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Daniel Chapter Four
Below are your questions for our Bible study of Daniel chapter four.
In our last study of Daniel chapter 3, we imagined how the scene must've been quite a spectacle with the hundreds of people gathered around the colossal glimmering gold statue. We pictured the furnace off to the side billowing smoke and waiting for those who would not worship the statue as the king commanded.
We observed that the absence of Daniel was peculiar but that God — the main character of the story — was still present. In fact, God is more present in chapter three than he was in the previous chapters and perhaps any chapter in Daniel. The idea that someone who looked “like the son of the gods” was seen walking around in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that someone could rescued them from that fire, that someone could only have been God or his messenger (his angel). God was present in a very special way as the main character in chapter three.
In our last lesson, we also talked about how Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego must have been having a good time with God or his angel in the furnace. We noted they had to be called out. Only then would the come out unharmed. And then they could bring glory to their God who rescued them — their very lives being a testimony to the power and grace of God.
And finally, in our last lesson, we talked about how we instinctively know - either during the course of our lives or perhaps if we understand that we’re about to die — we instinctively know, that the only way we can ever escape death, our only hope for life is in God himself. We realize this as Christians easily. Sadly, some never share our understanding and will suffer the penalty of their sin. But as Christians, we can help them by sharing the remedy and tell them about how God can rescue them from death and hopelessness, just as he did for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Now let's study Daniel chapter four.
Day One
1. Wow — isn’t this an interesting chapter of the Bible? What do you see as unusual here in Daniel chapter four?
2. If we consider this chapter a proclamation by King Nebuchadnezzar, who's the audience and what’s the purpose of the proclamation?
King Nebuchadnezzar:
"I am pleased to tell you about the miracles and wonders the Most High God has done for me."
Daniel 4:2
2020. Christian Standard Bible. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
Day Two
1. So what were the signs and wonders the king must have witnessed at the this point in his life that he mentions in verse two?
2. In the context of the story, what was the sin Daniel encouraged King Nebuchadnezzar to turn from in verse 27?
Day Three
The disease which the king was struck with is called “Lycanthropy” (lit., wolf-man). This is where we get the idea of a werewolf and although the disease is rare, it has been observed as recently as 1946. So, why did Nebuchadnezzar become (or think he was) a werewolf?
Day Four
1. From the following verses, what does King Nebuchadnezzar say about God?
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2. So what does this survey we just did tell us about King Nebuchadnezzar?
Day Five
What’s the most remarkable thing to you about this story of Daniel chapter 4?
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