𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
• Recall a time growing up when you felt left out. What happened and how did you respond?
• Would you say that you’re easily affected or swayed by people’s opinions of you? What makes you say that?
• How would you describe a faithful person? Identify some things you think a faithful person should or should not do.


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘐𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮; 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣𝘴 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘴 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘯, “𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮.” 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟱:𝟱–𝟳

(Read also 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟱:𝟭–𝟰, 𝟴–𝟯𝟭.)

Belshazzar was now the ruler of the Babylonian empire. Like his predecessor, he was powerful and prideful. But unlike Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar did not acknowledge God and change his ways. As a result, Belshazzar’s kingdom came to an abrupt end.
The truth is, the God who sets up leaders is also the One who removes them, holds people accountable, and brings justice and peace. He does all these according to His goodness and plan for the redemption of the world. God had given Judah over to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire, but eventually Babylon was given over to Darius and the Medo-Persian empire. This was not merely because of political or military might. It was ultimately because of God’s power and strength.

This is a sad story of the king’s pride and judgment, sadder even than the events recorded in Daniel 4. But this is also a story of how Daniel responded to God’s sovereign plan. We will look at that today.

𝟭. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗹—𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭, “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶.” 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟱:𝟭𝟯–𝟭𝟰

The message the king received caused him to panic. This resulted in the queen mother remembering Daniel, a man who had served Nebuchadnezzar and their kingdom. But for some reason, Daniel was no longer part of the inner circle. We can only surmise what had happened and how Daniel had become “a has been.” However, even though Daniel had lost his position in the king’s court, God gave him an opportunity to be faithful. Daniel had grown old and served three consecutive kingdoms, but was now remembered and called back during the crisis. He had remained faithful, even in obscurity. In Daniel 5:10–12, how did the queen describe Daniel? How sure was she that Daniel could help?

𝟮. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹—𝘄𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗱.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, “𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯.” 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟱:𝟭𝟳

The king needed Daniel’s help, and Daniel interpreted the dream. Imagine telling the king that he had 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 his heart and was too proud (Daniel 5:22–23). The king could have had Daniel imprisoned and even executed. But Daniel proclaimed the truth at the risk of his own life. He did so, not knowing how the king would respond. We proclaim God’s truth even if people may reject us and His message. Why do you think 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 and 𝘳𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 did not motivate Daniel?


𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• What can you learn from Daniel’s life? How will you apply it to yours starting today?
• Compare the responses of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4) and Belshazzar (Daniel 5) to God’s rebuke through Daniel. What were the effects on their lives and kingdom? Reflect on the danger of pride and the importance of accountability this week.
• What could be hindering you from proclaiming God’s truth? How can you overcome this and to whom can you share your faith with this week?


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God that He is in control of your life, your nation, and the world. Declare His power over all.
• Pray that you would remain faithful to God and serve as He has called you to, even in difficulty and obscurity.
• Ask God for boldness to proclaim His truth to those around you. Pray they would respond to the truth of the gospel with repentance and faith.