"Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father was among the Israelites. A fight broke out in the camp between the Israelite woman's son and an Israelite man. Her son cursed and blasphemed the Name, and they brought him to Moses." (Levititus 2: 10, 11a CSB)
"God also said to Moses, 'Say this to the Israelites: Yahweh, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever; this is how I am to be remembered in every generation.' " (Exodus 3:15 CSB)
Don't you just love the story of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in the fiery furnace?
If you're thinking "huh?" right about now, you're not alone. This trio is more familiarly known to us as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They, along with Daniel-renamed-Belteshazzar, are four of the leading players we meet in the drama that unfolds in Daniel's namesake book.
Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and Daniel are the quartet's given Hebrew names. Each contains a reference to the Lord God: to "El" or "Yah." Hananiah means, "Yah has been gracious." Mishael means, "Who is what God is?" Azariah means, "Yah has helped." And Daniel means, "God is my judge." In freedom and at home with God, these faithful men carried pieces of the one true God with them. And they clung to these pieces of freedom and home even when they were taken captive and exiled to Babylon. There, they were assigned new names intended not only to change what they were called but their very identities; each of their Babylonian names contained a reference to a false god. King Nebuchadnezzar's intent was to cause them to forget who—and Whose—they were.
And yet they did not forget. They did not bow. They did not shift their allegiance. They did not trade in their God-given identities. They remained faithful to the Name.
In our own seasons of captivity and exile, we might give ourselves or be given new names as well.
Condemned.
Hopeless.
Broken.
Lost.
Incomplete.
Yet when we remember who and Whose we really are—when we remember that we bear the name of the Name—we can boldly reclaim our identifies as people who are free and at home with God.
Redeemed.
Hopeful.
Healed.
Found.
Whole.
To the Name whose name we bear, in the fire or in freedom, may we be forever faithful.
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!