𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗠-𝗨𝗣
Share about a time when you tried something new and it was a good experience.
• Was there ever a time you had to stand up for what you believe to be the right thing? What happened?
• Have you ever found yourself in a difficult situation because of something someone else did? What happened?


𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗗
𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘮 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩, 𝘕𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘻𝘻𝘢𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘢𝘣𝘺𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘑𝘦𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘑𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘪𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘮 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘶𝘥𝘢𝘩 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 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 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘥. 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟭:𝟭–𝟮

(Read also 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟭:𝟯–𝟮𝟭.)

Even before the people of Israel entered the land God had promised them, God warned them that they would not live long in the land if they did not remain faithful to His covenant with them. However, in the time of Daniel, the leaders of Judah turned the hearts of the people away from God. Because of this, God gave the people of Judah over to the Babylonians. Nebuchadnezzar’s troops attacked Jerusalem and carried off its inhabitants into exile. Today, we will look at how God remains sovereign in different situations and how Daniel and his friends responded accordingly.

𝟭. 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘆.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘴𝘩𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘻, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘐𝘴𝘳𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘩, 𝘰𝘧 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦, 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴. . . . 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟭:𝟯–𝟰, 𝟴

After Judah fell to the Babylonians, King Nebuchadnezzar gave instructions to educate their young nobility in the ways of Babylon. These skilled young men were to forget their identity and, in effect, their covenant with God. Despite the difficulty they were facing, their faith in God did not waver. They also remained true to God by not defiling themselves by eating food that God had declared unclean for them. What did the king want them to do and how did Daniel respond (Daniel 1:5–10)?

𝟮. 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘁𝘆.
𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭, 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘩, 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘻𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘩, “𝘛𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴; 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘷𝘦𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨’𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦.” 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟭:𝟭𝟭–𝟭𝟯

As part of their training, the skilled young men were to eat and drink the king’s food. Daniel and his friends resisted. This was against the beliefs of Daniel and his friends, who knew God’s laws and restrictions. Even when they risked their lives, they stood by their convictions and trusted God’s sovereignty to pull them through. How do you think this test increased their faith in God? How do you think it could have prepared them for other tests to come?

𝟯. 𝗚𝗼𝗱’𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀.
𝘈𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘴, 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. . . . 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮. 𝗗𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗘𝗟 𝟭:𝟭𝟳, 𝟮𝟬

God blessed Daniel and his friends with favor. They looked better even when their diet only consisted of water and vegetables. Then, they also received wisdom and ability from God. The king recognized their ability. In fact, they were ten times better than the others. How have you experienced God’s favor and wisdom in difficult situations?

𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
• What do you think Daniel and his friends felt and experienced as exiles in Babylon? Where do you think they drew strength and conviction from, and what can you learn from this story?
• Do you believe that God is sovereign, and how should we act in response to this truth?
• How can you show the loving faithfulness of God to your family and friends this week?


𝗣𝗥𝗔𝗬𝗘𝗥
• Thank God for being sovereign over your life and never abandoning you even when things are difficult. Ask Him to show you where He is even in difficulty.
• Pray that God will help you understand the challenges you are facing, especially if they are the result of another’s actions. Ask for the grace to forgive the ones who acted wrongly and to honor God with your life.
• Ask God for an opportunity to share about His goodness and sovereignty with your family and friends this week. Pray that their hearts will be open to what you will share.