HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1141
Daniel
W H AT A T E M P TAT I O N ! You’re alone in a strange place, far from
home. No friends or family are nearby. Then along comes an opportunity to engage in a new adventure, something you know is wrong and
would displease family, friends, and God. But who will ever know?
Daniel and his friends were deported to Babylon
What you will be
reading about
in 605 BC. For the most part, the captives were not
forced into slavery. Instead, they were expected
1:1- 21
Daniel becomes the king’s
to assimilate into the culture. Far from home,
counselor
they had grand opportunities to advance in the
service of a pagan king. They could make names
2:1- 49
Daniel interprets the king’s
for themselves, win royal favor, become somedream
bodies in a powerful empire. Tempting? Perhaps
3:1- 30
it was, but Daniel and his friends resisted the
Four men in the fiery furnace
temptation. They would remain faithful to God,
4:1-37
no matter what.
God humbles the king
We should follow Daniel’s example not only
5:1-31
of remaining faithful but also in the manner
The mysterious handwriting
in which he remained faithful. Daniel and his
on the wall
friends were gracious and respectful in standing
6:1-28
firm for God.
Daniel in the lions’ den
Every child who has attended Sunday school
7:1– 9: 27
knows about Daniel. The wonderful stories of
Daniel’s visions of the future
Daniel and his friends refusing the king’s pagan
10:1–12 :13
food, Daniel’s three friends in the fiery furnace,
Daniel sees events of the
the handwriting on the wall, and Daniel in the
end times
lions’ den are favorites. These four stories are
highlights of the first half of Daniel’s book.
The four stories actually cover a wide span of time. The first event, Daniel’s
refusing the king’s pagan food, was about the time Daniel arrived in the land.
The second story followed shortly after, when Daniel was still a young man. But
the stories of the handwriting on the wall and Daniel in the lions’ den followed
about sixty-six years after the other stories, when Daniel was in his eighties.
In the second half of the book, Daniel tells of the future: what will happen
before the Messiah comes and the future beyond our day, embracing events
at the end of time. While the first half of the book tells the compelling story
of faithfulness to God in a faraway land, the second speaks of the need for
those in the last days to be faithful to the end. Those times may be filled with
page 771