“God Even Gave the Dream”
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
It’s one thing to interpret a dream; it’s another to have to do so without even knowing what the dream is. That’s where Daniel discovers how strong his faith really is.
Royalty and Ruin (Prophets and Kings)
Chapter 40 - Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream of World Empires
Have you ever had a dream? Did it wake you up? Were you afraid? Everyone dreams; it is part of our brain function. Most of the time, you don’t remember those dreams. In today’s story, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that he could not remember. No big deal, right? Wrong! If the king of the most powerful empire in the world has a dream that troubles him, he will want to know what it is and what it means, or people are going to die!
Supplies: Bible, paper, writing utensil(s)
Let’s go retro this week by playing and old-fashioned Bible memory game. If you look in your cupboards or in the Sabbath School room cupboards, you will probably find some Bible games. If after an exhaustive/exhausting search you don’t find any, you could Google “Bible memory games.” There are lots of options. Most of these games can be played online over Zoom or however you host your Sabbath School class. Teens actually enjoy playing them. If you have cards, you can hold them up to the camera so that they can be seen, and people can say or type their answer. Be careful that your expectations are realistic. Many kids don’t know their Bibles as well as one might think.
Lots of unusual events are happening around us in the world. Did you know that God told about many of them? He gave us a guide that showed what was going to happen in the future. By doing this, God helps us to see that the Bible is true and trustworthy.
Read Daniel 2:1-3.
1 In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; his mind was troubled and he could not sleep. 2 So the king summoned the magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers to tell him what he had dreamed. When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.”
Read Daniel 2:4-7.
4 Then the astrologers answered the king, “May the king live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
5 The king replied to the astrologers, “This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. 6 But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me.”
7 Once more they replied, “Let the king tell his servants the dream, and we will interpret it.”
Read Daniel 2:8-12.
8 Then the king answered, “I am certain that you are trying to gain time, because you realize that this is what I have firmly decided: 9 If you do not tell me the dream, there is only one penalty for you. You have conspired to tell me misleading and wicked things, hoping the situation will change. So then, tell me the dream, and I will know that you can interpret it for me.”
10 The astrologers answered the king, “There is no one on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. 11 What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among humans.”
12 This made the king so angry and furious that he ordered the execution of all the wise men of Babylon.
Read Daniel 2:13-18.
13 So the decree was issued to put the wise men to death, and men were sent to look for Daniel and his friends to put them to death.
14 When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact.
15 He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel.
16 At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
17 Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
18 He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
Read Daniel 2:24-30.
Daniel Interprets the Dream
24 Then Daniel went to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to execute the wise men of Babylon, and said to him, “Do not execute the wise men of Babylon. Take me to the king, and I will interpret his dream for him.”
25 Arioch took Daniel to the king at once and said, “I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can tell the king what his dream means.”
26 The king asked Daniel (also called Belteshazzar), “Are you able to tell me what I saw in my dream and interpret it?”
27 Daniel replied, “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28 but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you were lying in bed are these:
29 “As Your Majesty was lying there, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. 30 As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than anyone else alive, but so that Your Majesty may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind.
Read Daniel 2:31-35.
31 “Your Majesty looked, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. 32 The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, 33 its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. 35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were all broken to pieces and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Read Daniel 2:36-48.
36 “This was the dream, and now we will interpret it to the king. 37 Your Majesty, you are the king of kings. The God of heaven has given you dominion and power and might and glory; 38 in your hands he has placed all mankind and the beasts of the field and the birds in the sky. Wherever they live, he has made you ruler over them all. You are that head of gold.
In this portion of scripture Daniel spells out the future for King Nebuchadnezzar. In huge panoramic strokes Daniel tells the king what God is going to do. In the following paragraph Clifford Goldstein provides a more detailed interpretation of the statue.
“Nebuchadnezzar’s dream recorded in Daniel 2 was of a statue, world history symbolized in sculpture (Dan. 2:31-45). The common interpretation of the gold head (Babylon), the silver arms and breast (Media-Persia), the brass belly and thighs (Greece), the iron legs (pagan Rome), the iron-and-clay feet and toes (the divided nations of Europe) is not uniquely Adventist. Millions of Christians and Jews have interpreted the chapter this way for centuries, including most of the great Protestant Reformers.” (Clifford Goldstein, Adventist Review, 2008-1529-18)
The book of Daniel is a very important one in Adventist history. God continues to expand the revelation of His plans for the salvation of the world through the coming of the Messiah and also gives us glimpses into the future of the world so generations to come would not be surprised by events as they happened. God placed Daniel and his friends in positions of influence so they would be available to help a heathen king know more about the God of creation.
Many find this chapter in Daniel to be one that brings them comfort during times of crisis because God didn’t abandon His people when times were tough for them. Over the past few months life hasn’t been easy for us either, and you have probably had to do some things that you never thought you would have to.
It might even seem as if God has abandoned you, but that would go contrary to the story we read in this lesson. Not only does God care, but He places people in positions in which they can be ready to help at the right time.
One of the difficulties of life these days is that many people feel isolated. Having conversations is a great way to reconnect or chase away the doldrums of staying home. Through Facetime, Zoom, Skype, or any other video platform, connect with an adult and ask them the following questions:
