[1]NASHVILLE (BP) — This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups.
This week’s Bible study is adapted from the Explore the Bible curriculum.
Bible Passages: Daniel 9:20-27; 12:9-13
Discussion Questions: Does knowing all the details of an event before it happens help you or hurt you? Explain. How does knowing that God owns the ultimate victory give you confidence to face any trials you may face?
Food for Thought:
Some people live as if knowing everything that will happen every day of their life on this planet would make life easier. They live as if knowing the details are more important than life itself. Some may want to know the hows and whys so they can alter the outcome. It would be comparable to investigating the cause of an accident to prevent it from reoccurring. Many of these same people seem so concerned about the details of the unknown that they can’t enjoy what they do know.
[2]God had revealed to Daniel future events. God told Daniel of judgments and destruction. Perplexed by the details of the final vision, Daniel asked for clarification. God’s response was for Daniel to live with what God had revealed to him and get on with living the days he had been granted (see Daniel 12:9 and 13). In a way, God was reminding Daniel that He would take care of the details and to trust Him to do so. Daniel’s responsibility was to live faithfully to God, regardless of what the future holds.
The directive given to Daniel would eliminate much of our worries today. We want to know the details and propose all kinds of ideas to fill in the blanks. The truth of the matter is, God can be trusted with the details and is much more capable of handling them than we. God’s call remains the same for us regardless of the trials and tests: “trust Me, you will rest and rise at the end” (Daniel 12:13). We can find peace and encouragement knowing that what happens, when it happens, and how it happens doesn’t change the fact that God is trustworthy.
Explore the Bible
Explore the Bible is an ongoing Bible study curriculum that helps groups dig into the key truths of each Bible book, while keeping the group on pace to study through the Bible books in a systematic way. More information can be found on the Internet at LifeWay.com/ExploreTheBible [3].
Other ongoing Bible study options for all ages offered by LifeWay can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool [4].
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Dwayne McCrary is the Project Team Leader for Adult and Young Adult Explore the Bible. You can follow him on twitter @gdwayne and Explore the Bible @explorethebible.