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Teacher Bible Study Lesson Overview/Schedule 1st-3rd Grade Kids Bible Study Guide Unit 19, Session 3: God Gave Daniel Wisdom TEACHER BIBLE STUDY This week’s Bible story opens with a feast—a great banquet hosted in the palace by King Belshazzar. A thousand of his nobles were in attendance. The supply of wine was plentiful. King Belshazzar and those closest to him drank from the holy vessels that Belshazzar’s ancestor, King Nebuchadnezzar, had taken from the house of God in Jerusalem. They drank and praised their false gods. Several years had passed since King Nebuchadnezzar’s reign. Babylon had seen a handful of successions, and though Daniel still served the king, he had likely lost his high-ranking position after Nebuchadnezzar’s death. The great feast was suddenly interrupted when a human hand appeared; its fingers wrote a message on the wall. The king did not understand the message. Neither did the astrologers or wise men. The queen (possibly Belshazzar’s grandmother) remembered Daniel and his ability to understand dreams and signs. God had given Daniel wisdom to understand visions and dreams of every kind. (Daniel 1:17) Daniel read the words on the wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN. As verbs, these Aramaic words mean “numbered,” “weighed,” and “divided.” They can also be interpreted as a series of weights: “a mina, a mina, a shekel, and half-shekels.” Daniel interpreted the message. God had evaluated Belshazzar and found that he wasn’t good enough. God was bringing his reign to an end. The kingdom would be divided. Belshazzar, who had witnessed the consequences of Nebuchadnezzar’s sinful pride, did not humble himself before the Lord. That very night, Belshazzar was killed and the Persians took over the kingdom. Darius the Mede became king. God is opposed to the proud, but He gives grace to the humble. (See 1 Peter 5:5.) If God were to weigh us, we too would be found deficient, lacking, not good enough. But when we put our trust in Christ, who humbled Himself on a cross, God will raise us up with Him. (Philippians 2:8; Ephesians 2:4-6) LESSON OVERVIEW/SCHEDULE Session Title: God Gave Daniel Wisdom Bible Passage: Daniel 5 Big Picture Question: What does God do to the proud? God humbles the proud. Key Passage: Daniel 6:27 Unit Christ Connection: Despite captivity, God used faithful people to continue His plan to provide salvation through Jesus Christ. 1 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources 1st-3rd Grade Kids Bible Study Guide Unit 19, Session 3: God Gave Daniel Wisdom Transition Time Welcome time Activity sheet/Table Centers Session starter (10 minutes) Lesson Countdown Introduce the session (1 minute) Timeline Map (2 minutes) Big picture question (1 minute) Sing (5 minutes) Key passage (4 minutes) Tell the Bible story (10 minutes) Discussion starter video (3 minutes) The Gospel: God’s Plan for Me (optional) Prayer (4 minutes) Table Time Timeline map (1 minute) Bible story review (10 minutes) Large Group Review / Activities Key passage activity (5 minutes) Activity choice (10 minutes) Prayer (5 minutes) THE BIBLE STORY/OVERVIEW God Gave Daniel Wisdom Daniel 5 Nebuchadnezzar (NEB yoo kad NEZ uhr), the king of Babylon, had died. A few other kings ruled after him, and then Nebuchadnezzar’s grandson became king. His name was Belshazzar (bel SHAZ uhr). King Belshazzar had a big party—a feast! He invited a thousand people, and there was plenty of food and drinks for everybody. King Belshazzar asked for gold and silver containers. The containers had been taken from God’s temple in Jerusalem. The king and his guests drank from the containers. They were misusing them. The containers from God’s temple were not supposed to be used for drinking at parties. While they drank, the king and his guests worshiped their false gods—gods made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. Suddenly, the feast was interrupted. A man’s hand appeared at the wall, and its fingers began writing a message on the wall. The king watched the hand, and he was very afraid! 2 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources 1st-3rd Grade Kids Bible Study Guide Unit 19, Session 3: God Gave Daniel Wisdom His face was pale, and his legs shook. The king looked at the message on the wall, but he didn’t know what it meant. “Bring me the wise men!” the king ordered. “If anyone can tell me what this message means, I will give him gifts and an important job in my kingdom.” The wise men came, but none of them knew what the message meant. King Belshazzar and his guests were upset. The queen heard what was happening, and she came into the room. She told the king, “Don’t be upset. There is someone in Babylon who is wise. He will know what this message says.” The queen was talking about Daniel. Daniel came to the palace. The king said, “If you can tell me what this writing means, I will give you gifts and an important job in my kingdom.” Daniel didn’t want the king’s gifts, but he agreed to tell the king what the message said. First, Daniel reminded the king about what happened to his relative, King Nebuchadnezzar. “God made King Nebuchadnezzar great,” Daniel said. “But King Nebuchadnezzar thought too much of himself, so God punished him.” King Belshazzar had not learned from Nebuchadnezzar’s mistakes. King Belshazzar did not love God; he loved himself the most and he worshiped false gods. “God is in control of your life,” Daniel said. “This message on the wall is a message from God.” Then Daniel read the message. The words on the wall were MENE (MEE nih), MENE, TEKEL (TEK uhl), PARSIN (PAHR sin). Daniel told the king what the words meant. MENE meant that God had counted the days of the kingdom. The king wasn’t going to be king anymore. The next word, TEKEL, meant that God had given the king a report card, and he had failed. The word PARSIN meant that Babylon would be split up and taken over by two enemies. King Belshazzar gave Daniel gifts like he had promised, and he gave Daniel an important job in the kingdom. That night, God’s message came true. King Belshazzar was killed, and a new king named Darius (duh RIGH uhs) took over the kingdom. Christ Connection: God used Daniel’s wisdom to get the king’s attention about his pride. The king acted like he was better than God. God humbled the king. Jesus humbled Himself by dying on the cross for our sin. God raised up Jesus and gave Him honor. When we humble ourselves and trust in Jesus, God will raise us up too, and we will be with Him forever in heaven. TRANSITION TIME Session Title: God Gave Daniel Wisdom Bible Passage: Daniel 5 Big Picture Question: What does God do to the proud? God humbles the proud. Key Passage: Daniel 6:27 Unit Christ Connection: Despite captivity, God used faithful people to continue His plan to provide salvation through Jesus Christ. 3 2012 LifeWay Christian Resources 1st-3rd Grade Kids Bible Study Guide Unit 19, Session 3: God Gave Daniel Wisdom Welcome time Tip: As kids arrive this is a great time to collect the offering, fill out attendance sheets, and help new kids connect to your group. Arriving Activity: Wall Art large sheets of paper markers tape Hang large pieces of paper on the wall. Encourage the kids to write or draw on the paper. They may draw what they wish, or you may use this as an opportunity to review. Invite them to draw a picture of Daniel eating vegetables or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. Say • How many of you enjoy writing or drawing on the wall? Do you normally get to write on walls? No. That’s why we have paper on the wall for writing. However, writing on the wall is part of today’s Bible story. See who wrote on a wall and why. Activities/Table Centers (5 minutes) Table centers (Miscellaneous Activities) “Wall Writing” activity sheet / Bible Story Coloring Sheet, 1 per kid pencils, markers or crayons Guide boys and girls to complete the activity page. Say • Each of the words you uncovered has a special meaning. We will find out the meanings in a moment. If time remains, allow kids to complete the coloring page provided with this session. Session Starter (10 minutes) Option 1: Whose Hand? paper, 1 piece per kid markers scissors pencils Provide each kid with a piece of paper. Invite her to trace her hand and cut out what she traced. Encourage her to write her name on one side with a pencil so it can’t be seen on the other side. Take all the hand cutouts and shuffle them. Draw one out, and see if the kids can guess whose hand it is. Say • What would you do if a hand suddenly appeared and started writing on a wall? We will see how a king reacted when that happened in today’s Bible story. Option 2: Wrong Place tape plastic or paper cups Tape a long start line and finish line several feet apart. Form groups of two or more, and encourage the members of each group to spread out between the two lines. Place six pyramid- stacked plastic or paper cups at the start line. Explain that the cups don’t belong there. They belong on the other side of the finish line. The kid closest to the starting line in each group must pick up one of the cups and hand it to the next kid.
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