Leader Guide
Game
- Bibles or the Superbook Bible App
- Seven Times Hotter Poster
- Three medium size boxes—smaller classes may need only two
- Utility knife or any sharp knife, for the teacher to use before class
- Thirty sheets of paper
- Optional: five Sixth Grade readers
Copy the Seven Times Hotter Poster, in color or black and white.
On the bottom middle of each box, carefully cut out a 6" square—see illustration.
On the front of each box, carefully cut out another 6" square starting at the bottom and going up to the middle—see illustration.
Wad up the sheets of paper to make “fuel balls.”
Place the boxes—furnaces—near one end of the room, with the front opening of each box facing out toward the throwing line. Leave several feet between each box.
Mark a throwing line about 10–12 feet away from the boxes—adjust as desired.
Optional: Have five Sixth Grade helpers or other older children look up Daniel 3:19–28. Have them each read two verses of the passage aloud before beginning the game.
19 Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. 20 Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.
21 So they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants, turbans, robes, and other garments.22 And because the king, in his anger, had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in.
23 So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames. 24 But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” “Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied.
25 “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” 26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire.
27 Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke! 28 Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
Hold up the Fiery Furnace Visual. The furnaces in Bible times were very large and made of stone or brick. They were used to make bricks or to heat and shape metal. The king was furious that the three Hebrew men would not obey his command to worship the statue of gold. He was so mad that he ordered the furnace to be made seven times hotter than it normally was! The servants could not just turn a dial to a hotter setting! The furnace could only be made hotter by blowing air into it with a tool called a bellows, or by adding fuel to the fire.
Divide the children into three teams—or two teams, if the class is small. Teams do not need to be equal. Have them stand behind the mark in separate lines. Place a pile of ten paper “fuel balls” at the mark for each team. Hold up the fuel balls and point to the boxes—furnaces—as you explain the game.
The goal of our game today is to make the furnaces hotter by throwing “fuel balls” into them. The king ordered the furnace to be made seven times hotter, so today we need to throw seven fuel balls into the top or the front of your furnace. The first team to do this wins. Each player gets to throw two fuel balls on their turn and then go to the back of the line. When you run out of fuel, a player must go get the balls that missed the furnace and return them to your team.
Start the game and make sure all children have a chance to throw. For faster game play, have sixth grade helpers or other assistants return the missed balls to the teams as needed.
By commanding the furnaces to be made hotter, King Nebuchadnezzar only made God’s miracle more amazing! The heat that baked bricks or molded metal was blazing and intense, and no human could survive it without a miracle from God. In fact, the furnace was so hot that the guards who threw the Hebrew men into the fire instantly died—and they were only close to the fire, not in it! Our Bible verse that we read earlier says that the fire did not touch the Hebrew men. Their hair was not singed, and their clothing was not scorched. God is all-powerful and amazing—and He is able to save us from anything!
