and various other symbols. Optional: You can print the poster of symbols below and use to illustrate concept. Procedure: Bring in several symbols to show the students. Ask them what each one stands for. For example, a heart symbolizes love, a wedding ring symbolizes marriage, the rainbow symbolizes hope, the fish represents the church or Christians, tree symbolizes life or family, and a cross symbolizes Christ’s death on the cross. Say: “A symbol is an object that stands for something else. In the past, God sometimes taught people about the future by using symbols. For example Joseph’s dream of the sheaves and stars (Gen. 37:1–11) was a picture of how his father and brothers would one day bow down to him as the pharaoh of Egypt. In this lesson God used symbols to teach Nebuchadnezzar about the future kingdoms of the earth. Let’s see if your can tell what the symbols that God used were and what they meant.”

Say: “The four parts of the statute of the man are symbolic of the empires that would follow King Nebuchadnezzar: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece of Alexander, Rome, Restored Rome, and the Eternal Kingdom of God. The gold head was Babylon. The silver chest and arms was Medo-Persia. The belly and thighs of bronze was Greece under Alexander the Great. The fourth world kingdom was the iron legs of Rome which would break in pieces and destroy all the prior kingdoms. The iron and clay feet and toes is the future restoration of Rome with ten nations or kings in alliance. The stone was the Lord Jesus Christ coming and destroying all the kingdoms and setting up His eternal Kingdom.”

Group Learning Game Activity: “Lego Model of the Statue” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: You will need yellow, white, blue, orange, grey, brown, black Legos. (The colors of the Legos for each part of the statue should resemble the color of the metals: gold, silver, iron, bronze, mixture of iron and clay, and brown stone. Procedure: Pour out the Legos. If the class is large or rambunctious, you may want to put the colors out one at a time as they are needed. As you read the story of the king telling his dream, have the studnets follow you in constructing a model. Stop after the king’s dream to talk about what this statue might mean. Use the model as an illustration as you relate the interpretation Daniel was given by God, explain what each substance (color) stands for. The Story of Daniel and King Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of a Statue in Daniel chapter 2

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• (v 1-3) King Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream. He calls his magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell help. He not only wanted to know what it meant, but what the dream was. How many of you can remember your dreams in the morning? (Yellow Legos for head.)

• (v 4-13) Well, of course the wise men and advisors could not tell the king his dream. The king accused them of being frauds and liars. Then he demanded that all wise men in Babylon be killed.

• (v 14-23) Daniel was a wise man who served King Nebuchadnezzar so he was among the wise men rounded up. Daniel calmly asked the guard why the king had issued such a strong order. When Daniel heard of the king’s problem, he asked to see him to interpret the dream.

• (v 24-28) “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.” Daniel tells King Nebuchadnezzar that no human could do what he asks, but God in heaven can.

• (v 29-35) Daniel describes the dream: King Nebuchadnezzar saw an enormous statue, dazzling to look at. The head was pure gold. The chest and arms were silver. The belly and thighs were bronze. The legs were iron. The feet were iron and clay. While King Nebuchadnezzar was watching, a rock appeared and struck the statue on the feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay the bronze the silver and the gold were broken in to pieces, then crumbled into dust and blew away. The rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain that covered earth. Pause to ask the kids what they think it might mean

• (v 36-45) Daniel interprets the dream. King Nebuchadnezzar is the gold head. After him, an inferior (silver) kingdom will arise – Persia. Then the Greeks (bronze). Then the strong iron legs. (Rome) The mixed-up feet symbolize a kingdom that did not stay pure; its people mixed with bad people. (yet-to-be-named group of countries) The rock symbolizes Jesus

• (v 46-49) King N worships God and promotes Daniel.

(Allow for a wide range of creativity in the student’s building of the image.) Close session in prayer thanking God for His wisdom and sovereignty and seeking God’s wisdom and strength to obey Him.”

Group Learning Activity: “God’s Prophecy” (Grades 3-5) Purpose: To help students learn that God is the One who is the Revealer of All Secrets. Preparation: You will need Bibles, spiritual journal page, pencils or pens. Say: “In this lesson we learned God gave Daniel the wisdom to know what King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was and what the meaning of it was. We are going to look at various scriptures that tell how God is the Revealer of All Secrets.” Procedure: Have students look up the following scripture. Discuss the meaning of each verse with the group.

• Numbers 12:6 “he said, “Listen to my words: “When there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord,

reveal myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams.” God affirms that often he reveals the future to his children through visions and dreams. God spoke directly to Moses but to the prophets he often speaks using symbols such as this one in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.

• Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” There are some secrets that God has chosen not to reveal to us possibly because we simply cannot understand them or perhaps because they are simply not necessary for us to know. Although

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God has not told us everything, we do have everything we need to know to obey Him. We can’t excuse our disobedience by our lack of knowledge.

• Amos 3:7 “Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.” God is merciful. He always warned his people through the prophets about his coming judgments if they did not obey. We cannot complain or give excuses for our disobedient behavior when God has revealed his plans. Warnings are a way of showing mercy.

• Amos 4:13 “He who forms the mountains, who creates the wind, and who reveals his thoughts to mankind, who turns dawn to darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the Lord God Almighty is his name.” God is sovereign and the creator of all things. He is Almighty and the Source of all Knowledge. He is the one who has the power and right to judge. Someday we will all have to give an account to Him.

• Matthew 11:25 “At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.” Jesus mentions two kinds of people in this prayer: the wise or arrogant who trust in their own knowledge and the “little children” who humbly accept by faith the truth of God’s Word. We should seek the truth in childlike faith realizing that only God is All Knowing.

• Matthew 16:17 “Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.” Peter recognized that Jesus was the Son of the living God. This revelation was an important understanding to recognizing Who Jesus Was and the mission that God had sent him to earth for salvation. Peter recognized the divinity of Christ. Peter made a confession of faith and we too must accept Jesus on the same basis of faith. That is the foundation of Christ’s kingdom.

• 1 Corinthians 2:9-11 “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”--the things God has prepared for those who love him—these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.” We cannot imagine all the things God has in store for us both in this life and in eternity. He will create a new heaven and a new earth and we will live with him forever. Until then His Spirit comforts and guides us.”

Have students record what they have learned about God’s prophetic messages in their spiritual journals.

Challenge students to recite the names of the Books of the Old Testament without any assistance. Encourage them to practice saying the books of the Bible at home.

Group Learning Activity: “Cracking the Code” (Grades 3-5) Preparation: Prepare in advance a copy of the following coded message for each child.

WGBOVDWGRAEVXEDDGAUNRITEULCWYIRSCDEOJM Procedure: Divide the children into two teams. Say: I have a coded message here, but I cannot work it out. I hope you can help me.” Give them a few minutes to try, then give them the code. Code: If you cross out the first letter and then every other letter, you will discover the message. The message is “God gave Daniel wisdom.”

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Allow students to write some secret message for the class to decode. Here are some simple ways to code messages:

• Reverse the words by writing the letters in the words backwards. Ex. Evah a nuf yad. (Have a fun day.)

• Half-Reversed Alphabet: Write out the letters from A to M then write the letters from N to Z directly below them.

• Block Cipher: Write the message in a rectangular block, one row at a time (we used 5 letters in each row). Then writes down the letters as they appear in the columns.

• Read every other second letter. Read every second letter starting at the first letter, and when you finish, start again on the letters you missed.

• Pig Pen. This code is easier than it looks. First, draw out the two grids below and fill in the letters: Each letter is represented by the lines around it or pig pen. You can practice by writing your names and silly words before moving on to sentences.

Say: “How did you feel when you could not figure out the code? Were you frustrated, or challenged? How did things change once you did know the code? (It was easy.) Imagine what it would be like if someone told you that you would die if you did not figure out the answer to this code! In our lesson the king ordered that all his Wise Men be put to death because they could not tell him the meaning of his dream. But Daniel knew a way to save them.” Say: “God is faithful to His children. Daniel and his friends prayed and God answered their prayers and revealed the secret to Daniel in a night-vision. How did Daniel respond as he received this great revelation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which no one else—not even the greatest of the king’s wise men--could interpret? Daniel declared "the name of God" will be praised forever and ever. He understood that it is God who possesses wisdom and might. “Indeed, God has wisdom and power like no other! He changes times and seasons. He sets up and casts down kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those that possess insight. He reveals the deep and secret things; He knows what is in darkness; and light dwells with Him. As we observe the wonderful qualities of our King, we along with Daniel realize that praise and thanksgiving belong to God, and to God alone. Through the revelation of this secret, hidden to the king’s wise men, God proved Himself to Daniel and to others as the true God in opposition to the gods of the heathen. God knows and controls the future.”

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Group Learning Activity: “Five Crowns” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need to make five crowns of increasing sizes. They should fit inside one another. You can simply cut a zig zag crown and use two sheets of paper. Decorate as desired. Procedure: Read Daniel 2: 36-45. Review the lesson of Daniel interpreting King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. Each time you discuss a different part of the statue show a larger crown that will cover up the preceding crown. The final crown will represent Christ’s reign. Say: “Before revealing that Nebuchadnezzar was the head of gold, Daniel emphasized that the God of heaven had given to Nebuchadnezzar his “kingdom, power, strength, and glory” (2:37). Daniel explained that after the Babylonian kingdom, an inferior kingdom (represented by the silver) would arise (2:38). History reveals that this was the Medo-Persian kingdom led by Cyrus the Great. The bronze belly and thighs represented the third kingdom, Greece, which would rule over the civilized world (2:39). The fourth kingdom was represented by the iron legs. Like iron, this powerful kingdom “shatters everything” and “will break in pieces and crush all the others” (2:40). This fourth kingdom was Rome. The toes of clay and iron represented a future, still unrealized, manifestation of Rome. The toes were composed of clay and iron because the “kingdom shall be divided” (2:41). Although the kingdom will be as strong as iron, it will be as fragile as clay (2:42). This revived Roman empire will consist of 10 kingdoms (7:24), which will exist until “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed” (2:44). At Christ’s second coming, the confederation of kings will be destroyed and Christ will reign forever (2:44). Having finished his interpretation of the dream, Daniel emphasized the certainty of the future fulfillment: “The great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation is sure” (2:45).”

Group Learning Activity Game: “Building the Statue” Relay (Grades K-5) Preparation: You will need eight small boxes that are stackable such as shoe boxes, poster board, crayons or markers, glue, and a medium sized ball. Procedure: Bring in eight small boxes (two sets of four—shoeboxes or any other kind of stackable boxes). On a piece of poster board, draw two statues similar to the statue Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. Cut out the statues, and then cut each one into four equal parts: head, arms and chest, waist and thighs, and legs and feet. The sections can be colored, if desired (head: gold, arms and chest: silver, waist and thighs: bronze, legs and feet: iron-colored). Glue each section to the side of a box. You should be able to stack the boxes to make two statues. During class, divide the students into teams. Line the teams up on one side of the room, and give each team a set of boxes. Tell the students that this will be a timed race. When you say “go,” the first student from each team should take one box, run to the other side of the room, set the box down, and run back. Then the next student on his team can go. Each student should bring only one section at a time. The goal is to erect the statue. You (or an assistant) should note when a team’s statue is complete and then have the students on that team bring back the boxes, one section at a time. When all the sections are back, the team can start building their statue again. The team that builds their statue the most times within the allotted time wins. (Note: you also could use one of the statues as a prop to review the lesson.) For added fun, have each team throw a medium sized ball at the stack of boxes to represent the Rock Jesus who will destroy all the previous kingdoms and establish His Eternal Kingdom.

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Group Learning Game Activity: “Keep Your Focus” (Grades 2-5) Preparation: You will need two plastic spoons and two hard-boiled eggs. Procedure: Ask the children to form two lines facing each other and about two feet apart. Choose a child from each line to hold a plastic spoon with a hardboiled egg balanced on it. The “egg walkers” will start from opposite ends of the lines and try to walk between the groups as the other children try to distract them. Each player should walk or run to the finish line, focusing on keeping the egg on their spoon so it doesn’t fall. If an egg falls off of a spoon, that player needs to return to the start line and start over again. Make sure to explain that the children who are distracting the players cannot get out of line or touch the “egg walkers.” When everyone has had a chance to go down the line, talk about the things that may distract our focus from Jesus and how we can direct our focus back to Jesus. Say: “In today’s lesson, Daniel was in a difficult situation. An edict went out that all of the king’s advisors were to be killed. But, Daniel kept his focus on God, and God delivered him. God was able to use Daniel in a great way because his focus was in the right place.” “Daniel, though only a young man of 19 or 20, could handle a crisis well. Why? He knew he could trust the One who made him; and thus he sought God’s counsel, wisdom, and help. Do you know you can trust God in difficulty? The more you know God, the more you’ll trust Him. Get to know Him! Read your Bible; spend time in prayer. God knows and controls the future.”

Craft Learning Activity: “Krazy Kaleidoscope” (Grades K-4) Preparation: You will need a paper towel roll for each child, ruler, multicolored translucent beads, tape, glue, hot glue gun, clear plastic fruit box, marker, scissors, aluminum foil, empty cereal box, and colored scrapbook paper. Say: “In this lesson we learned that King Nebuchadnezzar looked to his astrologers and magicians to find out the truth about his dream. But they couldn’t help him. When we want to know or see something worthwhile we need to look to the source of that truth—God! For this lesson we are going to make a fun toy that will help us to remember to look to the beauty of God’s wisdom.” Procedure: Use the marker to trace around the end of the paper towel roll on a piece of clear plastic from the clear plastic fruit box to outline a circle. Cut out the circle piece of plastic so it is just small enough to fit inside the end of the paper towel roll. Put a small amount of hot glue along the inside rim of the paper towel roll; then, slide the plastic circle into the roll so the glue holds it in place. (Caution: Only adults should handle the hot glue gun.) Start dropping the translucent beads into the paper towel. Cut a small yellow cross from the scrapbook paper. Place the yellow paper cross in the confetti. Cut a second small plastic circle using the same method as the first circle. Drop the circle inside the tube on top of the beads. Use your ruler to help it lay flat if necessary. Cut out three strips of cardboard from the cereal box that are 1 inch wide and as long as the length of the paper towel roll. Wrap the 3 pieces of cardboard in aluminum foil with the reflective side out. Use tape to keep the aluminum foil in place. Tape the 3 pieces of cardboard together so they form a triangle. Slide the

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triangle inside the tube so it is resting on top of the second plastic circle. It should fit pretty snugly in the tube, but you can secure the triangle in place with tape if necessary. Cut the piece of scrapbook paper so it is as long as the paper towel roll and wide enough to wrap all the way around the roll. Attach paper to the paper towel roll with tape. Then point the kaleidoscope toward a window and spin it to see the different colors and reflections!

Say: “When we think about Daniel’s dream we look beyond just the kingdoms that have come and gone, but we look forward to the glorious day that Jesus will come to rule and reign in righteousness. His kingdom will last eternally. As we look forward to the second coming of Christ our Lord we need to be people of character like Daniel. We need to walk close to Him and receive His wisdom, counsel, and help in time of trouble. Let’s turn to the Source of Truth—God Himself!”

Craft Learning Activity: “King’s Dream” (Grades K-3) Preparation: You will need to print one copy for each child of the template of the Daniel 2 image on cardstock. (See template below/) You will also need crayons, scissors, and paper brad fasteners. Say: “King Nebuchadnezzar saw a statue in his dream. We are going to make a moveable poster of this image to help us remember the meaning of the dream.” Procedure: Pass out the cardboard template one copy per child. Have student color the various parts of the statue as indicated on the template. Cut out each part of the statue. Using the paper brass brads connect the pieces of the statue together as you discuss the meaning of each part. Say: “Daniel gave King Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream. The dream is a prophecy telling Nebuchadnezzar what will occur in the future. The four parts of the statute of the man are symbolic of the empires that would follow him: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece of Alexander, Rome, Restored Rome, and the Eternal Kingdom of God. The gold head was Babylon. The silver chest and arms was Medo-Persia. The belly and thighs of bronze was Greece under Alexander the Great. The fourth world kingdom was the iron legs of

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Rome which would break in pieces and destroy all the prior kingdoms. The iron and clay feet and toes is the future restoration of Rome with ten nations or kings in alliance. The stone was the Lord Jesus Christ coming and destroying all the kingdoms and setting up His eternal Kingdom.” “The dream that God gave to Nebuchadnezzar was a vision of the history of the world. God assured the king of the truth of the dream! This will certainly happen because God knows and controls the future! We can trust in His wisdom and knowledge. He is in control of all things!”

Life Application Challenge: “Brave as Daniel” Preparation: You will need paper and pencils. Procedure: Give each child a sheet a paper and a pencil, and ask them to write down at least three situations in which they might find themselves where they would have to be courageous in order to remain obedient to God. Some examples include when other kids are making fun of a student’s Christianity, or when someone refuses to listen to a Christian's views on obedience to God. If time permits, have the children share one of their situations and ask them how they would react in that situation. What can we do as Christians to build up courage to stay obedient to God during these times? Say: “Daniel was bold and courageous to go before King Nebuchadnezzar and ask for additional time so he could ask God what Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was and its meaning. We too must have courage to stand up to God during difficult times. God was faithful by giving Daniel the wisdom to know and discern the meaning of the dream. God will also give us boldness and courage to be a good witness for Him.”

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Psalm 28:7 "The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped."

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Documents

Unit 14: Captivity Daniel and Esther OT14.2 Daniel ......Nebuchadnezzar demanded, "You are supposed to know all the mysteries, so you must tell me what I dreamed. “If you can't do