DISCUSSION GUIDE PINELAKE CHURCH INFLUENCE: LIVING A HIGH IMPACT LIFE LOVE (DANIEL 4) SEPTEMBER 15, 2013

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1 PINELAKE CHURCH INFLUENCE: LIVING A HIGH IMPACT LIFE LOVE (DANIEL 4) SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 PREPARATION > Spend the week studying Daniel 3. Consult the commentary provided and any additional study tools to enhance your preparation. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group. > Pray for our pastors and this week s message, the upcoming group time, your group members, and their receptivity to God s Word. > Focus on the Main Point. Daniel loved the king in spite of the king s foolish pride. We must love people in spite of their foolish choices. INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to help get the conversation going. What is one food that you would say you love? Why do you love it? What s your best memory of eating that particular food? How do your feelings for your favorite food differ from your feelings for you family or friends? How do they differ from your feelings for your enemies? We live in a culture that is in love with being in love. We use the same word to describe the way we feel about food, sports, pets, celebrities, family members even God. But generally what we mean when we say we love something is that we enjoy the way that thing makes us feel. The love that God calls us to is different, God calls us to show forgive, care deeply about, rejoice with and even plead with people who need God, even if those people are against us. Today, in Daniel for, we will see Daniel model this godly love in the life of Nebuchadnezzar. LEARN Unpack the biblical text to discover what Scripture says or means about a particular topic. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ DANIEL 4: Why was Daniel alarmed about Nebuchadnezzar s dream? How did Daniel s alarm reveal his love for the king? 1 LOVE PINELAKE CHURCH

2 Would you have expected a Jew in exile to love Nebuchadnezzar? Why or why not? What did the dream call the king to do? Daniel was worried when he heard of the king s new dream because Daniel knew that it would not be a message the king would like. Daniel was alarmed because he cared about the king. When Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar what the dream meant, he asked for the king to listen to his counsel. Daniel wanted the king to repent and live a righteous life. Daniel loved the king and wanted what was best for him - to know God. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ DANIEL 4: Why didn t Daniel try to intervene with the king again? How did the dream come true? Can you think of a modern day equivalent of the kings fate? Daniel left the rest of the work to God. He did his part and wanted God to work in the heart of Nebuchadnezzar. The dream was fulfilled, Nebuchadnezzar lost power and was forced out of Babylon. He was humbled while living like a beast of the field. During this time the king experienced his need of God. > HAVE A VOLUNTEER READ DANIEL 4: How do you think Daniel felt when Nebuchadnezzar repented and praised God? Describe the power of Daniel s love for the king? Daniel would have been thrilled to hear that Nebuchadnezzar repented and trusted in God. In the end, Daniel s love helped the king find God. The power behind Daniel s love was God s love, working through him. LIVE Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. Create some talking points for the group by looking at the practical implications of the lesson. Get group members to talk about the real life implications of the passage. Look at what can be applied specifically to Pinelake. What does it look like for you to love the difficult people in your life they way that Daniel loved the king? Who in your life is easy to love? Who is hard to love? What is something you can do to show God s love to a specific person in your life this week? 2 LOVE PINELAKE CHURCH

3 LEAD Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage impact the way that you lead at Pinelake and interact with people outside of Pinelake. When we love others what does it say about our view of God s love? How does Pinelake show God s love to the Jackson area? How can you be a bigger part of the church demonstrating God s love? PRAY Close your time in prayer, thanking God for the love that He has shown us. Pray that we would be ambassadors of that love. Pray that God would reveal opportunities to demonstrate love to the difficult people in our lives. Pray that through our love, others would come to know the Lord. FOLLOW UP Midway through this week, send a follow-up to your group with some or all of the following information: Questions to consider as they continue to reflect on what they learned this week: Who is someone you can love this week? How have you shown the love of God to those around you this week? The challenge to memorize Daniel 4:27. 3 LOVE PINELAKE CHURCH

4 COMMENTARY PINELAKE CHURCH INFLUENCE: LIVING A HIGH IMPACT LIFE LOVE (DANIEL 4) SEPTEMBER 8, 2013 DANIEL 4 4:19. Daniel was visibly shaken when he heard the dream, so much so that the king attempted to comfort the prophet by telling him not to let the dream or its meaning alarm him. Greatly perplexed is a translation of the Aramaic estomam, which means to be appalled or astounded. Daniel was not perplexed but astounded by the horror of what he immediately knew the dream foretold. He was so upset by it that he was silent for a short while ( for a time ). Thoughts of these coming events terrified (better, alarmed ) Daniel, not only because the prophet seemed genuinely to like and respect the Babylonian monarch but because of the effect this situation could have had on others, particularly the Jewish people. Nebuchadnezzar evidently had treated the Jews well throughout most of his reign. If he were deposed, there would be no guarantee of a like-minded ruler. That Daniel knew immediately the significance of the dream is clear by his wish that the evil foretold might be directed toward the king s enemies. 4: Daniel then interpreted the dream. He explained that the great tree represented Nebuchadnezzar and his vast kingdom, which had afforded prosperity ( abundant fruit and food ) and protection ( shelter ) to the peoples of the earth. In the Old Testament the tree figure is employed elsewhere to speak of man in his pride (cf. Isa 2:12-13; 10:34; Ezek 31:3-17). Many commentators have noted the similarity between the phrase you, O king, are that tree! and Nathan s words to David, You are the man! (2 Sam 12:7). 4: Daniel first quoted from Nebuchadnezzar s account of the angel and his decree (cf. vv ). Then he promised to interpret the dream and began by explaining that the decree announced by the messenger was the decree of the Most High God issued against the king. 4:26. There was a ray of hope in this horrifying prediction. Daniel explained that the stump and roots being spared meant that Nebuchadnezzar s kingdom would be restored upon his repentance ( when you acknowledge that Heaven rules ). During this period of mental incapacitation, Nebuchadnezzar s son Amel- Marduk evidently ruled the country so that the government continued to function normally. 4:27. Daniel tactfully encouraged the king to repent of his sins. Nebuchadnezzar should renounce (pĕruq, break off ) his sin and his wickedness, demonstrating his repentance by doing what is right (i.e., good deeds) and being kind to the oppressed (the poor and unfortunate). The king certainly had the power and financial resources to help others. Nebuchadnezzar might not have been treating others cruelly, but he probably did what many people do today, practiced an indulgent lifestyle and simply ignored the misfortunes of others. By heeding the warning in this dream and performing good deeds, the monarch would prove that he acknowledged God s supremacy over him. Daniel seems to have held out to the king the genuine possibility of foregoing this judgment, demonstrating God s willingness to forgive. 4: All of the horrible events foretold in the dream did, regrettably, transpire. Twelve months later God s judgment fell upon the king of Babylon. In his mercy God had graciously allowed Nebuchadnezzar a full year to repent of his sins, but he had not done so. Now a great outburst of pride on the part of the Babylonian monarch became the catalyst for the dream s fulfillment. 4: While the boastful words were still coming out of the king s mouth, a voice from heaven pronounced judgment upon him. Evidently this was an audible announcement (at least to the king). The voice, probably of an angel, declared that heaven had decreed his judgment. It was as good as done. Nebuchadnezzar would live with the wild animals and eat grass like the cattle for seven years ( seven times ) until he finally repented of his pride and gave glory to God. 4:33. Immediately the horrible sentence was carried out. Nebuchadnezzar fell under the strange delusion and began to act like an animal. Because of this bizarre behavior, he was driven away from people. He lived outdoors 4 LOVE PINELAKE CHURCH

5 COMMENTARY with the beasts, ate grass like cattle, and was exposed to the weather ( drenched with the dew ). The king s hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Archer explains that his hair became matted and coarse and looked like eagle feathers; his fingernails and toenails, never cut, became like claws. How ironic that the king who felt himself superior to other men had now sunk to a subhuman level. 4:34. Now the account reverts to first person, and Nebuchadnezzar continues his personal testimony. At the end of the seven years, the king raised his eyes toward heaven, an act of submission, surrender, and acknowledgment of his need for the Most High God. Yahweh had proven he was truly the sovereign Lord and could humble the greatest king on earth. God observed Nebuchadnezzar s simple gesture of humility and repentance and graciously restored his sanity ( knowledge, power of knowing ). Then the king praised God as sovereign ( the Most High ) and honored and glorified him as the eternal One ( him who lives forever ). 4:35. Once more God s sovereignty is emphasized. When compared to the surpassing glory and power of the Most High, all the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing (cf. Isa 40:17). According to his own sovereign will ( does as he pleases ), God rules over the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. The powers of heaven may refer to the heavenly bodies (sun, moon, and stars), to the angelic forces (or armies) of heaven, or both. Since the phrase parallels the peoples of the earth, probably the inhabitants of heaven are intended. Thus the reference expresses divine dominion over all those in heaven and earth. 4:36. When the king repented, God restored is kingdom and his honor, demonstrating the principle that God honors those who honor him (cf. 1 Sam 2:30). The king s advisers and nobles sought him out. This does not mean that the king had wandered off into the fields and forests and now had to be hunted down but rather that the government officials approached him in order to restore his position. Nebuchadnezzar was one of the great kings of history, and when it was clear that his reason had returned, the court was more than eager to restore him to the throne. The king now related that in his latter years he received even more power and honor than he had before his humiliating experience ( became even greater than before ). 4:37. Nebuchadnezzar concluded his testimony with an additional word of praise to God, the King of heaven. Praise, exalt, and glorify are all participles in the original and here indicate the king s continual praise of the Lord. God is worthy of such praise because everything he does is right and just (dîn). By this the king admitted that he had been proud and that God s judgment of him had been proper.