Monday, March 31, 2008
Daniel 1:1-2
1:1 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. (ESV)
by Linda Harris
Despite Josiah’s purification campaign, the prophesied calamity of 2 Chronicles 34:24-25 came to pass. Isaiah also foretold, “The time will surely come when everything in your palace … will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left” (Isaiah 39:6, NIV).
When circumstances seem out of control, people ask, “Where is God?” God was in Babylon with the captives, just as he had been with them in Jerusalem. When you feel powerless, what is your response? Do you try to dominate in the situation or allow God to rule? Take time to acknowledge to God his authority in your life.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .
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