1. Recount one or two of your favourite Bible stories. What is it about them that resonates with you?

2. The last verse of Daniel 4 states “those who walk in pride [God] is able to humble.” What is this referring to?

3. At the party, why do you think Belshazzar wanted to drink from goblets that had come from God’s temple? What else            was going on at this party?

4. Describe the big, mysterious event! Describe the emotions it evoked. Why did it incite so much fear? How would you               have responded if you had been there?

5. 45-50 years passed between Nebuchadnezzar’s and Belshazzar’s reign. Somewhere along that timeline, Daniel had              been reduced to relative obscurity, his position and influence removed, and his name almost forgotten. How do we              handle obscurity? Why can it be so difficult?

6.  Some of the things we notice about Daniel’s response to exile and obscurity include:

•    He remains in his place, living with quiet, patient integrity
•    He has not lost his gifting or his connection to God
•    His reputation was still good
•    He has established and held his identity as a Hebrew, one of God’s people, confident in the Lord’s present and future     provision
•   He doesn’t desire a return to the recognition, fame, or even compensation he had before
• Which of these characteristics encourages you most in your call to live in exile or obscurity? How difficult or easy would it be to practice these? Explain.

7. What does Daniel’s name mean? What is so significant about this? What is judgment really for?

8. When Daniel recounts Nebuchadnezzar’s life, what similarities do you see to the larger Biblical narrative of creation- fall-    redemption-restoration?

9. How does God’s judgment show up in the story of Belshazzar? How is this setting things right?

10. How does rooting our identity in God grant us the ability to live confidently and faithfully in exile (these times between         the times) and even in obscurity? How can we grow in rooting our identity in the Lord? Pray for one another to this end.