Youth Teacher: 1st Qtr 2018

By R.H. Boyd

Youth Teacher is a quarterly publication used to help the Sunday school teacher discuss issues pertaining to youth ages 12-17. Sections such as Biblical Emphases give background knowledge of the lesson. All lessons include relevant life concerns and lesson applications to help the teacher relate the Bible to the lives of young people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
• Release date: Oct 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781681673370

Book preview

DANIEL 1:8–21

RESOURCES NEEDED

• New National Baptist Hymnal, 21st Century Edition, #120 (NNBH, #106)

• God’s Promises Bible

• Boyd’s Commentary for the Sunday School

UNIFYING PRINCIPLE

People find themselves confronted by contradictory requirements from different sources of authority. How do we resolve such conflicts? Daniel’s active faith combined with tact helped him resolve his conflict and remain obedient to God in terms of dietary requirements.

BIBLICAL EMPHASES:

1. Being trained by the king tested the faithfulness of Daniel and his companions to the Lord.

2. Daniel and his companions wisely suggested a compromise that would allow them to remain faithful to God and perform their tasks in Babylon.

3. Because of their faithfulness, Daniel and his companions were blessed by God with the skills they needed to gain influence in the Babylonian Kingdom.

TARGET EMPHASIS

SEEKERS FOR JESUS: Though it can be nerve-racking to be different, younger youth recognize that their faith calls them to make different choices than their peers.

TEEN SCENE: Older youth can recognize times when sacrificing something they like or have will strengthen their witness for Christ.

LESSON OVERVIEW

Daniel and his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (better known by their Babylonian names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego) were all taken into exile when Jerusalem fell to Babylon. Because they were handsome nobles of some education, they were chosen along with exiles from many other nations to be taught Babylonian wisdom. Their education would make them fit for work in the king’s court and was meant to assimilate them into Babylonian culture so that they would leave their old ways, including their God, behind.

I. A Test Proposed (Daniel 1:8–13)

Daniel and the other exiles from Judah had a choice: they could be just like the other exiles and eat all of the food given to them by King Nebuchadnezzar, or they could be different from the crowd and keep a different kind of diet. Though God had given Israel very specific food laws many generations before, the text does not say that the king’s food broke any of the laws about eating unclean animals or butchering the animals incorrectly. The problem also would not have been an objection to drinking wine in general. Instead, by accepting the king’s rations the men would be signaling their allegiance to the king. This was unacceptable! The men from Judah knew that the only allegiance they owed was to the Lord their God.

God had already given Daniel a favorable audience from the palace master who was in charge of the student exiles and their circumstances. When Daniel approached him, the palace master didn’t say no. He only expressed his fear that the king would notice that Daniel and his friends looked ill beside the other exiles if they didn’t eat the prescribed diet. This would be dangerous not just for the Jewish men but also for the palace master.

Daniel and his friends had been educated in Judah. Daniel especially showed that he had been blessed by God with wisdom already. Because of this, Daniel knew to offer a test rather than simply plow ahead with his own plans. He asked his guard to withhold the meat and the wine that they were to eat, giving them instead vegetables to eat. (This passage is not about whether a vegetarian diet is better in general than an omnivorous diet.) After ten days, Daniel and his friends agreed to be observed. If they were not looking healthy, they would give up their diet.

In resisting pledging allegiance to the king and proposing instead a small but important act of resistance, Daniel and his friends set themselves apart from the other exiles. Of course, being set apart for God is what it means to be holy. Though adults struggle with being holy, the struggle might be even more pronounced for youth. For them, being noticeably different can certainly lead to all sorts of negative attention. Sometimes, though, being different can be something relatively small that others may not notice. Good news for awkward youth! Take time with your students to brainstorm small things that others might not notice that reinforce that your students are dedicated to God before anything or anyone else.

II. A Test Aced (Daniel 1:14–17)

Ten days came and went. The men ate only vegetables and drank only water. At the end of ten days it was observed that they appeared better and fatter than all the young men who had been eating the royal rations (Dan. 1:15, NRSV). Because they appeared so healthy, the guard continued to withhold the rations that the young men were entitled to. They ate only vegetables and drank only water. The king never needed to know about this small rebellion because the many other exiles continued to eat all of the food he