Day 1

Scripture to Read: Daniel 1:1–2

God has much to teach us in the Book of Daniel. We first read in Daniel 1:1–2, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of Shinar, to the house of his god, and he brought the vessels into the treasury of his god." It’s the third year of Jehoiakim. Daniel would have been about 15 years old when he was taken into captivity. They were taken about 350 miles east to a place called Shinar in Hebrew. The Greeks called it Mesopotamia. King Nebuchadnezzar came against Israel in three waves. First, in 605 B.C., Daniel, his friends, and a few princes were first taken captive. Nebuchadnezzar came a second time and took captive most of the rest of the nation of Israel around 596 B.C.—the prophet Ezekiel was taken then. Ezekiel and Daniel had their ministries, not in Israel, but in exile. Nebuchadnezzar came a third time in 586 B.C. and captured the rest of Israel. He destroyed Jerusalem and Solomon’s temple at that time. This was also when the prophet Jeremiah penned The Book of Lamentations as he grieved Solomon’s temple being destroyed. God used Nebuchadnezzar to bring His loving discipline upon Israel (Hebrews 12:5–11). When we willingly sin, God loves us enough to discipline us so that we’ll repent and pursue Him and not the world.

Challenge & Application

• When has God had to lovingly discipline you in order to lead you to repentance and start walking with Him again? • Who did God use in your life to bring about His loving discipline, and how did He use them?

Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!

Devotionals from this week

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Day 1

God has much to teach us in the Book of Daniel. We first read in Daniel 1:1–2, "In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 The Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the vessels of the house of God; and he brought them to the land of ...
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Day 2

Daniel was called upon to take a stand for God at age 15. In Daniel 1:3–7, we read how Daniel and others were chosen by Nebuchadnezzar to be taught the literature and language of the Chaldeans and the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar wanted to groom these young men to get on his side and then use them to convince the rest of the population of Judah t...
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Day 3

We need to take a closer look at Daniel 1:6–7. The names of these young men meant something. Daniel meant, “God is my Judge.” Hananiah meant, “Yahweh is gracious.” Mishael meant, “who is like God.” Azariah meant, “Yahweh has helped.” We know Daniel and his three friends came from Godly Jewish homes because their names reflected something in the...
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Day 4

In Daniel 1:8, we read how Daniel, by the strength God gave Him (Ephesians 6:10–12), took a stand against the food and drink he and his friends were supposed to eat and drink. The reason eating Nebuchadnezzar’s diet would be defiling towards God is found in Exodus 34:15: “otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and t...
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Day 5

In Daniel 1:11–13, we read that Daniel did not back down from the commander's resistance but offered the commander a time to test Daniel’s idea on Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. We must remember that every time we pursue God and His will, there will be resistance. The devil hates it when we pursue God and seek to obey Him, so he is goin...
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Day 6

God has a perfect plan for each one of us. He’s made it clear throughout His Word that as we obey Him and His Word, we’ll see His abundant favor upon our lives (Psalm 1:1–2, Matthew 7:24–29, Luke 6:47–49, Luke 11:28, John 13:17). That does not mean our lives are free from tests and trials, for even here in Daniel 1 we see the test that Daniel an...
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Day 7

After training for three years (Daniel 1:5), Nebuchadnezzar inspected all the youth to see if they were suitable for serving in his court. God did a mighty work in and through Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah because they chose to abide in Him and His Word. These four young men, at 15 years of age, chose not to compromise. They chose to...

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