This is the 2nd part in a 6 part series on the book of Daniel. Chapter 2 covers: The King’s Forgotten Dream, The Secret is Revealed to Daniel, and The King’s Dream & Daniel’s Promotion.
Don’t miss all our lesson and teaching ideas about the Book of Daniel.
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Daniel Chapter 2
The King’s Forgotten Dream: Daniel 2:1-18
Characters:
Sign Holder, Narrator, Nebuchadnezzar, Group of Servants (magicians, conjurers, sorcerers), Chaldean 1, Chaldean 2, Daniel, Arioch, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah
Props:
“2nd Year of the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar” sign
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(Sign Holder walks across stage with “2nd Year of the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar” sign)
(Enter Nebuchadnezzar – sleeping)
Narrator: Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.
Nebuchadnezzar: I want all the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the me my dreams.
(Enter Group of Servants and stand by the king)
Nebuchadnezzar: I had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.
Chaldean 1: O king, live forever! Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.
Nebuchadnezzar: The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.
Chaldean 2: Let the king tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.
Nebuchadnezzar: I know for certain that you are bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that the command from me is firm, that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only one decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt words before me until the situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may know that you can declare to me its interpretation.
Chaldean 1: There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any magician, conjurer or Chaldean. Moreover, the thing which the king demands is difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it to the king except gods, whose dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.
Nebuchadnezzar (very angry): Destroy all the wise men of Babylon!
(Exit all wise men, running for their lives)
Narrator: So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.
(Enter Daniel, Arioch)
Daniel (to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard): For what reason is the decree from the king so urgent?
Arioch: The king has had a dream that he wants interpreted. He won’t tell what the dream was, but he expected the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans to interpret it. They weren’t able to and now he wants all of the wise men to be killed.
Daniel (to the king): May I request to have some time in order that I might declare the interpretation to the you, O King.
(King nods in agreement)
(Exit King & Arioch) (Enter Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah)
Narrator: Then Daniel went to his house and informed his friends.
Daniel: The king has had a dream. He won’t tell the dream, but still wants it interpreted. His wise men haven’t be able to do so, so the king wants them all to be killed. Let us so request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that we will not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.
(All bow in prayer)
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The Secret Is Revealed to Daniel: Daniel 2:19-30
Characters:
Narrator, Daniel, Arioch
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(Enter Daniel)
Narrator: Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.
Daniel: Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.
It is He who reveals the profound and hidden things;
He knows what is in the darkness,
And the light dwells with Him.
To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise,
For You have given me wisdom and power;
Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You,
For You have made known to us the king’s matter.
(Enter Arioch)
Daniel (to Arioch): Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.
Arioch: Hurry, let’s go see the king!
(Enter Nebuchadnezzar)
Arioch (to the king): I have found a man among the exiles from Judah who can make the interpretation known to the king!
Nebuchadnezzar (to Daniel): Are you able to make known to me the dream which I have seen and its interpretation?
Daniel: As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king. However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place. But as for me, this mystery has not been revealed to me for any wisdom residing in me more than in any other living man, but for the purpose of making the interpretation known to the king, and that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.
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The King’s Dream & Daniel’s Promotion: Daniel 2:31-49
Characters:
Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar, Statue Builders, Narrator, Servant
Props:
Statue – 3 Cardboard boxes that can stack on top of each other: 1 – yellow head, 2 – gray breast and arms & belly (brown), 3 – brown thighs, gray legs, & brown/gray feet
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(Enter Daniel & Nebuchadnezzar) (As Daniel talks about the different parts, use the cardboard boxes to build the statue)
Daniel: You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome. The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
(Have someone knock down the statue when Daniel says)
Daniel: You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Narrator: Daniel will tell Nebuchadnezzar about the 4 kingdoms that the statue in his dreams represents. The 1st kingdom is his own – Babylon.
Daniel: This was the dream; now we will tell its interpretation before the king. You, O king of Babylon, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory; and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
Daniel: After you there will arise another kingdom inferior to you, then another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.
Narrator: These are the 2nd and 3rd kingdoms to come – Medo-Persia and Greece
Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
Narrator: This is the 4th Kingdom – Rome
Narrator: Then Daniel tells about another kingdom that will be to come – The Divine Kingdom
Daniel: In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.
(Enter Servant)
Nebuchadnezzar (falling on his face): (to his servant) We need to pay homage to Daniel. Present to him an offering and fragrant incense.
Servant: Yes, your majesty.
Nebuchadnezzar: Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery. You are now promoted in rank. you will be ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. You will be given many great gifts.
Daniel: May I request that I may appoint Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego over the administration of the province of Babylong, while I am at the king’s court.
Nebuchadnezzar: It shall be as you say.
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Daniel Chapter 2 Bible Skits (Part 2 of 6)
