Discussion Questions Chapter Twelve

1. Who would stand up for Daniel’s people during the time of trouble? (1)

2. Who will shine as the stars? (3)

3. Until when was the book to be sealed? (4,9)

4. How long shall it be from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that makes desolate is set up (11)?

Discussion Questions Chapter Eleven

1. How many kings would there be in Persia? (1-2)

2. Who will be strong and do great exploits? (32)

3. Who will exalt himself and magnify himself above every god? (36)

Discussion Questions Chapter Ten

1. How long was Daniel mourning and eating no flesh? (2-3)

2. When did the man clothed in linen hear? (12)

3. Why didn’t he respond sooner? (13)

4. Who would come after the prince of Persia? (20)

Discussion Questions Chapter Nine

1. What did Daniel understand? (2)

2. For whom did Daniel confess? (4-16)

3. Who touched Daniel while he was praying? (21)

4. How many weeks were determined on God’s people? (24)

5. How many weeks would there be from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Messiah the Prince? (25)

6. When was Jerusalem destroyed again? (26)

7. When will the sacrifice cease? (27)

Discussion Questions CHapter Eight

1. What did the ram with two horns represent? (3-4, 20) 2. What did the he goat represent? (5-8, 21) 3. What did the great horn between the eyes of the goat represent? (5, 21) 4. What came up after the great horn was broken and what do these represent? (8-10, 22) 5. How long shall the sanctuary be trodden under foot? (13-14) 6. Who will stand before the Prince of princes and be broken? (23-25)

Discussion Questions Chapter Seven

1. What was the appearance of the first beast? (4)

2. What was the appearance of the second beast? (5)

3. What was the appearance of the third beast? (6)

4. What was the appearance of the fourth beast? (7)

5. What was the appearance of the Ancient of days? (9)

6. What were the four beasts? (17)

7. What were the ten horns of the fourth beast? (24)

8. Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom? (27)

Daniel Chapter Six Discussion

Daniel Chapter 6 - Daniel in the Lion's Den
1. What stirs up the jealousy and envy of the administrators and satraps? How would they describe Daniel (goodie two shoes, too good to be true, outsider, a threat)?

2. Have you ever found that when you begin to excel, other people look for ways to hold you back and tear you down? How should you deal with those who would cheer at your downfall and even try to hasten it?

3. Why did the king issue his decree (he was outnumbered, he was stupid, he had an inflated ego, he believed everybody would obey, he wanted to be God)?

4. How would you describe Daniel’s response to the edict (rebellion, perseverence, faithfulness, disregard, plea for help, courageous, throw down the gauntlet, stupid)?

5. Are there times where a better strategy might be to close the windows, draw the curtains, and pray to God in secret? (John 3:2)

6. By continuing to pray openly three times a day, both believers and unbelievers witnessed Daniel’s consistency. From observing you, what can unbelievers determine about your life?

7. If someone who knew my innermost thoughts were to rate my ethics, I would score:

At work	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
At home	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
With outsiders	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

8. When the king discovered the implications of his decree, he felt: (anger toward his advisors, stupid, despair, frustration, trapped, repentant)? In his position what would you have done?

9. What saved Daniel (his faith, his innocence, God’s faithfulness, sleeping lions, the king’s prayers)? Think about this before answering.

10. Because of the Persian custom of vindication (an eye for an eye), Daniel’s accusers received the same punishment that they demanded that Daniel receive. Is this supported anyplace in the Bible? (Deut 19:21, Isaiah 3:11, Jeremiah 21:14) What do you think about punishing (innocent?) family members of the accusers?

11. In your own life, have you ever experienced God in the midst of a “lion’s den” (of skeptics, critics, persecutors, etc.)? Has you lifeline ever been only God and God alone?

Daniel Chapter Five Discussion

Daniel Chapter 5 - Handwriting on the Wall
1. In the first four chapters, we have read about King Nebuchadnezzar. Now, King Belshazzar appears, Who is he? What does his name mean?

2. How do you think that God would have regarded using the gold goblets taken from the temple in Jerusalem for drinking wine at a drunken orgy at which other gods were praised? (2 Samuel 6:6-7)

3. In Verse 7, Belshazzar promises to make whoever interprets the writing on the wall the third highest ruler in the kingdom. Who were the first two?

4. The writing on the wall was only three words in Aramaic (see Verse 25). Why do you suppose the king’s wise men (or anyone else at the banquet) were unable to determine what they meant? (Job 32:8-9)

5. Who was the queen who appeared in Verse 10?

6. What does Daniel’s rejection of flattery and rewards (verse 17) say about the authenticity of the man and his message? How would you respond if you were in a similar situation?

7. How would you interpret the following words on a wall:
DOLLAR DOLLAR PENNY QUARTER

8. What does the handwriting on the wall mean? How is this prophecy fulfilled? Does this also fulfill one of Daniel’s earlier prophecies? (Daniel 2:36-39)

9. What contemporary examples come to mind of people mocking God by demeaning sacred things as Belshazzar did with the temple goblets?

10. Then and now, does it seem that God is quick or slow to judge such sacrilegious behavior? (Psalm 90:4, Habakkuk 2:3, Luke 12:20)

11. What would you do if you were offered a position of power as a way to buy your vote or predetermine your thinking? Does this happen today?

12. Why do people often fail, as Belshazzarr did, to learn from the past?

Bible study courtesy of www.SwapMeetDave.com

Daniel Chapter Four Discussion

Daniel Chapter 4 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream of a Tree
1. Who wrote this chapter of Daniel?

2. In Verse 4, the king said he was contented and prosperous. When things are going well in your own life, does this make you more or less vulnerable to various problems?

3. Thinking of yourself as a tree, have you ever been cut down to size? What were the circumstances? Do you think that God was involved? How did you feel afterward?

4. In Verse 19, Daniel is dismayed that he must give the king the bad news in his dream. If you had to give bad news to a tyrant with great power, would you do it with discretion or with valor? What other prophet had to give a pointed message to a powerful king? (2 Samuel 12:7-9)

5. What was the primary message of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream? (Proverbs 16:18-19)

6. Thinking about giving (or receiving) bad news, do you prefer bad news first, good news last or the other way around? Why?

7. Have you ever delayed discussing something painful? Did you regret it later? What were the results? How did you feel?

8. After Daniel explains Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, he tactfully offers the king some advice in Verse 27. Does this suggest that God’s plans may not be set in concrete and may be partially contingent upon our actions?

9. Why do you suppose that God allowed a year to pass before fulfilling the dream?

10. After seven years, Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity is restored and he testifies about the Supreme God. How does this testimony strike you: (a) sincerely penitent, (b) coaxed or coached by Daniel, (c) sanely rational, (d) miraculous turnabout?

11. How have you shown courage in declaring God’s word to others, both the good and the bad news? Which do you shy away from? Why?

12. If someone were to give you advice as Daniel did to Nebuchadnezzar in Verse 27, what would it be?

Bible study courtesy of www.SwapMeetDave.com

Daniel Chapter Three Discussion

Daniel Chapter 3 - The Fiery Furnace
1. In Verse 2:47, after Daniel explained his dream, Nebuchadnezzar seemed to honor God, saying to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of Kings...” Why then would he build a huge gold statue of himself and order that it be worshiped?

2. Can you think of any recent or current rulers or other idols that demand that people bow down and worship them?

3. Nebuchadnezzar threatened death by being thrown in a fiery furnace for those who did not obey. How is this kind of fear used today?

4. Do you think that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were the only Jews who did not bow down to the Nebuchadnezzar statue? What about the other thousands of Jews in exile? What about Daniel?

5. Why didn’t the three Jews just bow to the statue of Nebuchadnezzar and tell God that they didn’t mean it? (Exodus 20:3, Hosea 13:4) Are you ready to take a stand for God no matter what?

6. The three Jews are given a second chance to bow to the statue. Why not use one of these excuses? (1) We will bow down but not actually worship the idol. (2) We will worship it just once and then ask God for forgiveness. (3) The king has absolute power and we must obey him. God will understand. (4) This is a foreign land, so God will forgive us for following its customs. (5) Our ancestors set up idols in God’s temple; this isn’t half as bad! (6)If we’re killed, pagans will be given our high positions and won’t help the Jews in exile.

7. When the three Jews reply to Nebuchadnezzar and say that their God could save them from death in the fiery furnace, do you think they are hedging their bets a bit with their “if not” words in Verse 18? (See Hebrews 7:25)

8. The soldiers who threw the three Jews into the furnace were killed, but the three Jews emerged untouched. God’s deliverance of them was a great victory for all of the Jews in exile. If we have true faith in God, can we count on him to save us from horrible ordeals? (Isaiah 43:2, Hebrews 11:1)

9. What do you think of Nebuchadnezzar’s commitment to the Lord (verses 28-29)?

10. What’s the bottom line message of this chapter?

Bible study courtesy of www.SwapMeetDave.com

Daniel ChapterTwo Discussion

Daniel Chapter 2 - Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
Read verses 1 to 13.

1. Dreams are important in the Bible. What are some examples of other dreams? (Genesis 28:10-15, Genesis 37:5-11, Genesis 40, Genesis 41, 1 Kings 3:5-15, Matthew 1:20-24, Matthew 2:12, Matthew 2:13, Matthew 27:19)

2. Was it unreasonable for Nebuchadnezzar to ask his advisors to interpret his dream without telling them what it was about? Have you ever had a dream (or nightmare) and woken up the next day remembering that you had a bad dream but unable to remember what it was about?

3. Was it unreasonable for Nebuchadnezzar to order his wise men be put to death because they could not tell him what his dream was? Why did he feel that this action was okay?

Read verses 14 to 23.

4. How did Daniel deal with Nebuchadnezzar’s unreasonable demand?

5. What can we learn from Daniel’s approach? (Matthew 18:19-20)

6. Notice in Daniel’s prayer of thanks to God his use of earlier scripture. What can we learn from that? (Psalm 113:2, Jeremiah 32:19, Job 12:22, Psalm 139:12, Isaiah 45:7)

Read verses 24 to 45.

7. After Daniel’s prayer was answered, what did he do?

8. The large statue in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream represents four kingdoms as follows:

Part		Material		Empire		Period of Domination
Head		Gold		Babylonian		606 BC - 539 BC
Chest and Arms		Silver		Medo-Persian		539 BC - 331 BC
Belly and thighs		Bronze		Grecian		331 BC - 146 BC
Legs and feet		Iron and Clay		Roman		146 BC - 476 AD

What kingdom did Daniel say would rule after all of these crumble?

9. What are the TWO key messages in what Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar?

Read verses 46 to 49.

10. What important message should we take away from these last few verses? (Exodus 18:13-27)

Daniel Chapter One Discussion Questions

Daniel Chapter 1 - Taking a Stand
1. Who wrote the book of Daniel? When did it take place? When was it written?

2. Who did Nebuchadnezzar take into captivity back to Babylon and who was left in Judah? (2 Kings 24:14, Jeremiah 24:1-10)

3. What advice did Jeremiah have for the Jews that were taken into exile? (Jer 29:4-7) Would this advice be easy to follow? (Acts 5:29)

4. Why did Nebuchadnezzar especially want young men for training? (Verses 1:4)

5. Why three years of training?

6. Why did Ashpenaz change the names of Daniel and his three friends? (To intimidate them, brand them, frighten them, anger them, assimilate them?)

7. Do religions today ever use a similar type of indoctrination? How about the Christian church; has it ever used these methods?

8. Why did Daniel ask for special food? (Religious reasons, cultural reasons, distrusted King’s food, wanted to feel separate, didn’t like its taste)

9. Does these verses promote being a vegetarian and teetotaler? If not, what do they promote?

10. To Daniel and his friends, what was it like to maintain their diet (easy, traumatic, frightening, spiritual, risky)?

11. If you were Daniel, what resource would you have appreciated the most? (The helpful official, my three friends, God’s sustaining power, Jewish dietary laws, knowledge and understanding from God)

12. What do you feel when you stand up for something you believe in (confidence, power, peace, elation, fear, freedom)?

13. What often keeps you from taking a stand (lack of confidence, apathy, ignorance, time, fear, possible bad consequences)?

14. What is your greatest resource for taking a stand (God’s power, my family support, financial resources, others who share the same interest, prayers of my small group, encouragement from Scripture, other)?