Scripture: Daniel 7-12
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God exists outside of time and knows what will happen in the future.
- Students will learn God’s prophecies always come true.
- Students will learn there have always been false prophets. Some or all of their prophecies do not come to pass.
- Students will learn about cycles of sleep and dreams.
Guiding Question: How are sleep cycles and dreams related?
Materials: Links from Procedure section to assist with teaching
Procedure: Review the stories of Daniel’s dreams and visions found in chapters 7-12. Perhaps the most interesting are those found in Daniel chapter 11. Explain to students God sent prophecies for his prophets like Daniel to share with the people. Sometimes, the prophecies were just things God wanted the people to remember from things they had already been taught. At times though, these prophecies foretold the future. Because God knows everything, He knows what will happen in the future. People today who claim to tell the future are often wrong, or just make lucky guesses. Usually what they say is so general people can believe the prophecy came true no matter what actually happens.
Introduce the activity. Teach the students about cycles of sleep and dreams. Have the students create and keep a dream journal for a month.
-Links to support teaching about sleep cycles:
https://www.sleep.org/articles/what-happens-during-sleep/
-Links to support teaching about dreams:
https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/dreams-and-sleep
https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/dreaming-overview#1
Additional Questions: How to the steps in the sleep cycle and dreams connect?
Supplemental Activity: Have students create a poster with the sleep cycle, the steps in each cycle, and how dreams fit in with the sleep cycle.