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?
An 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.
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
Daniel 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.
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