Week 8: God Grows Daniel Great
WEEK 8 | Daniel 2:46-49
Days 1-2 Central Passage Father, open my eyes to see the truth in Your Word that I may know and love you more deeply.
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face and paid homage to Daniel, and commanded that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47 The king answered and said to Daniel, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries, for you have been able to reveal this mystery.” 48 Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. 49 Daniel made a request of the king, and he appointed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego over the affairs of the province of Babylon. But Daniel remained at the king's court. — Daniel 2:46-49 NASB 1995
OBSERVE DETAILS
Ask and answer simple w-questions: when? where? who? what? how?
1. The KING’s Response
What did the King do physically before Daniel? (v46)
What did the King command to be offered to him? (v46)
What did the King say about Daniel’s God? (v47)
What did the King give Daniel? (v48a)
What two leadership positions does the King give Daniel? (48b)
2. DANIEL’s Request (v49)
What did Daniel request of the King?
What type of position do Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego now have?
Where do Daniel’s two positions place him but not his friends?
OBSERVE DICTION
Ask: Which words/phrases might provide clues to the author’s message? What do they literally mean?
Ex. reveal > gelah to reveal as in to reveal secrets, but is also means to take into exile. See the word “deported” in Ezra 4:10; 5:12. Consider how “revealed” might relate to “deportation.” What did God reveal by exiling the Jews...or how did God reveal their hearts?
Ex. promoted > not the word used in NASB 1995, but this is the implied word and it means “grow great” as in long, tall, large or increase
Ex. province > district within the city
Ex. court > door or gate
INTERPRET
Ask: Why did the author choose to include these details and use these words?
1. The King Bows.
Þ Some translations use the word “worship” instead of “paid homage” to describe Nebuchadnezzar’s response to the revelation God gave to Daniel. Given what we have seen of Daniel’s words and actions in chapters 1-2, why is it inconsistent to believe Daniel would accept worship?
Þ What might the King’s bow foreshadow about the Stone? (2:34-35, 44-45)
2. Read what Nebuchadnezzar declares about God. How do you see that God is gradually revealing Who He Is to Nebuchadnezzar, but at this point he lacks what marks saving faith?
Historical Context – The main province of Babylonia was Babylon, the capital. So within the Neo-Babylonian Empire is Babylonia; within Babylonia is its capital, and at the center of the capital is the King’s court.
Daniel and his friends were in the first deportation. But a second deportation will come in 597 B.C. and a third in 586 B.C.
3. Daniel “Grows Great.” Review your details and diction observations to make some inferences:
4. “Daniel is a resilient disciple even in exile.” Review some of the characteristics of a resilient person below:
Accepting – He accepts that his “normal” is not everyone else’s normal instead of asking “Why me?”
Flexible – She accepts that plans change and that refusing to adapt will only result in frustration and burnout.
Learning – Viewing challenges as an opportunity to research information and gain new skills, he becomes even more capable to make wise decisions and prepare his case.
Solution Seeking – When problems arise, she determines a way through to resolution or to improvement instead of complaining or gossiping and in effect doing nothing.
Resourceful – Caught in an unusual situation, he manages to make do with whatever assets are available instead of lamenting the lack of ideal resources.
Creative – When trials limit her, she escapes through adjusting and adapting with an out-of-the-box idea.
Realistic – He prepares for the future and keeps his expectations for the outcome reasonable.
Self-Controlled – Rather than yielding to the quick gratification of venting turbulent emotion, she considers the source and accepts what she can control and releases what she cannot.
How would you summarize these characteristics? In other words, what elements do they have in common?
How do you see that Daniel’s resilience was sourced in his devotion to God?
5. Now consider that Daniel has just been made governor over Babylon, the capital of the idol-worshiping center of the world AND chief prefect of the “wise” men, those who sought secret knowledge through occultic practices. If you were Daniel’s spiritual dad or accountability friend, what advice would you give him so that he could remain faithful?
6. Costs
What will it cost Daniel to remain faithful? Consider what it has already cost him.
What would it cost Daniel’s witness to his believing community and unbelieving community if he does not remain faithful?
In Deeper Daniel Days 4 & 5 you will reflect upon your relationship with God. Please engage in this reflection as an investment in your relationship with God. During the Group Reflection, you will share from this reflection time. (Deeper Daniel Day 3 will wrap up our Joseph/Daniel comparison, for now at least. )
Prayer – Praise God for His faithfulness to His people in exile throughout all time. Seek His help that you would be faithful to Him forever.
Day 3 Deeper Daniel Father, open my eyes to see the truth in Your Word that I may know and love you more deeply.
Read Genesis 41:33-45.
1. What attributes of character and giftings do you continue to see that Joseph and Daniel share?
2. What similarities do you see in how Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar responded to their dream being interpreted?
3. Why do you think God waited to position Joseph? Consider how the wait prepared Joseph. Consider how the wait brought greater glory to God.
Days 4 & 5
How to Read Your Bible – We learn to read our Bible better when we memorize Scripture. Something about having to get every word right and determining strategies to that end helps us to read the Bible with greater attention to detail and greater desire to treasure every word of the Word.
Read Psalm 23 each day from now until you meet next with your group in a committed effort to memorize it.
What is remarkable about Daniel is that even as a youth he remained devoted to God while living in exile in the idol-worshiping capital of the world. In their book Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon, David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock share their findings about the practices of young adults who remain faithful to Christ in our post-Christian world. These practices are not just for our youth, but for all our generations within our church.
The first practice of a resilient disciple is experiencing Jesus. Our authors concluded that exiles are instrumental to God’s purposes in times of change because they know God will complete His good plan. So...they can live for the sake of others, take epic risks for the sake of what’s right, make prayer a mission, persevere in holiness, & find their home in God himself.
1. Why would being “instrumental to God’s purposes in time of change” depend upon your knowing God?
2. As we wrap up Daniel 2, we can confidently affirm that Daniel believed “a real God speaks to me.” Reflect on your circumstances and your walk with God over the past year. How do you know that a real God speaks to you?
3. Review the characteristics of a resilient person (See Q4 under Days 1-2). In this past year, when did you demonstrate resilience because you are devoted to God? Describe any bold actions you took that revealed at least one of those characteristics in play.
4. Keep those characteristics in mind. How did you have to depend upon God in order to take those actions?
5. How did depending upon God in deep heart work change your relationship with Him?
6. What is exciting about our love for God is our love grows! Where would you like to grow in the practice of experiencing Jesus? Consider Daniel’s example.
Go back to this reflection and star at least one thing you would like to share with your group.
Prayer – Praise God that He wants you, all of you! He is delighted when you come to Him for everything. Pray that you would find your absolute deepest identity in being His child. Pray that your soul’s rest would be found in Jesus.
Group Reflection Faithful in Exile
Triads & Quads Time – Get together with your prayer wall partners.
1. Share one thing you starred from the Days 4-5 reflection time. If you did not engage in those days, then share an answer for question 6.
2. One way we are going to grow together in experiencing Jesus is through meeting with God at our “prayer wall” for one another. Make sure everyone in your group is caught up with each other’s personal prayer request and prayer request for an unbelieving family member or friend. Add your global missionary partner to your third row if you have not already. Discuss whether the time of day you chose for prayer is working for each of you. It is not necessary that everyone pray at the same hour, but it is nice if each person has one person who is praying at the same time he or she is.
3. If anyone has a testimony of how God is changing them through this commitment to prayer, give time for sharing that. If anyone has already seen God move in answering any of their requests, they can share that.
4. Did anyone start memorizing Psalm 23? (See Day 4 “How to Read Your Bible.) If so, share about how memorizing Scripture is helping you to experience Jesus.
Prayer
Pray over one another.
Pray for your global missionary partner.
This week please pray for our community group and outreach|mission ministries.
God’s joy & strength to you!