By Luke Johnson | January 1, 2013
We’re reading a story about Daniel. What do you know about Daniel already?
Why wasn’t he in Israel? Why is he working for a foreign king?
Israel had grown wicked, and God punished them by allowing the Babylonians to defeat them and carry many of them off to Babylon. Daniel and 3 of his friends [Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego] were chosen to be servants of the king of Babylon. They were living in exile -- they were cut off from their land, their people, and their way of life. They were stuck in a pagan land where the king and the people didn’t care about God or anything God had ever said.
Do you remember the story of the fiery furnace? What happened in that story?
Why were Rack, Shack, and Benny thrown into the fire? (What did they do that made the king so mad?) (They refused to bow to the king’s statue because it wasn’t God.)
What happened when they were tossed into the flames?
Who appeared in the flames with the three men?
Daniel and his 3 friends were determined to stay true to their faith. They only ate what God’s commandments allowed them to eat, and kept their daily prayers. They remembered where they came from and didn’t forget their God.
Read Daniel 6
Daniel managed to make his fellow-administrators pretty angry. What did he do? (v. 3)
Why were the “satraps” so frustrated in their attempt get Daniel in trouble? (v. 4)
What evil plan did they hatch? (vv. 6-9)
What did Daniel do once he learned about the king’s new decree? (v. 10)
How did the other administrators accuse Daniel?
How did the kin respond, and what happened to Daniel?
This week we’re celebrating the “Reign of Christ.” What do you think this story about Daniel has to do with the “Reign of Christ”?
Which king did Daniel serve in this story?
- The king of Babylon (Nebuchadnezzar)
- The king of the Medes and Persians (Darius)
Which king did Daniel obey in this story?
- Nebby? He built the idol everyone was supposed to worship.
- Darius? He made the law about “No praying to anyone but me!”
After Daniel gets out of the lion’s den, what does King Darius say about God? What “kingdom” language do you hear in verse 27?
This whole time, how has Daniel been serving God as his King above the other kings?
- Ignored Darius’ edict that made praying illegal (kept praying to God 3 times a day)
- Trusted God to protect him when he was thrown in the lion’s den
- Told King Darius that his God saved him (witnessed to Darius about God’s care for him)
Think about football for a second -- How do you tell which players are on which team?
If this story about Daniel was a football story, whose colors do you think Daniel would be wearing?
Even though Daniel was in “enemy territory,” he didn’t stop “playing for his team”. He still continued to pray to Israel’s God and still continued to live like an Israelite (eating only foods Israel’s laws allowed). We are able to tell that Daniel is committed to God by the things he does and the things he refuses to do. He was conscious of God’s reign -- he knew God was the true king, and that it was most important to please God, even if it meant getting in trouble with the human kings.
Have you ever been in a situation like Daniel’s when people wanted you to do something that is wrong?
Think about the verse Ken shared with us at the retreat. Do you remember it? (John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world.”)
What does it mean to recognize Jesus as your King?
- Obedience -- doing the things Jesus tells us to do even if the people around us don’t understand or think it’s dumb.
- Tell the world about it -- Daniel told his king (Darius) that God saved him. Living with Christ as your King means that we show it in our lives not only with what we do, but also by what we say. (Think about the Roughriders -- their fans love to shout and cheer about how good they are. How much better is Christ in comparison to a football team?)
- Celebrate!!! Jesus is king -- he said, “I have overcome the world.” That means everything God has ever promised is going to come true because of Jesus, because
- Jesus is the king. (It’s like “LOTR: Return of the King” times a million!)
Trust him. Jesus is worth your time. He loves you. He made you. He knows you. And he really wants you to know him.