It was a bad day in the kingdom of Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed a dream and then forgotten what it was about. That wasn’t so strange. But now he wanted his wise men to tell him what he had dreamed, and what it meant. They couldn’t do it. This made King Nebuchadnezzar very angry.
In a rage he cried, “Wise men? Bah! You are full of lies! I shall have you cut into pieces.”
The magicians and sorcerers huddled closely together, trembling with fear. “O King,” they cried, “if you would just tell us your dream, then we would give you the meaning.”
“I told you that I have forgotten my dream!” the king shouted. He leaned forward, his eyes blazing. “If you had the power you claim to have, you could easily tell me my dream and why it troubles me.”
With that, King Nebuchadnezzar clapped his hands. A servant hurried in. Furiously, the king ordered a decree to be written saying that all wise men in Babylon were to be destroyed immediately!
Daniel and his three friends lived in Babylon. But they served the true God, and they knew He could help them. When Daniel heard the decree, he went to see King Nebuchadnezzar and said, “O King, why must all the wise men in your kingdom be punished? I serve the true and living God who holds the secrets of all things in His hands. He is able to give the meanings even to forgotten dreams. Only give me time, and God will show me what your dream was and its meaning.”
Then Daniel called his friends together. “We must pray for God to reveal this dream. If He does not, we will be killed with all the other wise men of the land.” That night as Daniel slept, God showed him what the king’s dream was and what it meant. God had heard their prayers!
When Daniel awoke, he was happy because he knew their lives would be spared. Once again God had answered. He hurried to the king’s guard and asked to be taken to the king. The guard did as he asked.
When Daniel told the king what the God of Heaven had shown him about the dream, the king remembered. Yes! Every word that Daniel had said was true! Daniel had told him his dream exactly right!
King Nebuchadnezzar knew that only the true God could have shown Daniel the dream. He wanted to thank Daniel in some special way. So he gave him many gifts, and made him an important ruler in his kingdom. In fact, he became a ruler over all the other rulers and wise men. Daniel had trusted God and God had blessed him for it!
PARENT’S CORNER
The worries and perplexities that face the primary child are very real and troublesome to him, though they may seem insignificant to the adult mind. Your child’s memory verse is a promise that can be a real source of strength. Make it the focus of your time together this week.
Let your child cut a long strip of paper into six pieces that connect with each other like pieces of a puzzle. On each piece, help your child letter a portion of the verse, ending with the Bible reference.
Learn the verse together by assembling the puzzle, a phrase at a time. After this has been done several times, the verse can be mounted to a backing sheet and posted in his room or where he can read it often.