GROW PLAN
June 1-7, 2026
Day One
The Prophet
Daniel wrote in the Sixth Century B.C. He lived through the entire captivity of Judah in Babylon. He was a teenager when he was taken into captivity and lived into his eighties to see the king of Babylon set the Jewish people free. Despite the prophecies in his book, Daniel wasn’t really considered a prophet by Jewish leaders. His book was included in a section of the Hebrew Bible called The Writings rather than The Prophets. Unlike the other prophets, Daniel was not charged by God with a public message to the Hebrew people, and so they considered Daniel a governmental leader. But Jesus set the record straight, referring to Daniel as a prophet in Matthew 25:15. Daniel is also praised for his righteousness and his wisdom in Ezekiel (14:14, 20, 28:3). The events of these verses happened in 605 B.C. Jehoiakim had been an evil king (2 Chron. 36:5). In fact, he had been put on the throne by Egypt after Judah had been defeated by the Egyptians. In a secular view, Judah was conquered because it was swallowed up by a victorious Babylon, which had defeated the Assyrians and Egypt. In reality, Judah was conquered because of its long disobedience toward God. (Jeremiah 25) When Judah came under Babylonian control, it marked the beginning of the “times of the Gentiles,” which Jesus mentioned in Luke 21:24. In this time, the Promised Land is subjected to Gentile powers and David’s throne has no rightful heir until the Messiah returns.
Pray that the Lord would reveal His truth to you and to all of us as we study Daniel, that we will see better how we should follow Christ.
Day Two
Captivity
Nebuchadnezzar turned Judah into a province of his empire, and he took some spoils with him to show Judah’s submission to his authority and to integrate the new territory into the Babylonian empire. Some of those spoils were articles from the temple and some were young men he considered suitable for his palace. The qualifications were entirely worldly. These young men, probably 15 or 16, had to be from noble families, good looking, smart and educated. They were to undergo three years of training in the language, culture and traditions of Babylon. They were to be turned into Babylonians to serve the empire. They included Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Immediately, they were pressured to give up worshiping God to worship the gods of Babylon, so their names were changed. Daniel, which means “God is my Judge,” was changed to Belteshazzar, which means “Bel (an idol) protect him.” Hananiah, “God has been gracious,” was renamed Shadrach, “the command of Aku (idol).” Mishael, “who is what God is” was renamed Meshach. “who is what Aku is.” And Azariah, “the Lord has helped,” was renamed Abednego, “servant of Nebo (idol).” The four were taken in the first of three waves of the exile. Nebuchadnezzar came back to Judah eight years later in response to a rebellion and took 10,000 more people into exile, including the prophet Ezekiel. He came for a third time nine years after that and destroyed Jerusalem and took the surviving people into exile.
Just like these four men were pressured to give up the Lord for Babylonians idols, our world puts pressure on us to conform us to its mold. How are the forces of this world trying to pull you away from the Lord?
Day Three
Vegetarians
Daniel was determined that he would not forget the Lord while training in Babylonians ways. The teenagers took the training and did what they were supposed to do, but Daniel didn’t want to allow his obedience to the Babylonians to extend to disobedience of the Lord. That meant that he couldn’t eat the food the Babylonians wanted to feed them. Not only did this food include meats that were unclean under Jewish law, but the meat wasn’t prepared to be kosher, and some of the meat and wine was probably offered to idols. Notice that the Lord had taken care of these young men and caused the official in charge of them to become fond of them. It would have been natural for this official to have been offended when Daniel explained that eating the king’s food would defile them, but the Lord didn’t let that happen. Daniel was also respectful. He didn’t demand a special diet. He asked for permission to eat only vegetables. The official agreed to an experiment, and the captive men ate only vegetables for 10 days. The Lord worked on their behalf again, and despite their restrictive diet, they looked healthier and better fed than the guys who ate the royal food. Daniel and his friends were not pressured again to eat the food the king had provided, so they were able to keep their adherence to Jewish dietary laws.
When we resolve to stay faithful to the Lord, He is faithful to us. He will help us resist the pressure of the world to conform. Ask Him to help you oppose whatever the world is using to pull you from Him.
Day Four
Success
The four young Jewish men took their studies seriously and did their work. The Lord favored them and gave them knowledge and understanding. Nebuchadnezzar thought that he was preparing the four for his purposes, but it was really the Lord preparing them for His purposes. To Daniel, He gave particular insight into dreams and visions. The king interviewed them and found them to be much wiser than the counselors and the occult practitioners of his court. When we studied Ephesians, we saw how Paul wrote that slaves should be good workers, working as if they were serving the Lord rather than their masters. These four are a good example of that principle. They were captives, taken by a king who had conquered their nation, killed their king, plundered their temple and oppressed their people. But they studied, and they served him as they would serve the Lord, while obeying the Lord rather than the king wherever there was a conflict. By doing so, they were able to show the supremacy of the Lord and show this people far from Judah who is really God.
Most of us have struggled to serve or work for difficult people. We have to remember that we are really serving and representing the Lord. In what circumstance in your life, do you need to apply this principle?
Day Five
Wise Men Without Wisdom
Nebuchadnezzar had a recurring dream. It bothered him and it kept him from sleeping. So, he turned to his “wise men.” The Babylonian king’s wise men included magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers, practically anyone who practiced occult arts or pretended some kind of ability to tell the future. What the wise men lacked was wisdom. We know that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7), and the “wise men” in Nebuchadnezzar’s administration didn’t have this beginning. The king may have suspected that their expertise was lacking. He demanded more than an interpretation of the dream. He required them to tell him what his dream was. He wanted them to prove their ability to him by telling him what he had dreamt before he would trust them with the interpretation. The “wise men” objected to this requirement, pointing out that what he asked was impossible and that no other king had made such an impossible demand. Nebuchadnezzar was angry with these fakers and ordered that all the “wise men” be executed. The problem was that Daniel and his friends were included in the group of “wise men.”
Nebuchadnezzar looked for wisdom in the wrong place. Like other kings before him, he had turned to the occult, psychics and astrologers for advice and insight. Our wisdom needs to come from the Lord. When the Word tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, it means that wisdom in our lives needs to spring from our respect for the Lord and our relationship with Him. Are there any unreliable, wrong sources of “wisdom” in your life?
Day Six
Genuine Wisdom
The king did have four men in his “wise” group that did have the beginning of wisdom. They knew where to turn for genuine insight. And they knew where to turn when they were in danger. When Daniel was informed that he and his friends had been sentenced to death with the other advisors, he calmly asked why. Then Daniel approached Nebuchadnezzar. He didn’t repeat the “wise men’s” claim that the task was impossible. He didn’t plead for mercy. He just asked for some time. When he was given the time, he did the only thing that made sense: He gathered his friends, and they prayed. Daniel did not ask for mercy from Nebuchadnezzar, but he asked for mercy from God. This is real wisdom that arises from a relationship with God. God had given Daniel and his friends knowledge and understanding, but they didn’t depend on these or their own talents. Because they respected the Lord, they went straight to Him. They knew the only real source for help and for the wisdom that would save their lives is the Lord. They hit their knees and begged the Lord to give them help and insight. He did not disappoint.
Whenever we face a problem or a crisis, there is only one right first choice: prayer. It isn’t the last resort. It has to be the first resort. We have to know where our help comes from. What is happening in your life for which you need to ask the Lord for wisdom and insight?