“October 31–November 6. Daniel 1–6: ‘There Is No Other God That Can Deliver,’” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: Old Testament 2022 (2021)
“October 31–November 6. Daniel 1–6,” Come, Follow Me—For Sunday School: 2022
Daniel Interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream, by Grant Romney Clawson
October 31–November 6
Daniel 1–6
“There Is No Other God That Can Deliver”
Many class members will be familiar with some of the stories in the book of Daniel. As you study and prepare to teach, seek guidance from the Spirit about how you can help class members find personal meaning from these chapters.
Record Your Impressions
Invite Sharing
It may be helpful to invite class members to share how their personal or family scripture study is going. When class members share an insight about something the Spirit taught them this week, you could ask them what they were doing that led to those insights.
Teach the Doctrine
We can trust in the Lord when our faith is tried.
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To begin a discussion about how Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego showed faith in the Lord, you could ask a few class members to summarize the challenges these four men faced, described in Daniel 1, 3, and 6. Why would it have been hard to be faithful in these situations? What situations do we face that challenge our faith? Class members could search Daniel 1:10–13; 3:15–18; 6:10, looking for how these four men responded to their challenges. How can their examples help us in our efforts to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ?
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Many of us, like Daniel and his friends, have felt pressure to compromise our standards. What are some of the sources of this pressure in our lives? To help class members learn from the example of Daniel and his friends, you could divide the class into three groups and assign each group to review one of the following chapters: Daniel 1, 3, or 6. How did the Lord bless Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego when they chose to be faithful despite the pressure they faced? Each group could share with the class what they discovered. Class members could then counsel together about how to stay faithful despite social pressure or other kinds of pressure. They could also discuss the importance of seeking good friends who will support us in our standards.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the kingdom of God on earth.
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Discussing Daniel 2 could help your class understand how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is fulfilling its destiny as the prophesied stone “cut out of the mountain” (verse 45). To begin, you could review as a class Daniel’s description and interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, found in Daniel 2:31–45. Then you could show a picture of a stone (or draw one on the board). Invite class members to share what they learn about the kingdom of God by comparing it to the descriptions of the stone in Daniel 2:34–35, 44–45. Perhaps class members might know some of the history of the Church in your area that they can share. How have we seen Daniel’s prophecies fulfilled in our individual lives?
Receiving revelation requires spiritual preparation.
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Perhaps class members would benefit from learning about how Daniel prepared himself to receive the revelation needed to describe and interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. You could begin by asking class members to review Daniel 2:1–15 and then share how they would feel if they found themselves in Daniel’s position. Invite them to search Daniel 2:16–18 to learn what Daniel did. What do we learn from Daniel 1:17 about how God prepared Daniel? What can we learn from Daniel that can help us as we seek personal revelation? What can we learn from Daniel’s words and actions after he received the Lord’s help? (see Daniel 2:20–30).
Illustration of Daniel and his friends refusing the king’s food, by Brian Call
When the outcome is uncertain, we can still choose faith.
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The experience of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego found in Daniel 3 can help your class members more fully understand what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ. You could invite class members to summarize the challenge Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego faced (see Daniel 3:1–12) and then discuss how they responded (see Daniel 3:13–18). What do we learn about faith from the response of these men? You could write on the board the phrases Our God is able to … and But if not … from verses 17–18. Class members could suggest how they might fill in the blanks with situations they might face. For example, they might suggest “Our God is able to answer all my questions” and “But if not, I will patiently trust Him.” As class members share examples, encourage them to talk about how the Savior supports and strengthens us even when we don’t know how things will turn out.
Improving Our Teaching
Use visual aids. “Art, including pictures, videos, and dramatizations, can help engage learners—especially visual learners—and make scriptural accounts more memorable” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 22).