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LESSON 10

CORNERSTONECONNECTIONS
SEPTEMBER072024

Scripture Story: Daniel 6.

Commentary: Prophets and Kings (or Royalty and Ruin),

deliverance
chapter 44.

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41
Photo by Jennifer and Company

keytext
“Daniel,
“After sheservant
had givenof him
thea living
drink,
flashlight God, has your God, whom you
she said, ‘I’ll draw water for your
serve
camelscontinually, beenhave
too, until they ablefin-
to
“God did not prevent Daniel’s enemies from casting him into the lions’ den; He
deliver you from the lions?”
ished drinking’”
permitted evil angels and wicked men thus far to accomplish their purpose; but
it was that He might make the deliverance of His servant more marked, and the (Daniel
(Genesis6:20, NKJV)
24:19, NIV).
defeat of the enemies of truth and righteousness more complete. ‘Surely the wrath
of man shall praise thee’ (Psalm 76:10), the psalmist has testified. Through the
courage of this one man who chose to follow right rather than policy, Satan was
to be defeated, and the name of God was to be exalted and honored” (Prophets
and Kings, p. 543).

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 what
prefects,
satraps, advisers and
governors have all agreed that

do you think?
the king should issue an edict and
enforce the decree that anyone who
prays to any god or human being during
the next thirty days, except to you,
What would you do in the following situations?
Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the
1. Someone in your class cheats on a test using the answers
lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue
from your paper, without you knowing it. Later the teacher
the decree and put it in writing so that

INTO
accuses you of cheating and gives you a zero for the test.
it cannot be altered—in accordance
The other student does not admit to cheating and gets
with the law of the Medes and Persians,

THE
a passing grade. What would you do?
which cannot be repealed.’ So King
____________________________________
Darius put the decree in writing.

STORY
___________________________________
2. Someone tells your best friend something “Now when Daniel learned that the
about you that is not true, and your friend decree had been published, he went
stops talking to you. The person who was home to his upstairs room where the
dishonest becomes good friends with your “It pleased Darius to appoint
windows opened toward Jerusalem. . . .
best friend. What would you do? 120 satraps to rule throughout
Then these men went as a group and
______________________________ the kingdom, with three admin-
found Daniel praying and asking God
istrators over them, one of whom
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_____________________________ for help. So they went to the king and

was Daniel. . . . Now Daniel so
spoke to him about his royal decree. . . .
distinguished himself among the
administrators and the satraps by “Then they said to the king, ‘Daniel,
his exceptional qualities that the who is one of the exiles from Judah,
king planned to set him over the pays no attention to you, Your Majesty,
whole kingdom. At this, the admin- or to the decree you put in writing. He
istrators and the satraps tried to still prays three times a day.’ When
find grounds for charges against the king heard this, he was greatly
Daniel in his conduct of government distressed; he was determined to res-

did you
affairs, but they were unable to do cue Daniel and made every effort until
so. They could find no corruption in sundown to save him. . . .

know?
him, because he was trustworthy
42 and neither corrupt nor negligent. “So the king gave the order, and they
Finally these men said, ‘We will brought Daniel and threw him into the
he lion is often thought of as never find any basis for charges lions’ den. The king said to Daniel, ‘May
a symbol of power, nobility, and against this man Daniel unless it your God, whom you serve continually,
courage. Lions have a social sys- has something to do with the rescue you!’ . . .
tem based on teamwork, and live in law of his God.’
groups called prides. The teamwork “. . . Then the king returned to his pal-
of the pride is evident in their “So these administrators ace and spent the night without eating
hunting methods. The female and satraps went as and without any entertainment being
lions of the group work a group to the king brought to him. And he could not sleep.
together to track and over- and said: ‘May King
power their prey. The lions in the Darius live for- “At the first light of dawn, the king got
den of Daniel 6 worked as a ever! The royal up and hurried to the lions’ den. When
team to overpower Daniel’s adminis- he came near the den, he called to
adversaries and broke them trators, Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel,
into pieces before they even servant of the living God, has your God,
hit the bottom of the den. (See whom you serve continually, been able
Daniel 6:24.) to rescue you from the lions?’

“Daniel answered, ‘May the

king live forever!
God

punch lines
sent his angel,
and he shut the mouths
of the lions. They have
not hurt me, because I was found “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be
innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you
done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.’ go” (Joshua 1:9, NKJV).
“ ‘Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue
“The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift
you,’ declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 1:8, NIV).
Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from
the den, no wound was found on him, because he had “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I
trusted in his God. am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I
will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah
“At the king’s command, the men who had falsely accused Dan- 41:10, NKJV).
iel were brought in and thrown into the lions’ den, along with their “God is our refuge and strength, a very present
wives and children. And before they reached the floor of the den, the help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1, NKJV).
lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.”
“Pull me out of the net which they have
(Daniel 6:1-24, NIV) secretly laid for me, for You are my strength”
(Psalm 31:4, NKJV).
“The fear of man brings a snare, but

OUT OF THE STORY

whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe”

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(Proverbs 29:25, NKJV).

After reading the story in Daniel 6, answer the following questions.

further
insight
Have you ever been wrongfully accused? How did you handle it? What would
you do next time?

The princes and governors had a plan in Daniel 6, but God had a different “Unceasing prayer is the
plan. What was God’s plan?
unbroken union of the
soul with God, so that life 43

Circle the words that show the things that make up an excellent spirit.
from God flows into our
Cross out the words that are left. life; and from our life, purity
faithfulness prayer jealousy and holiness flow back to
loyalty greed deception God.”—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 97
honesty pride kindness
patience
“Through sincere prayer we are
What does the story teach us about being faithful to God?
brought into connection with the
mind of the Infinite. We may have
no remarkable evidence at the time
that the face of our Redeemer is bending
over us in compassion and love, but this is
even so. We may not feel His visible touch, but
His hand is upon us in love and pitying tenderness.”
—Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 96
 connectingtolife
Sabbath Read the Key Text of the lesson again. Then re- Thursday
Read Daniel 6:10. flect on your own experiences. Do you believe Read Mark 9:24.

I n the What Do You Think? section of this

week’s study you were asked to describe
what you would do in certain situations. Think
that God is able to deliver you from problems
or difficult situations? Talk to someone about
areas of your life where you wish to experi-
W hen we are faced with danger or with
a difficult situation it is natural to be-
come fearful—especially if we cannot see a
about your responses. Why did you choose to ence God’s deliverance. Pray together, asking solution to the problem. List some specific
handle each situation the way you did? When God for deliverance. things you can do to overcome fear:
Daniel heard about the decree that his enemies
had devised for King Darius to sign, he went Tuesday ________________________________________
straight to the Lord in prayer. Daniel prayed Read Genesis 37:28; 1 Samuel 19:1.
________________________________________

I
three times that day, just as always. When you n the Flashlight section we read that “God ________________________________________
go to the Lord for help, do you think things will did not prevent Daniel’s enemies from
turn out the way that you expect them to? Why casting him into the lions’ den.” Instead of Fearfulness comes as a result of doubting
would the Lord choose to help us in a way that removing the danger, the Lord used it to God. What can we do when faced with
is different than we expect or want? show His power to deliver His servant. Just as doubt? Reread Mark 9:24.
in Daniel’s case, God does not always prevent ________________________________________
Sunday bad things from happening to us. In many ________________________________________
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Read Psalm 31:4. cases, the Lord uses our experiences for our ________________________________________

R eview the Into the Story section. What do

you think motivated the princes and gov-
ernors to bring an accusation against Daniel?
own good, or to bring about some future
blessing. We may not understand why things
happen the way they do, but like Daniel, we
Friday
Read Psalm 106:3.
List three of their character traits below.
________________________________________
________________________________________
must trust that the Lord has our best interest
in mind. Can you think of other Bible charac-
ters who were treated wrongly or unfairly but
S tanding for what is right can be a hard
choice to make. Many things prevent a
person from doing the right thing—wanting
________________________________________ in the end were blessed by God? to be like everyone else, wanting to be ac-
1. ______________________________________ cepted by others. Sometimes doing what is
What character traits did Daniel display? 2. ______________________________________ right means missing out on something. The
________________________________________ 3. ______________________________________ choice to keep the Sabbath holy might mean
________________________________________ 4. ______________________________________ missing out on certain school activities. The
44 ________________________________________ choice to live healthfully might mean missing
Wednesday out on some favorite foods. The choice to ac-
Review your responses to the Out of the Story
questions. How does a Christian handle unfair
treatment differently than a non-Christian?
R eview the verses listed in the Punch Lines
section. Some of the key words in these
verses are listed on the left below. Draw a line
cept and treat everyone the same might mean
not being popular with certain people. What
are you willing to miss out on, for the sake of
________________________________________ to connect the words on the left to the syn- doing the right thing and choosing to obey
________________________________________ onyms that match on the right. God’s Word?
________________________________________
courage shelter
Monday strength set free
Read Daniel 6:20.
deliver brave

D aniel trusted in his God. He knew that refuge faith

trust power
God had the power to deliver him from
the lions. Trusting God the way that Daniel did How many of the Punch Line verses are prom-
this week’s reading*
comes from having a personal connection with ises? Prophets and Kings (or Royalty
Him. It comes from daily prayer and studying ________________________________________ and Ruin), chapter 44.
God’s Word, and the determination to obey In what verse can you see a prayer? *Royalty and Ruin is a special adaptation of Prophets and Kings,
His will. ________________________________________ created for you by the Ellen G. White Estate and Pacific Press®.
Get more information about it at http://www.cornerstone
connections.net/article/191/about-us/conflict-of-the-ages
-companion-books#.URlhF1rBO9s. By following the weekly
reading plan, you will read at least one book of the Conflict of
the Ages Series each year.

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