As young boys, Daniel and his friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were carried captive from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. They were selected as “well favored and skillful” children to serve in the King’s court.
READ Daniel 1:5, 8
This food and wine did not violate the Jewish dietary
code, so why might the child Daniel be defiled by eating it?
The King’s food was
consecrated to the Babylonian deities – so eating it was like taking a
sacrament or worshiping those idols.
This is not a “word of wisdom”
issue, as wine does not “defile” you.
Daniel asks to be able to
perform a test and eat only legumes and vegetables for 10 days, to prove that
he could be healthy without eating the King’s food – and the Lord supports him
in his dedication.
READ Daniel 1:17, 20
What blessings did God give them for their faithfulness
to Him?
Knowledge and skill in
learning.
Understanding of visions and
dreams.
The Fiery Furnace
The King creates a large gold
idol and commands his court to come worship it at its dedication. When the music played, everyone was to fall
down and worship the idol or be cast into a fiery furnace.
READ Daniel 3:12-18
What does the King’s statement “who is that God that
can deliver you out of my hands” imply?
The King is an atheist – he
doesn’t believe in Gods, just in his own power.
The idol is really him – by
worshipping the idol, the people are worshipping the king.
Nebuchadnezzar is the equivalent of the President of
the USA or China or Russia today, so why are the 3 young men “not careful to
answer” the King?
They do not care about public
opinion or finding favor in the eyes of the world – they are not politically correct.
They do not fear men – even
the most powerful man in the world.
They don’t even fear death.
Why are they so bold in their statement: either our God
will save us or if He chooses not to, we will die rather than serve your
“gods”?
They KNOW the God in whom they
have trusted (see 2 Nephi 4:19-20).
Death holds no fear to those
who know that the path they are pursuing is in accordance with the will of God
(see LoF 6:3).
They are valiant in the
testimony of Jesus (Jehovah) which they have received.
READ LoF 6:3-5
Why is “belief and supposition” not enough in a
situation like this?
They would grow “weary in
their minds and faint” – facing death would introduce too much doubt in their
minds and they would not be able to exercise enough faith to be saved (faith
and doubt are mutually exclusive).
What is the lesson for us?
If you’re ever about to be
thrown into a fiery furnace for not worshipping the gods of this world and you
have not already received an actual knowledge that the course you are pursuing is
according to the will of the living God – IT WILL BE TOO LATE AT THAT POINT. It is the Parable of the Ten Virgins.
You CAN KNOW this from God
with an “actual knowledge”.
You can’t be too young to find
out – it is not reserved for the mature.
It is not tied to status or
callings – these were young men working in the government of a foreign power,
not “prophets” or priests back at the Temple in Jerusalem.
You never know when this
knowledge will be absolutely necessary to your physical wellbeing and eternal
salvation.
READ Daniel 3:22-28
Why did the 3 “fall down” into the midst of the fire
after their guards had already been burned up trying to throw them into the
flames?
They were worshipping the God
they saw in the fire.
They had been protected from
the flames and continued to be.
What does it mean that the “form of the fourth man” was
“like the Son of God”?
He was brighter and more fiery
than the flames that surrounded Him or the other 3 figures and the glory that
surrounded them.
Why did the 3 have no “smell of fire” about them?
It was heavenly glory not
mortal fire.
Heavenly glory looks like fire
to our eyes - Joseph Smith, in the 1840 account of the First Vision wrote that
he “expected to have seen the leaves and boughs of the trees consumed, as soon as
the light came in contact with them; but perceiving that it did not produce
that effect, he was encouraged with hope of being able to endure its presence”
and in 1835 said “a personage appeared in the midst of this pillar of flame,
which was spread all around and yet nothing consumed” and 1943, “directly I saw
a light, and then a glorious personage in the light, and then another
personage.”
The Lion’s Den
Years later, Babylon has been
defeated by Persia and King Darius is on the throne…
READ Daniel 6:3-5
Since Daniel’s performance at work was so strong, what
was the only way these worldly men could destroy him?
By putting him in a dilemma
where his belief-based behavior would offend the world or be deemed illegal.
They were seeking to “cast out
the righteous” by changing the laws that they might “more easily… do according
to their own wills” (see Helaman 7:4-5).
Today this can be done via
social media’s “cancel culture.”
READ Daniel 6:7, 10
What was the nature of the law they changed to ensnare
Daniel?
No one could talk to God
directly – they had to go through the King or leader.
It placed the leader/King in
the role of “god” to his people – or at least a mediator between God and man
(which is a role only a god can have – i.e. Christ).
It is the position that all
priestly men who desire to control others with religion seek to create for
themselves.
READ Daniel 6:14-23
Why did Daniel pray with his windows open after he knew
about the decree?
He is VALIANT in the testimony
of Jesus.
He is not afraid of public
opinion or unrighteous laws or death.
He has faith as his friends SM&A:
“He will deliver (me)… but if not…” I will continue to worship Him and Him
alone.
Why was the King not able to deliver Daniel?
He had painted himself into a
corner, as the law said that the king could not change a decree after it was
made.
He would cease to be the King,
which he lacked the fortitude to do.
Who was able to deliver Daniel?
The “living” God who Daniel
“served continually” in “innocence” (repentance/forgiveness) and faith (as
manifest in the king’s statement “he will deliver thee”).
How was Daniel delivered?
God sent a true messenger from
His presence – a “lion whisperer”.
This teaches us how heaven
works when it interacts with mankind on earth – it is not “fairy dust” or
“inspiring the lion not to attack” – even if we cannot see what is really going
on (there is more going on than we can/will see); God still abides by the
natural laws of the universe.
What is the symbolism in this story?
Christ’s wrongful conviction
by evil men.
A leader who did not agree but
could not deliver Him.
A stone to cover the “place of
death”.
A believer coming “very early
in the morning”.
Salvation based on the
innocence of the one accused.
Walking out of the “place of
death” alive.
Esther
We are all acquainted with the
story of Esther – how she saved her people, the Jews, by risking her life by
coming to ask a favor of the King of Persia, her husband, and admitting to
being a Jew herself.
READ Esther 1:10-12, 17-18, 20 and D&C 121:41-42, 46
How does the world’s way of treating women compare and
contrast with the Lord’s way?
World’s way is that men
dominate women and require them, using compulsory means, to do the man’s own
will.
The Lord’s way is that a man
seeks to influence a woman by persuasion (not duress or compulsion),
long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness and pure
knowledge (Holy Spirit = the mind of God = pure intelligence).
What did the Father gain by marrying the Goddess – did
she bring anything to the relationship that He did not already have?
He could not create life
without Her.
He had knowledge but lacked
wisdom without her.
READ Esther 3:2
Why does Mordecai refuse to bow or reverence a man?
He worships the living God,
not a mortal man – he is not an “idol” worshiper.
He does not fear what men can
do to him.
Paying flattering honor to
another man will only cause that man to become prideful, which will damn him
unless he repents.
The King desires to reward one
of his loyal subjects and asks Haman, his Grand Vizier, what he should do. Haman, thinking the king is set to reward
him, asks for several audaciously extravagant gifts, including the King’s own
clothes, crown and horse.
READ Esther 6:10
What does this verse teach us?
That God has a sense of humor.
That God won’t always allow
the wicked to have joy in their pride and evil ways.
READ Esther 4:16
Why is fasting more effective than prayer alone?
Fasting strengthens the spirit
relative to the now weakened physical body.
Fasting reminds us of our constant
dependence on the Lord for life.
The group is humbled and
aligned before the Lord – they are becoming one, which is a prerequisite for
Zion and pleasing to the Lord.
