For Thursday, April 24, please read Chapters 1-7 and 12 of Daniel carefully. Skim the rest.Daniel is a favorite "Sunday school" book, a book filled stories the lend themselves well to teaching children. But Daniel is an adult book as well. What do you think is the most important or most interesting lesson Daniel teaches to adults?
So far as I can tell, a great deal of this book is adult oriented. All the stories portrayed in the book deal with the Jewish people facing persecution and then being rewarded for stalwartness. This was most likely a book meant to encourage the Jews to hold on to their faith despite persecution. Also their were a great number of visions which take a bit to interpret. I don't recall learning those in Sunday school.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing i can see as an important lesson for adults it too not hold themselves too high. God is the ultimate power and He is the one who delegates what is where. He gives and takes away. Plus it is simply a good idea to follow what God says not matter what other people tell you. God is the ultimate authority. We are not above God.
ReplyDeleteAs easy as it is to see the book of Daniel as a great book for Sunday school, by just reading deeper and seeing the "message" between the line makes it a great book for adults. Over all the message can be a little dark because Daniel struggles and that is important for adults to remember that everybody goes through struggle, however the book also reminds us that the Lord is there and he's the highest power. Another lesson in the book deals with the Jewish persecution which is a difficult thing to talk about, especially in Sunday school, and is a great thing for a lesson to adults.
ReplyDeleteAn important message I noticed was the refusal of Daniel to eat the king's food and wine that he knew to be unclean. Daniel asked Ashpenaz to allow him to NOT eat the food because he knew it would make him unclean. I like this message because it's a good reminder for young people and adults to trust your gut and refuse things you know aren't good for you. The verses literally state refusing the king's food and wine, but I this can be applied to anything. Like, refusing to go see a new movie in the theater because you know it to be inappropriate. Everything is out there in the open nowadays and it's okay to say "NO" to that bad stuff. Obviously, this can be a powerful message to impressionable young minds as well.
ReplyDeleteFor adults the message of staying true to your one true God is essential. It shows how even when we are put through hard times God is always there to answer your call. Daniel was being tested more than once. He never complained. He stayed true to God. He worshipped him three times a day, even when there was a law which forbid it. He was always the one whom the hierarchy came to to explain the visions that God had given them. Daniel was never afraid to stay faithful. We as adults should realize that God never gives us more than what we can handle. He is there to try and strengthen us. He is there to make us stronger to handle what is to come. These are the adult lessons I think that the stories in Daniel are trying to portray.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the verse Daniel 12:3 was the most powerful message in the book. It says, "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." This verse says that those who live a good life and live for god will shine in the end.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I was reminded of while reading Daniel is that God is in control; He is all-knowing and He is in charge of world events. From my limited perspective, I often wonder where God is when I hear of bad or unfair things, but the book of Daniel reminds us that God will overcome evil and He will deliver His faithful.
ReplyDeleteIn Daniel 5, King Belshazzar gives a great feast and orders the wine to be served in the gold and silver cups taken from the Temple in Jerusalem. During the feast, the guests suddenly saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the wall. This was, or course, very terrifying, and Darius sent for his wise men to read and interpret the writing, but none of them were able to. The queen mother then remembered Daniel, who interpreted dreams for Belshazzar's predecessor, King Nebuchadnezzar, and Daniel is sent for.
Daniel reminds Belshazzar of the glory of King Nebuchadnezzar, but adds that "when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory ... he was given the mind of a wild animal, and ... he ate grass like a cow ...until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them. You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself ... You have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny!" That very might, King Belshazzar of Babylonia was killed and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom.
Specific incidents like the above as well as the last chapters of Daniel, which describe Daniel's visions of the future and the end times, reassure us that God does indeed have a plan, and He is orchestrating it. From my limited point of view in my tiny blip on the timeline of history, I don't see the big picture, but it is there.
I think adults can learn from Daniel is, that God is always with you as long as you follow Gods word. Daniel being taken by king Nebuchadnezzar and taken to a foreign country shows this God helped him survive. Daniel never lost faith and was protected and even becomes palace office on account he knows the meaning of dreams the king is having, So as long you stay faithful to God he will never leave you and be their in your toughest times.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things Adults can learn from this book is patience in adversity, the problems of pride, and not being fearful. shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego is a good example of all these lessons. The warnings of pride when concerning the gold statue that Nebuchadnezzar built and the refusal of shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to bow even to the threat of death. Same thing with Daniel and being thrown into the lions den. Nebuchadnezzar Usually represents pride and vanity which are used in these stories to contrast with Daniel and his friends humility. Daniel and his friends are also firm in their faith despite threats of death. Which help teach against fear. So as a whole Daniel has a lot to offer those of all ages.
ReplyDeleteTo my understanding, many of the stories of Daniel revolve around remaining humble and long-suffering. I'm not sure patient is quite the right word for it, because sometimes it seemed like Daniel did not know exactly what he was waiting for, just that he had to endure until things happened (or didn't happen) in God's time. Being long-suffering and humble is the opposite of feeling entitled, which is also a lesson I think the book of Daniel imparts. Being impatient or prideful wrongly puffs up the perception of self-importance of the person feeling those things, and if there's anything we've learned from Daniel and Job and previous books is that feeling self-important gets you nowhere.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of his stories revolve around remaining humble while dealing with extreme suffering. I think that these themes don't belong in a classroom. Yet, the story of his fear with the lions is also really does belong in the classroom because it is a good story about keeping the faith when you feel as if it is lost.
ReplyDeleteLiz
This book is definitely positive advice for adults. For one thing, it teaches people to stand up for something and furthermore to stand strong in what they belief; for as the old saying goes, "if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything." Once one has established these values, they need to keep a strong faith when they are tested. Along with this, I believe the book of Daniel is teaching us to never be afraid of what we believe in or standing up for that belief. The most important thing we can do is be true to ourselves and, more importantly, to God.
ReplyDeleteAn important lesson that can be taught to adults in the book of Daniel has a theme of trust. Similar to some other books of the Bible, God wants them to trust in him. As Sunday school students, children might not quite see this lesson. As an adult, however, I can see this message, especially in chapter 12:12-13, "Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days. As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance." I personally took the phrase "allotted inheritance" as a promise of heaven to David. By David trusting in and following God, he will receive the ultimate reward.
ReplyDeleteI loved the book of Daniel when I was young! I always imagined myself sitting with a bunch of lions just hanging out like Daniel. My mom was a little worried when I said I wanted to be a lion tamer for a while...
ReplyDeleteDaniel definitely teaches a lot about trust. At least, that's what I got out of reading. Trust and sacrifice. There was so much that the people in the book struggled with under Babylonian rule, but Daniel and the other prophets put their trust in God and although they suffered from hardship and persecution, God delivered them in a number of instances. They sacrificed themselves and their acceptance in a cruel society in order to worship God. That is dedication and something that can be admired and taken from this book.
I believe the best message for adults is that even though bad things will happen to good people, like being thrown in a lions' den, if you stay true to your faith with the one God, then good things will happen in the end. Just as Daniel held true to his beliefs when faced with the option to recant his faith, if you hold true to your faith, everything will work out in the end.
ReplyDeleteDaniel 3:28-29 King Nebuchadnezzar becomes mad at Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego for not worshiping his idol. They stay loyal to their God and won’t bow. We know the story, thrown into a fire for breaking the kings Edict, but they will not burn. King Nebuchadnezzar is so impressed he claims “the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble.” I’m surprised this doesn’t get addressed more. I get it the king is coming around, but playing judge, jury, and executioner never seems to work out well for humans.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite Sunday school lessons growing up was the firery furnace. I don't know why exactly. Maybe it was the fun names. I don't really know, I still really like this story as an adult though too. As I have gotten older so has my understanding of the story gotten better. My understanding went from the cool names and God keeping them safe to I need to have faith like them. I think this is true with many stories that are used for Sunday school, as you go into higher grades you study the stories again and again and the understanding of the stories grows and evolves. This is how learning in life in general is.
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