A STUDY GUIDE Dear Redeemer Church Family, This semester we are going to work through the Book of Daniel. It’s fi lled with heroic stories, historical events, heavenly perspectives on current and future events; and while this book was written in the 6th century BC, it’s still incredibly relevant for us today. Daniel was taken into exile as a teenager and spent the majority of his life in a culture completely opposed to God, yet he remained faithful. If you’re like me, it can feel like our world is pushing harder and harder against those who live to follow Jesus. It can be discouraging. It can feel hopeless. And we can wonder if there’s a way forward. STUDY GUIDE Thankfully, nothing we’re going through can compare to what Daniel and his friends went through, which means if there was hope for them, then there’s hope for us! So, my prayer is that you’ll dive into Daniel, learn applicable lessons, grasp gospel-truths, and see a way forward to thrive in our current culture. In Christ, Jeff Martin How to Use this Guide For the next few months, the Redeemer Preaching Calendar will center on the book of Daniel. This guide, however, is not for the purpose of going deeper into the sermon, but to go deeper into the text before you listen to the sermon. Each week has two main components: Personal Study and Questions for Discussion; and there will also be other helpful tools thrown in from time-to-time. The “Personal Study” can be taken at your own pace, but it’s recommended to pick one day, hunker down, read the whole chapter, and answer the provided questions corresponding to each section of Scripture. Some of the answers will be easily found in the text, but others might require a quick google search. The “Questions for Discussion” work best in a Redeemer Small Group or with a small group of friends, coworkers, or neighbors. Some of the questions have right and wrong answers, but a lot of them are open-ended to encourage conversation. Then, last but not least, we want to pray God’s Word from our heads to our hearts. After your personal study and group discussion take time to pray through three categories: Adore, Admit, Aspire. Adore = What is something from this text that causes you to admire God to a greater degree? For example, “God, I am amazed by Your knowledge of the future. You know what my life holds, it’s in Your control, and I know I am in good hands.” Admit = Confess where the text has convicted your heart. For example, “I confess that I am more inclined to go with the crowd than to stand for You. Please forgive me for allowing my life to be more shaped by our culture than by Your Kingdom. Aspire = Ask God for the strength to apply something from the text to your own life. For example, “Daniel represented You well through his work-ethic. Help me to do my job with excellence and in a way that honors You.” Introduction to Daniel Author Daniel wrote this book in the 6th century BC, recording the events of his life as well as visions he saw from the time of his exile in 605 BC until 536 BC, the third year of King Cyrus. Historical Setting • Daniel Exiled to Babylon in 605 BC • Babylonians Destroy Jerusalem 586 BC • Decree of Cyrus Allowing Jews to Return 538 BC Reading Daniel Two things that will keep us from seeing the beauty of the gospel in Daniel are: 1.) Thinking that Daniel is the primary hero of the story, and 2.) Making the second half of Daniel all about end-times debates. Yes, Daniel is heroic, but his faithfulness is always a response to the grace God repeatedly provides. Also, it’s important to note that his life isn’t just an adventure story. His escaping the lion’s den and his friends being rescued from a fi ery furnace should be seen as the exception, not the rule. Often, people with strong faith in situations similar to these experience opposite fates. And what we’ll see through this book isn’t Daniel pointing us to himself, but Daniel pointing us to the greater One to come! Then, as we get to Daniel’s visions (chapters 7 – 12) we’ll see some of the most amazing and detailed prophesies in all of Scripture. These are important, but if we spend all our time trying to understand the obscure, we might miss the obvious. The central message isn’t to interpret the time of Jesus’ return, it’s to see how God will rescue His people from their sin and misery by the work of a Messiah. The important things to see as we read Daniel is how God saves sinful and weak people; how He preserves young men from impurity and old men from lions; how He answers prayers and interprets dreams; how He exalts the humble and humbles the proud; how He vindicates the faithful and vanquishes the profane; and how He rescues His people by returning them to their land. Outline 1. Daniel and His Three Friends (1:1 – 6:28) • Prologue (1:1-21) • Dream statue representing four kingdoms (2:1-49) • Worship the golden statue or perish in a pit (3:1-30) • Judgment on Nebuchadnezzar (4:1-37) • Judgment on Belshazzar (5:1-31) • Worship Darius or perish in a pit (6:1-28) 2. The Visions of Daniel • Dream of four beasts representing four kingdoms (7:1-28) • Vision of the ram, the goat, and the little horn (8:1-27) • Daniel’s prayer and its answer (9:1-27) • Daniel’s vision of the fi nal confl ict (10:1 – 12:13) Before diving into the book of Daniel, take a few minutes to read 2 Kings 20:12-19 and Isaiah 39. In Leviticus 26:33 and 39, God warned His people that their faithlessness would result in exile. Now, after a lengthy history of disobedience, Nebuchadnezzar becomes the instrument of God’s discipline. Read Daniel 1:1-7 • If you underline in your Bible, underline the phrase “the Lord gave” in verse 2 and continue to underline or take note of this phrase as you read Daniel • Why do you think Daniel wants us to read this book WEEK through the lens of God’s control? • In verse 2 we read about the “land of Shinar”. Where else is this land mentioned in the Bible? • What kind of people did the king take? Personal • What did he want to do with them? Some things to think about: Study • Babylon was evil, worse than any recent or current power (even Nazi Germany!). They were demonically infl uenced. • The three-year study program was designed to certify Daniel and his friends as enchanters and magicians, experts in the dark practices of the occult. • Daniel’s name means “God is my judge”, but his Babylonian name meant “Bel’s prince” (Bel being the title for their demonic god, Marduk). This would be like having your name changed from Christian to Satan’s Prince. • Most of the food at the king’s table would have been expressly forbidden in the Law of Moses. • Something you don’t learn about in Sunday School is Daniel and his friends were most likely castrated and turned into eunuchs. Notes: Read Daniel 1:8-21 • Take note of the phrase “God gave” • How did Daniel respond to the king’s assignment? • What does God give to Daniel and his four friends during this season of life? Something to think about: When it came to staying kosher, Daniel won. But when it came to his name, the things he had to study, and the wicked king he had to serve, he lost. What does it mean for God to be in control? It means in the biggest scheme of things, there are no accidents. His plans will not be thwarted. He is never surprised. In the end, everything works for the good of those who love Him. Even when evil seems to prevail, God is at work. WEEK Christians are either being conformed or transformed. We’re either being squeezed into the world’s mold or we’re transforming things in the world which God has put us. Transformers don’t always have aneasy life, but it’s an exciting one, and it gives you great delight to know that God is using you to infl uence others. How does God’s discipline show God’s Questions faithfulness to His people? for discussion Describe a time God’s discipline was needed in your own life to pull you back to Him. Where do you fi nd yourself naturally conforming to patterns of the world? God gave Daniel to Babylon. Where has He given you? (think of specifi c places and people) How can you use your unique talents, passions, and resources to change your spheres of infl uence? WEEK As you turn from chapter 1 to chapter 2, the atmosphere of the king’s palace changes radically. Chapter 1 closes with recognition and security, but chapter 2 introduces rejection and danger. The hero of the story is not the king, but the Lord God who “reveals the deep and secret things”. As you read this chapter, you witness the God of Israel in complete control of every situation and accomplishing His purposes even through superstitious Gentile unbelievers. Read Daniel 2:1-16 • Nebuchadnezzar was leading the biggest kingdom in the world.