Daniel

Lesson number one, faithful in Babylon from Daniel chapters 1 and 6.

The truth, if I faithfully refuse what is wrong and continue doing what is right, even under pressure, then God will strengthen and bless me.

It's easy to get a fire in the bones for teaching Daniel because one of the great principles of his life is really universal in its relevance and application.

Daniel shows us two different kinds of courage that are required to remain faithful.

Sometimes faithfulness means refusing something that we know we shouldn't do.

And sometimes it means continuing to do something that we know we should.

Both can be difficult when we People around us have different expectations.

Our students are going to face those kinds of choices in their friendships, their workplaces, their families, and in their private lives.

So hopefully this lesson will help them to recognize a specific choice that they can make and to feel that the Lord can help them make it.

What should the teacher know? For this lesson, we're going to bring together two moments, stories from Daniel's life.

We're not going to be trying to teach both of the stories in their entirety, especially since most of your students are probably already going to be somewhat familiar with the content of them.

So instead, with the limited time that we have, we'll focus our time on the choices that Daniel makes and what that teaches us.

And it's the setting of these two stories.

That's what's really key in this lesson.

Both take place...

in Babylon, after the Babylonian conquest of Judah and Jerusalem.

Daniel has been taken captive into the capital city of Babylon to the king's palace.

But, you know, he's treated fairly well there, not really like a prisoner.

What's happening to him is a great example of an old-world technique that empires used to rule conquered territories.

It's a means of securing allegiances and unifying a diverse kingdom together.

The strategy goes something like this.

You conquer a nation, and then you select a number of gifted, noble, young people from the population, bring them into your own country and culture.

You treat them well, educate them, feed them, immerse them in your society and language.

And then when they're older, and the former generation of their people begin to die out, you place these more loyal, integrated subjects into positions of authority over the conquered territories.

Now you've got allies within the nation.