Scripture: Daniel 5
Learning Objectives:
- Students will learn God expects everyone on earth to worship and obey Him.
- Students will learn God will not allow other gods or religions to replace what He has given us.
- Students will learn God sometimes gives earthly consequences for rejecting Him.
- Students will learn the origins of common expressions.
Guiding Question: Where do common expressions and idioms come from?
Materials: Internet access for research
Procedure: Review the story of the writing on the wall. Remind students that the writing meant nothing to the king until Daniel told him what it meant. Explain to students that the Bible was not originally written in English. Ask students if they know what those three languages were. Explain that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament was written in Greek with some Aramaic and Hebrew. The other reason the Bible is sometimes hard to understand is that it uses words we don’t use in our every day conversations.
Introduce the activity. Explain that the “writing is on the wall” is an expression in English that came from this Bible story. Give each student a common expression or idiom. Have them research to see if they can find its origin. Have students share the expression and what they learned with the class.
Additional Questions: How can common expressions and idioms be used in writing?
Supplemental Activity: Have the students research common expressions and idioms. Have the students pick at least 3 expressions and use them in writing a short story.