Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with the following passage: 

Daniel 2:1-48
Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a troubling dream. He called all his wise men to him and asked them to explain his dream, but so that he knew that they were telling him the truth about the explanation, he also required that they tell him what he saw in his dream first. If the wise men could not do this, he would kill all of them. The wise men said this was impossible to do, but the king insisted. When Daniel and his friends heard that the king was going to kill all the wise men, he came before the king and asked for time so that he may tell the king his dream and give its meaning. The king agreed, and Daniel and his friends prayed to God for mercy and revelation. God granted this request to Daniel. When Daniel returned to the king, he told him that his dream was a vision of a statue made from different metals. The golden head was Nebuchadnezzar, because he was the greatest. Every metal after this was less precious and more fragile, and each respectfully represented a lesser kingdom that would follow Nebuchadnezzar. Finally a rock was cut, but not by human hands. It was thrown at the statue and the statue was destroyed. Only the rock remained, and it represented a Kingdom that would come and will never be destroyed. When Nebuchadnezzar heard his dream and its explanation, he bowed down and declared that God is the only true God. Daniel and his friends were placed in high positions of honor.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• Several picture of various scenes
o People talking
o Someone walking a dog
o Other simple scenes
o Some scenes that are not so easy to understand
Directions:
1. Show the children the pictures one at a time, beginning with the simple scenes. Ask the children to describe what they see in the pictures.
2. Everyone should be able to figure out the simple scenes. Ask the children if anyone can figure out what is going on in the more difficult scenes. If necessary, explain the pictures.
3. Explain to the children that today’s story will talk about a king who had a difficult dream and needed someone to explain it.

Memory Verse:

Daniel 2:47
The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery”

Jesus Connection:

We know that the different parts of Nebuchadnezzar’s statue represent different kingdoms that have already passed. The cut stone is often believed to represent Jesus. There are several scriptures in the New Testament that show us that Jesus is the Rock (1 Corinthians 10:3) and the corner stone (Acts 4:11, Ephesians 2:20) Revelation 11:15 shows us that these kingdoms will pass away with the return of Jesus and the establishment of his eternal kingdom.  When Jesus returns, everyone will be witness to the fulfillment of this prophetic dream. All the kingdoms of the earth will shatter with the coming of Jesus!

Songs:

Dare to be a Daniel

http://www.childrenssonglyrics.com/b/86-bible-songs/359-dare-to-be-a-daniel-lyrics.html
Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone;
Dare to have a purpose firm,
Dare to make it known!

Standing by a purpose true,
Heading God’s command,
Honor them, the faithful few! All hail to Daniel’s Band!
Chorus
Many mighty men are lost
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s Band!
Chorus
Many giants, great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall
If met by Daniel’s Band
Chorus
Hold the Gospel banner high!
On to vict’ry grand;
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s Band!
Chourus

Games/Activities:

Knock it Down

Supplies Needed:
• 5 or 6 different types of items (sponges, wood blocks, mega blocks, Lincoln logs, rocks, etc…)
• A soft ball
Directions:
1. Ask the children to work together to build as strong of a tower as they can. (You may divide into two teams if you have enough building materials.
2. Give the children a few minutes to build.
3. Using your soft ball, knock down the towers.
4. Explain that no matter how strong our towers are, they can be knocked down, just like the strong statue in the story was destroyed.

Crafts:

Foil Statue

Supplies Needed:
• Aluminum foil (about 3 feet per child)
• Tape
• Paint (gold, bronze black and brown, or similar colors)
• Paint brushes
• Dish soap
Directions:
1. Give each child about 3 feet of aluminum foil.
2. Crumple the foil and shape it to form a person. If additional pieces of foil are used, join the pieces with tape. The person will look best, however, if made from only one piece of foil.
3. Mix the pain colors with a few drops of dish soap to help the paint stick to the foil. Paint the statues as follows:
a. Head – gold
b. Chest and Arms – leave silver (do not paint)
c. Legs - black
d. Feet - brown

Coloring Page:

Daniel's Exile Begins

Passage:

Familiarize yourself with the following passage:

Daniel 1:1-21

Judah has been besieged by Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has issued an order that young me from the royal family and families of nobility who showed great potential be brought to his palace and trained for service to the kings. Daniel was a young man from the royal family or nobility of Israel. He was taken captive to the king’s palace along with three of his friends who were renamed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men were given the best that the king had to offer, from education to food. Daniel and his friends love God and wished to continue practicing obedience to Him. Part of this obedience included what they could and could not eat. They asked the king’s chief to feed them food that was acceptable to God. The chief agreed to a ten day test, allowing Daniel and his friends to eat their food, while the other young men at the king’s food. At the end of the ten days, Daniel and his friends looked healthier and stronger than the other young men. So, the chief took away the kings food and gave all the young men the same food as Daniel and his friends. At the end of their time of training, Daniel and his friends were found to be far superior to all the other young men and were taken into the service of the king of Babylon, where they stayed for many years.

Object Lesson:

Supplies Needed:
• A piece of candy
• A vegetable or fruit
Directions:
1. Ask each child to choose which item they would rather have, the candy or the fruit/vegetable. Perhaps divide the group according to who chose which item.
2. Explain to the children the health consequences (pros or cons) of each item.
3. Inform the children that in today’s story they will hear about a young man who had to make a similar choice that affected the rest of his life!

Memory Verse:

Daniel 1:8
But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.

Jesus Connection:

Jesus says in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Throughout our life we will be presented with many choices. For most of these choices the world around us will be going one way, leaving God’s way looking not so popular. Before these choices need to be made, we need to determine to live the words of Jesus and seek Him in all we do. In this way God will honor us and grant us the favor of those around us, just as He did with Daniel.

Songs:

Dare to be a Daniel

http://www.childrenssonglyrics.com/b/86-bible-songs/359-dare-to-be-a-daniel-lyrics.html

Dare to be a Daniel,
Dare to stand alone;
Dare to have a purpose firm,
Dare to make it known!

Standing by a purpose true,
Heading God’s command,
Honor them, the faithful few! All hail to Daniel’s Band!
Chorus
Many mighty men are lost
Daring not to stand,
Who for God had been a host
By joining Daniel’s Band!
Chorus
Many giants, great and tall,
Stalking through the land,
Headlong to the earth would fall
If met by Daniel’s Band
Chorus
Hold the Gospel banner high!
On to vict’ry grand;
Satan and his hosts defy,
And shout for Daniel’s Band!
Chourus

Games/Activities

Change-A-Name Word Game (for older kids)

Supplies needed:
• 4 pieces of paper with one of the following names on each pages:
o Belteshazzar
o Shadrach
o Meshach
o Abednego
• Pencils
Directions:
1. Remind the children the part of this story when the king of Babylon changes the names of Daniel and his friends. There new names became Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Today you will use these names to play a word game.
2. Divide the class into four groups of equal numbers (if possible). Give each team a name and see who can come up with the most new words from the name they are given. For example:
a. Belteshazzar – harsh, star, beat, test, belt, sale, share, etc.
b. Shadrach – had, dash, harsh, car, hard, has, etc.
c. Meshach – me, he, she, chase, shame, mesh, etc.
d. Abednego – be, no, go, bed, done, ago, need, gone, etc
3. Allow the children 5 minutes, then say stop. Count up the number of words from each group and declare a winner.

A New Way to Say the Same Thing

Supplies Needed:
• 10-15 words in English
• 10-15 words in another language (a direct translation of the English words)
• paper
Directions:
1. In the story, Daniel and his friends had to learn a new language, Babylonian. This game will teach children words from another language.
2. Write the English and foreign words on paper and cut the words out.
3. Spread out the words in front of the children.
4. Ask the children to work together to make matches that they think are correct.
5. After the children have finished making matches, go over the words with them to see how many they got correct
6. *For younger children make the words simple. For older children, make the words more complex, or even consider using phrases.

Crafts:

3D Apples

Supplies Needed:
• Apple template (each template has enough parts for three apples) printed on thick paper
• Colors
• Scissors
• Glue
• Seeds
Directions:
1. Give each child a section of the apple template. They should get two apple parts, one with a stem, and one with a leaf.
2. Allow the children to color their apples.
3. Cut out the apples on the outside black line. Then, cut the dotted lines, being careful not to cut past where the dotted lines end.
4. Slide the apples together where the dotted lines were cut.
5. Next, put dots of glue in the center of the apple. Place seeds on the glue. Allow time to dry.

Coloring Page: