Prepare your mind and heart to learn. Have faith that the Lord understands your needs and wants to bless you. The Spirit can help you know how to apply the gospel principles you discover.
Begin your study with prayer.
How can you better recognize ways the Lord has blessed you?
While serving in the First Presidency, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared an experience that caused him to wonder about some of the promised blessings of the gospel. What did President Uchtdorf come to realize over time? You can read the text for this video here: “Continue in Patience,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2010, 58.
Imagine that while you are at a social gathering away from home, a friend invites you to do something that is contrary to the Word of Wisdom. How would you respond?
As you study today’s lesson, look for principles that can help you obey the Lord despite being pressured to disobey Him.
Daniel and His Friends
In Daniel 1:1–7 we learn that in approximately 606 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, attacked Jerusalem and took a select group of Jews back to Babylon (see 2 Kings 24:13–14). He commanded an official in his palace to take some of the Israelite youth who were “well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom” (Daniel 1:4) and train them for service in his household. Among these youth were four young men named Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. After they arrived in Babylon, their names were changed to Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, respectively. (See Daniel 1:6–7.)
Watch the following video, which depicts the account given in Daniel 1:1–14. After watching the video, read Daniel 1:15–20 to learn what happened next.
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego learned that Nebuchadnezzar would provide them and the other chosen youth with an education and with meat and wine for three years, after which time they would meet the king (see Daniel 1:4–5).
Read Daniel 1:8, 11–20, looking for what happened to Daniel and his friends.
Quiz 1
According to verse 8, Daniel knew in his heart that eating the meat and drinking the wine provided by the king would
make him strong and healthy.
make him sick.
defile him.
Daniel ate the meat even though he knew he shouldn’t.
True
False
According to verse 12, Daniel suggested that he and his friends be tested by
not eating for seven days.
eating pulse (foods made of seeds, grains, lentils, and so on) and drinking water for ten days.
running three days a week for a month.
What blessings from the Lord did Daniel and his friends receive because they observed the dietary restrictions of the law of Moses? (See verse 17.) Select all answers that are correct.
From the account in Daniel 1:1–20, we can identify the following principle: If we keep the Lord’s laws, then He will bless us physically and spiritually according to His timing. You may want to write this principle in your scriptures.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 89:5, 7–17 or “Physical and Emotional Health” in For the Strength of Youth (booklet, 2011), 25–27, looking for what the Lord has commanded in our day regarding what we should and should not take into our bodies. Consider marking what you discover.
The Word of Wisdom
Read the following statement by President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, looking for what he taught about the purposes of the Word of Wisdom:
Image
Boyd K. Packer
“I have come to know … that a fundamental purpose of the Word of Wisdom has to do with revelation. …
“If someone ‘under the influence’ can hardly listen to plain talk, how can they respond to spiritual promptings that touch their most delicate feelings?
“As valuable as the Word of Wisdom is as a law of health, it may be much more valuable to you spiritually than it is physically” (Boyd K. Packer, “Prayers and Answers,” Ensign, Nov. 1979, 20).
1. Answer the following questions:
In what ways might the Word of Wisdom be much more valuable to you spiritually than it is physically?
What are some of the physical and spiritual blessings you have experienced by keeping the Lord’s law of health? Or how have you seen others blessed by keeping this law?
Just as Daniel “purposed in his heart” (verse 8) to always obey the Lord, what commitments will you make now that will help you to always qualify for the blessings of obeying the Word of Wisdom?
From Daniel 2:1–13 we learn that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him. The king wanted a true interpretation of the dream so he asked his wise men to interpret his dream without him describing it to them. If they could tell him the dream, he could also trust their interpretation of it. The wise men protested and said that no one could interpret the dream without the king describing it. In anger, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the deaths of all the wise men in Babylon, including Daniel and his friends.
Read Daniel 2:14–19, looking for Daniel’s response when he heard about King Nebuchadnezzar’s decree.
In Daniel 2:20–31 we read that Daniel praised the Lord and expressed gratitude to Him for revealing to Daniel the king’s dream and its interpretation. This revelation allowed Daniel, his friends, and the other wise men in Babylon to escape the king’s decree. Daniel told the king that through his dream God was making known what would happen “in the latter days” (verse 28). Daniel said that in the dream, the king had seen “a great image” (verse 31).
Read Daniel 2:32–35, looking for the description of the image and what happened to the image.
Quiz 2
Match the part of the image with the material it was made of.
Head
Brass
Breast and arms
Gold
Belly and thighs
Iron and clay
Legs
Silver
Feet
Iron
According to verse 34, the image’s feet were broken in pieces by a
sword.
cannonball.
stone.
According to verse 35, the whole image broke into pieces and blew away.
Daniel 2:36–45 records that Daniel revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar the interpretation of his dream. Consider recording each of the explanations in your scriptures next to the corresponding verses.
Daniel said that the head of the image represented Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire (see verses 37–38). The other sections of the image represented kingdoms that rose after Babylon fell. The image’s breast and arms made of silver represented the empire of the Medes and Persians (see verse 39). The belly and thighs of brass represented the Macedonian (Greek) Empire (see verse 39). The image’s legs of iron represented the Roman Empire (see verse 40). (See Spencer W. Kimball, “The Stone Cut without Hands,” Ensign, May 1976, 8.)
Daniel revealed that the toes of the image represented both strong and weak kingdoms (verses 41–43). These represented the many kingdoms that arose after the fall of the Roman Empire (see Spencer W. Kimball, “The Stone Cut without Hands,” 8). The time when these kingdoms would be on the earth includes the latter days (see verse 44, footnote a).
The “stone … cut out of the mountain without hands” (verse 45; see also verses 34, 35) represents the kingdom of God on the earth, or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Consider writing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints next to Daniel 2:44–45.
The phrase “cut out of the mountain without hands” (verse 45) symbolizes that this kingdom was established by God, not by humans.
Doctrine and Covenants 65 is a revelation that refers to this dream of King Nebuchadnezzar and helps explain the meaning of Daniel’s prophecy.
Read Doctrine and Covenants 65:2, looking for what this prophecy teaches us will happen to the Church in the latter days.
From Daniel’s prophecy we can learn that the Lord established His Church—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—and it will continue to grow until it fills the whole earth.
Consider watching the video “The Gospel Shall Roll Forth” (2:47) to see a representation of Daniel’s prophecy being fulfilled. This video is available on LDS.org.
Consider watching the video “The Gospel Shall Roll Forth” (2:47) to see a representation of Daniel’s prophecy being fulfilled. This video is available on LDS.org.
2. Think carefully about the following questions, and answer at least two of them:
Why is it important for you to understand that the Church was established by God and not by humans?
What experiences have helped you come to know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s kingdom on earth?
What are some things you can do to help the Church grow and fill the earth?
How might this account have been different if Daniel and his friends had given in to pressure and partaken of the king’s meat and wine? (See Daniel 1:5.)
You will be blessed as you continue to commit to live the Lord’s laws. As a committed member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you will also be able to help the Church reach its destiny of filling the whole earth.
