Series: Resilience
Message: Determination
Preacher: Japhet De Oliveira

Refresh: Open with prayer. Read or listen to Psalm 2:1-4.

Read: Daniel 1 - As you read in the NLT translation, note 1-3 insights/questions that arise? 

Reflect: Judah mourned the loss of their king, Josiah. Jeremiah, the Prophet for Judah, wrote laments about this tragedy which resonated with Daniel who was a teenager at this time. Jeremiah was fast becoming a mentor and hero to Daniel. When Egypt’s Pharaoh Necho returned from the battle of Meggido, he appointed Jehoiakim, one of Joshiah’s sons on the throne of Judah.  The King of Babylon, Nabopolassar, stayed in Babylon while his son Nebuchadnezzar defeated Egypt in an epic battle at Carchemish.  Judah, who had  chosen to be loyal to Egypt now was under the rule of Babylon. This was the same time that Babylon invaded Judah. There were eventually to be three major invasions first in 605 BC (2 Kings 24:1,2; 2 Chronicles 36:5-7), second in 597 BC (2 Kings 24:10-14; 2 Chronicles 36:10) and the third and final one with King Zedekiah and all the remaining people other than the poor taken to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-21; 2 Chronicles 36:17-20). News soon arrived to that Nabopolassar had passed away, on 8th August, 605 BC. Nebuchadnezzar had to rush back to claim the throne before any of the other officials at court claimed it. He took the two week hard dessert path back to Babylon. Meanwhile Daniel, along with other members of the royal family and nobility marched by foot over nearly 1000 miles to Babylon. If this was similar to Ezra 7:9 comments, that could have been 4 months by foot. This was the exact reversal of the journey Abraham took from Ur to the promised land. 

Recalibrate: 

1. Using your imagination, what would it have been like to be a teenager in Daniel’s day?
2. Name 1-3 mentors in your life.
3. Who have you mentored; who could you mentor?
4. What would you have been thinking during the journey to Babylon?

Respond: Pray for someone who has helped you and for someone you could help.

Research: Google -  “mentor,” “Carchemish,” “Necho.” Re-read the story of Joseph found in Genesis 39-50. Compare Daniel 1:2 with Genesis 10:10;11:12; and 14:1, note the direct connection to Tower of Babel references: Abraham was to leave confusion and now Israel is returning to confusion.