The Story of Young Daniel

any men and women of the Bible areolder people. To someone your age, they

may, at times, seem distant and hard to imagine.Of course, the key to truly understanding whatGod’s servants went through is to be able to“ride in the saddle”—to try to read a story as ifyou are experiencing it along with them.

Well, the Bible also records events and livesof young people. Pretty soon, if you have notalready, you will become a teenager. Did youknow that there are teenagers in the Bible whoselife stories have been recorded for all time?

In this lesson, we will study one young man,the tests and trials he went through, and themany lessons we can learn from his example.

Because of his age, you should be able torelate to this young person. We will take time toconsider some situations you may face thatcould be similar to what he experienced.

Young Men Chosen

Our story begins in Jerusalem, in the third yearof the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah. At thistime, Jehoiakim was paying tribute to the kingof Egypt.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and hisarmy came to Jerusalem and surrounded it. Godallowed the city to be taken by Nebuchadnezzar,who also took some of the rare and special items

of Jerusalem back to Shinar, where his god waslocated. Just like any other leader of the nationsnear Judah or Israel, he worshipped gods madefrom metal, stone or wood. We will come tolearn that he, through the example of someyoung men, learned about the true God of theBible—the God who made every star andgalaxy that you can see in the night sky.

(Remember that God promised that Judahwould be taken into captivity because of its idol-atry and Sabbath breaking. As always, God’swords came true.)

Nebuchadnezzar had a group of men aroundhim, who were ministers of state. Ashpenaz wasthe master of these men. One day,Nebuchadnezzar asked Ashpenaz to bring cer-tain young Jews to his court to be trained.Asepenaz had to pick young men who werewell educated and had knowledge and wisdom.He was looking for men who had enough pro-priety and decorum to be able to live amongroyalty in the King’s palace. Ashpenaz had thetask of finding exceptional young men (Daniel1:3-4).

Among the Jews, Ashpenaz found Daniel,Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. These youngmen continued to obey God, even though theirnation was taken captive. Of course, in a foreigncountry, these young men would be pressuredinto disobeying the one true God. We will learn

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The Story ofYoung Daniel

1 CHILDREN’S BIBLE LESSONIllustrations by Paula Rondeau

that they did not give in—that they continued toworship the God of the Bible. In the same way,you will be pressured by people in the world todisobey God. Read the stories of these fouryoung men when you have to deal with certainpressures or difficulties. They are inspiringexamples of strength.

The four young men chosen were givenBabylonian names to use while in KingNebuchadnezzar’s service. Daniel was given thename Belteshazzar. Hananiah was given thename Shadrach. Mishael was named Meshach.And Azariah was given the name Abednego(Daniel 1:7).

King Nebuchadnezzar wanted these youngmen to be specially trained. He even gave themfood from his own table. However, the king didnot follow the dietary laws of God. Remember,he had his own god and did not live according tothe law of Almighty God. The king’s diet wouldhave included unclean meat, such as pork.

The young men knew the laws of clean andunclean meat, found in Leviticus 11 andDeuteronomy 14. And, of course, they knewthat they must obey God rather than men—evenif the man was a powerful king. Daniel deter-mined that he, under any circumstances, wouldnot eat the king’s meat. Would you have thesame determination to always obey God—evenunder the threat of possible severe and unde-served punishment?

Daniel requested Melzar, the man thatAsepenaz had put in charge of the four youngmen, to come to him. He said to him, “I cannoteat of the king’s meat. I will prove to you thateating our diet will make us much healthier! Forten days, we will eat nothing but garden produceand drink only water. Then, compare us to thosewho are eating the king’s diet.” Daniel under-stood that he and his three friends would behealthier than the other young men.

Because Daniel obeyed God, God broughtfavor to him. Melzar liked young Daniel. WhileMelzar didn’t think the diet would work, heagreed to this ten-day experiment. Of course,after these ten days, the four young Jews weremuch healthier than those who had eaten the

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king’s meat. Melzar was pleasantly surprised.He agreed to let them eat what they wanted, fol-lowing the laws that God had set out for them.

The training program lasted three years forthese four young men. During that time, Godcontinued to give them much knowledge and wis-dom. God also gave Daniel the ability to under-stand all types of visions and dreams. By the endof the training program, the king talked with themand felt that they were wiser then all the otheradvisors and ministers of state that he had in hiscourt. In fact, he felt they were ten times betterthan all the other so-called wise men—the magi-cians and astrologers. These were the type of menthat kings of other nations relied upon.Remember that Pharaoh had magicians as well.

The young Jews had God on their side, andHe greatly blessed them. Because the kingunderstood that the young men were wise, hegave them important positions in theBabylonian government.

The King Dreams

One night, many months later, KingNebuchadnezzar dreamed a dream. He was sodisturbed by the dream that he could no longersleep that night. But, he also forgot the dream!

Immediately, he commanded that all themagicians, astrologers and sorcerers be sum-moned to come before him. When they weregathered, he told them “I have dreamed a dreamthat has greatly troubled me, but I cannotremember it. Tell me what the dream is and whatit means!” The king knew that if they were ableto tell him the dream, they would also be able togive him the correct meaning of it.

But these men were not led by God. Theydid not have the power to discern what the king

had dreamed. They knew they could not do it, sothey protested, “O great King, please tell us thedream, and we will show you the interpreta-tion!”

“I have forgotten it,” he retorted. “You musttell me the dream and what it means. If you can-not, you will be cut to pieces, and I will destroyyour homes!”

Again, the supposed wise men begged to betold the dream. They told the king, “No man onearth can tell you this. It is impossible!”

The king was so furious with the wise menthat he commanded them all to be killed. Thisdecree went forth throughout the kingdom. Asadvisors to the king, it also included that Danieland his friends be killed. When Daniel heard whathad happened, he told the king’s guard, Arioch,“Why has the king been so hasty in his decision?”

Daniel immediately requested to comebefore the king. He asked the king to give himsome time. He knew that with the power of Godbehind him, he would be able to show the kinghis dream and give him the correct interpreta-tion. He also went to his three friends and askedthem to pray that God intervene on their behalfand reveal the dream to Daniel.

These four young men prayed to God, askingHim to show them the dream so that they wouldnot perish. God heard them and revealed thedream to Daniel in a night vision.

Turn to Daniel 2:20-23 to find out Daniel’sresponse, and fill in the blanks: Daniel answeredand said: ‘___________ be the name of God for-ever and ever, For __________ and __________are His. And He __________ the __________and the ____________; He ______________________ and __________ up __________;He gives __________ to the __________ and_______________ to those who have

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________________. He ____________________ and __________ things; He__________ what is in the __________, And__________ dwells with Him. I __________ Youand __________ You, O God of my fathers; Youhave given me __________ and __________,And have now made known to me what we askedof You, For You have made known to us theking’s demand.”

What is the lesson from this passage? (Hint:It still very much applies to you today.)________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Daniel went to Arioch, and said, “I have theanswer that the king is looking for. Please bringme before the king and I will show tell him theinterpretation.” Arioch quickly brought Danielbefore Nebuchadnezzar.

The king asked, “Can you tell me the dreamand what it means?”

Daniel responded, “No man on earth canreveal secrets such as you are asking. No wiseman, astrologer or magician can give you theanswer. But,” Daniel exclaimed, “God in heav-en reveals secrets, and He has made it knownto you, king Nebuchadnezzar. God has madeknown to me your dream and its interpreta-tion.”

Daniel now had the king’s full attention.“Please continue,” he said.

Daniel described the dream to the king, “Yousaw a great image. This image had a head ofgold, and its breast and arms were silver. Hisbelly and thighs were made of brass. The legswere iron, and his feet were part iron and part

clay. Then,” Daniel continued, “You saw a stonehit the feet of the image and the stone broke it topieces. These pieces blew to the wind. The stonethat hit the image became a great mountain andfilled the whole earth.”

Then, Daniel revealed the meaning of thedream, “You, king, are the head of gold. God hasgiven you a kingdom with power, strength andglory. Another kingdom will rise after you. That

kingdom is pictured by the silver. The otherparts of the image are other kingdoms that willrise after the silver. The stone that crushed theother kingdoms is God’s kingdom. The greatGod of the universe has told you,

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Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the future.The dream will come true!”

Nebuchadnezzar then fell on his face beforeDaniel, and said, “Your God is God of gods, andthe Lord of kings.” The king then gave Daniel animportant position in Babylon—he made himone of his chief officials. He also gave Shadrach,Meshach and Abednego important positions.

The Fiery Furnace

While the king was impressed with what Danielhad told him, he did not stop worshipping his owngods. He formed a very large image made of goldand was most proud of this idol. He wanted all theofficials of his kingdom to bow down to it.

Nebuchadnezzar called all the governors, cap-tains, judges, treasurers and all the important peo-ple of the land. He wanted a special ceremony forworship of this image. He commanded that every-one must bow down to this idol when music isheard. Those who did not bow down would becast into a fiery furnace.

Some officials knew that the Jews would notbow down to such an image. They went to theking and told him that Shadrach, Meshach andAbednego would not bow down. The king wasfurious upon hearing the news. He called for thethree young men.

He asked in a near rage, “It is true that youthree will not bow down to the image? Will younot serve my gods? Know you not that I said thatany who disobeyed my command would bethrown into a fiery furnace?”

They respectfully answered the king, saying,“Our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver usfrom this fiery furnace. But even if He decides notto, you must know, king, that we will not serveyour gods. We will not worship your goldenimages!”

This response angered Nebuchadnezzarbeyond words! He yelled, “Heat the furnaceseven times more and throw these men into it!”

The king had some of the mighty men in hisarmy bind the three young men and cast theminto the fiery furnace. However, the furnace wasso hot that the fire actually killed the men whobrought Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to thefurnace!

But then an amazing thing happened.Nebuchadnezzar looked into the furnace andsaw four men standing amidst the flames!“Didn’t we cast only three in the fire?”, he askedhis counselors. These responded that that wasindeed the case.

The fourth figure in the furnace was anangel sent by God to deliver the three youngmen. Because they obeyed God and would notbow their knee to a false god, God protectedthem and delivered them. While angels do notnecessarily intervene as physical beings likethis very often, God is watching over you andmaking sure that you are safe. He will alsohelp and deliver you in various ways if you setyour heart to obey Him. He may also havedelivered you in the past in ways you might notbe aware.

The king then told the three young men tocome out of the furnace. He was again remindedthat the Jews served a God that is alive—the trueGod of the universe. The three men’s coats werenot harmed, none had a single hair singed, andthey did not even smell like smoke. What a mira-cle for all the supposed wise men of Babylon tosee with their very own eyes!

The king made a decree: “Every people,nation and language, which speak anythingagainst the God of Shadrach, Meshach, andAbednego shall be cut in pieces and their homesshall be destroyed.”

The Second Dream

Even though Nebuchadnezzar experienced sev-eral events in which he was shown the true Godand admitted His existence, he still was a veryproud person. He thought that he was great andthat he had much power. He did not realize howtruly small he was compared to the God of theuniverse. This pride was going to cause muchtrouble is his life.

One day, the king had another dream. Hetold the dream to the magicians, astrologers andother “wise men,” and none of them were ableto tell him what the dream meant.

Then, Daniel came to the king and the kingtold Daniel his dream. The king, in his dream,saw a large tree. It was a tree so big that itreached far into the sky and provided food andshelter for many animals. But then a being fromheaven came down and had the tree choppeddown, leaving only a stump. The being fromheaven said, “Let him graze with the beasts onthe grass…Let his heart be changed from aman’s, and let a beast’s heart be given unto him;and let seven times pass over him.” The beingcontinued, “This will be done so that everyonewill know who is God—who truly rules in thekingdoms of men, and gives power to whomev-er He wants” (Daniel 4:13-17).

Daniel heard the explanation, and he knewimmediately what the dream meant. He wastroubled and did not tell the meaning to the kingright away. But the king insisted that Daniel tellhim what it meant.

Daniel interpreted the dream: “The giant treethat you saw is you, king! You and your king-dom have grown very strong. However, God hasordered that your tree be cut down. This meansthat God will take away your power and author-

ity; for seven years, you will live like a wildman, eating the grass of the fields like an ox.”“But,” Daniel continued, “If you stop sinningand show mercy to the poor, you may lengthenthe time before God takes your position away.”

Sadly, the king did not change his ways. Hedid not humble himself and admit that it wasGod who put him in authority.

One day, he was walking in his palace andexclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon that Ihave built for the house of the kingdom by themight of my power, and for the honor of mymajesty?”

At that very moment, a voice from heavensaid, “O king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spo-ken. The kingdom is departed from you. Youwill learn that it is God who is in charge of whorules the kingdoms of men” (Daniel 4:31-32).

Within one hour, God’s words came true.Nebuchadnezzar was taken away from men andlived like an animal, eating grass. His hair grewlong, and his nails became so long that theylooked like claws.

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After seven years, as God had said, the kingregained his sanity. The king was humbled andlearned a great lesson. Turn to Daniel 4:34-37 tolearn what he found out: “And at the end of thetime I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heav-en, and my understanding returned to me; and Iblessed the Most High and __________ and__________ Him who lives __________: For Hisdominion is an _____________ _____________,And His kingdom is from generation to genera-tion. All the _______________ of the earth are__________ as __________; He does accordingto His will in the army of heaven and among theinhabitants of the earth. No one can __________His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have Youdone?’...Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, __________and __________ and __________ the King ofheaven, all of whose works are __________, andHis ways justice. And those who walk in__________ He is able to _____ ________.”

Remember the lesson of this king who wasgreat by human standards. There are many peo-ple in society today, such as famous athletes andmovies stars, who think highly of themselvesand their accomplishments. Never forgetNebuchadnezzar’s words: “Those who walk inpride God is able to abase.”

A New King

After Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom of Babylonwas led by a man named Belshazzar. This manwas very evil.

One day, the king, Belshazzar, made a greatfeast and invited many of his state officials. Theking commanded that the gold and silver vesselsthat Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the templein Jerusalem be used at his feast. The king, theprinces, and their wives and concubines used

these very precious items to drink their wine. Asthey drank, they praised their false gods made ofmetal, wood and stone.

Within an hour, the fingers of a man’s handsuddenly appeared and began writing on a wallin the hall where they were feasting. The kingsaw the part of the hand that wrote.Immediately, he became troubled and fright-ened. He had never seen such a thing. The fingerwrote, “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.”

The king called for all the wise men to bebrought forth to interpret the writing. He prom-ised that whoever revealed the meaning wouldbe given many possessions. However, no onecould figure it out. But the queen rememberedDaniel, who had since lost his high positionafter the death of Nebuchadnezzar. She told theking that he was able to interpret dreams.

Daniel was brought before the king and wasasked what the writing meant. The king alsooffered him gifts, but Daniel refused. Danielthen explained to the king the writing on thewall: “The king before, Nebuchadnezzar, wasgiven a very powerful kingdom, full of glory.But his heart was lifted up with pride, and Godabased him until the king knew who ruled thekingdoms of men. You, Belshazzar, have alsonot humbled your heart, even when you knewwhat happened to Nebuchadnezzar. You havelifted yourself up so much that you have takenthe vessels of God’s temple, drunk out of them,and praised your false gods. Therefore, the writ-ing means that your kingdom will end soon.Your enemies are at the gates of the city as Ispeak. Your kingdom will be given to the Medesand the Persians.” The king and his guests wereshocked!

That very night, the writing came true. TheMedes and the Persians took over Babylon andBelshazzar was killed.

The Lion’s Den

Darius the Mede took control of the Babyloniankingdom. He put 120 men in high position tohelp govern the kingdom. Then, he put men incharge of the 120, and Daniel was one of them.Darius liked Daniel very much. He noticed thatDaniel was different from others.

Of course, the other princes and rulers werejealous of the attention that Daniel received.They tried to find faultwith him, to accusehim, but they couldfind nothing becauseDaniel was an out-standing citizen. Thesame must be true forus today. We should bea good example tothose in the world.

The men who weretrying to accuse Danielknew that the only waythey could get him intotrouble was if he wascommanded to dosomething that wentagainst God’s laws.Remember, Danielknew—and these menknew—that he mustobey God rather thanmen.

Full of flattery,these men went to KingDarius. They said, “Allyour wise men haveconsulted together, and

we feel that you should make a decree that noone, in the next thirty days, shall ask a petitionof anyone but you, king. Sign this decree inwriting, according to the law of the Medes andPersians, which changes not.”

The king agreed to this counsel that hereceived.

The men knew that Daniel would pray (aska petition) of God many times daily throughoutthe next thirty days. Daniel heard of thedecree, but it did not stop him from praying to

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God three times a day. He prayed to God, giv-ing thanks for all that had been done for himand given to him.

Through a window, the men saw Danielpraying in his dwelling. They immediatelywent to the king and said, “Have you notsigned a decree that no one can ask a petitionof any god or man in the next thirty days, withthe exception of you?” Of course, the kingagreed that this was true. “Well,” the men said,“we have found Daniel praying to his God. Hehas no regard for your decree and your laws.”

Darius was greatly troubled when he heardthis, for he liked Daniel very much. He knewthat the law could not be changed and thatDaniel would have to be punished. However,from that moment, he began to think how hecould help his friend.

The men brought Daniel forth and cast himinto a den of lions. The king was there andcalled out to Daniel, “May your God, whomyou serve continually, deliver you, Daniel!” Aboulder was brought to cover the den.

That evening, the king was in his palaceand was greatly upset for what had happened.He was so distraught that he did not eat or sleepthe entire night. The next morning he rose earlyand went to the den of lions. He cried out,“Daniel, has your God delivered you?”

Daniel responded, “Yes, king, God hasdelivered me. He sent an angel and has shut themouths of the lions, and they have not hurtme.”

The king was delighted! His friend had sur-vived. Therefore, Daniel was brought out of thelion’s den. There was not a scratch on himbecause he believed and obeyed God.

The king commanded that those who hadframed Daniel be thrown into the lion’s den

themselves. He then sent a decree throughoutthe entire kingdom saying (turn to Daniel 6:26)“...that in every dominion of my kingdom menmust __________ and __________ before the__________ of __________. For He is the__________ God, and ______________ forev-er; His kingdom is the one which ____________________ be __________, And His domin-ion shall __________ to the __________.

Daniel Receives Visions

There were occasions when God showedDaniel visions, which were prophecies for thefuture (Daniel 7:1; 8:1-2). God had Danielrecord these visions in the Bible so that Hisservants could understand how prophecywould unfold.

God’s prophetic messages in the Bible areoften given in symbols. A symbol is simplysomething that represents something else. Forexample, a lion is a symbol of courage.Because these prophetic messages are in sym-bols, we must be careful not to misunderstandwhat they mean. God reveals the meaning ofthese symbols through His Word—the Bible.

During the reign of Belshazzar, Danielreceived a vision. He saw four great beasts.The first was like a lion and had eagle’s wings.The second was like a bear. The third was likea leopard, but had four wings on its back. Thefourth was a very dreadful and terrible beast; ithad great iron teeth and ten horns. There wasalso another little horn that came up among theten horns.

Of course, these beasts troubled Daniel. ButGod told him what his dreams meant. Thebeasts represent four kingdoms that wouldarise at different times in the centuries after

Daniel’s life. God also added that eventuallyHis saints would rule with Him in His king-dom, which will last forever. That time is stillahead of us.

We know that these four kingdoms werealso mentioned in Daniel 2, where the Bibledescribes the statue of a man made of differentmetals. The first kingdom, or beast, was theBabylonian Empire. The second beast was thePersian Empire, the third was the Greco-Macedonian Empire, and the fourth was theRoman Empire. These were successive world-ruling empires. The ten horns of the fourthbeast represent ten successive kings that wouldarise from the Roman Empire.

But what does the “little horn” symbolize?God explained that this horn would rise up andtrouble His people throughout the centuries.When looking back at history, we understandthis to be the universal false church that haspersecuted God’s people for thousands ofyears.

The end of the explanation was that God’skingdom is going to come to the earth. This isthe good news, or “gospel,” that God’s Churchannounces to the world. The job that theChurch has—announcing this good news—iscalled the “work of God.” God’s kingdom willcome soon, with Jesus Christ leading thisworld-ruling government. People on earth willfinally find true happiness, peace and successin life.

Being in God’s Church, you are part of asmall group of people that will help lead thatwonderful kingdom of God!

In Daniel 8, Daniel recorded anothervision. It was a prophecy that has since takenplace. Daniel 11 records the longest prophecyin the Bible. It is a very long chapter and

records many events that would happen inmankind’s history. At the time Daniel wrotethem down, they had not yet occurred. Theyhave now occurred, and we can look back andsee this as proof that God’s Word is true. Youmay want to look at that chapter with your par-ents, who can explain some of the differentevents that happened. (Our booklet BIBLEAUTHORITY...can it be proven? explains allof these events.)

Time of the End

We now come to the last chapter in the book ofDaniel. Turn to Daniel 12:4 and write out thescripture: _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

We are now living in what the Bible callsthe “time of the end.” God said that theprophecies mentioned in Daniel would not beunderstood until our time. Mr. Herbert W.Armstrong, the leader of the Church in the 20thcentury, was given the understanding ofprophecy by God.

The Restored Church of God continues toteach that understanding of prophecy. Ourbooklets REVELATION – Explained at Last!and Who or What is the BEAST of Revelation?explain the prophecies that will soon be ful-filled. You may also want to study these book-lets with your parents to understand what iscoming.

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BIBLE MEMORY:

Published by The Restored Church of God.Printed in the USA; All Rights ReservedCopyright © 2005

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Daniel 2:20-30

Daniel 2:23: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Character Trait: _________________

Daniel 2:30: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Character Trait: _________________

Daniel 6:4: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Character Trait: _________________

Daniel 6:10: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Character Trait: _________________

The life of Daniel is a great example for every young person—including you. Turn to the fol-lowing scriptures and write them out.Then, try to determine what character trait this verse por-trays. Never forget the lessons of Daniel, and always be sure to follow the example he set.