SCRIPTURE:
3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring into the king’s service some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility— 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service.
6 Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. 7 The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.
Daniel 1:3-7
OBSERVATION:
What’s in a name? In this case, everything.
It’s in the book of Daniel that we find the Israelites under Babylonian captivity. As the Israelites arrive in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar asks his right hand man, Ashpenaz, to select a number of the best, most talented, most promising Israelite men to serve him. Amongst the cream of the crop were four young Israelites. Their names were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. But notice what Asphenaz, Nebuchadnezzar’s chief, does immediately after he selects these four––he gives them new names. As it says in verse 7, “The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.”
Why is this list of names important? Because there is significance in a name. Names give people value and worth. And more importantly, the names that God gives us carry meaning for our lives. In changing their names, Ashpenaz was trying to take away their God-ordained names and replace them not just with new names, but a new identity and a new culture so that he could better control them.
And when we look at this with spiritual eyes, we start to see that satan, behind the scenes, was scheming to replace their names with the exact opposite name of what God had created them to be. When we translate their Hebrew and Babylonian names into English, we see exactly what the devil tried to do:
The devil tried to replace names that once gave God glory with names that tried to give the devil and his false gods glory. Through Ashpenaz, the devil tried to throw away the name that God had given them, the calling that God had given them, the right as sons of God that God had given them and replaced them with the complete opposite of what God had ordained. Why? So that they would forget who they were and who they were called to be.
APPLICATION:
What’s in a name? Significance is in a name––especially the names that God gives us. The names that God calls you carry value, meaning, and purpose for your life. But if you’re not careful, you may very well begin to listen to the wrong voices, and maybe even the voice of the devil himself, and forget who you are. Don’t call yourself by any other names than the names that God has given to you.
And what names has God given you?
VICTORIOUS
“In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
(Romans 8:37 NIV)
BEAUTIFUL
“I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
(Psalm 139:14 NIV)
CAPABLE
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
(Philippians 4:13 NKJV)
SET APART
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart”
(Jeremiah 1:5 NIV)
LOVED
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
(Romans 5:8 NIV)
Today, remember the names that God has given you, recite those names over your life, and refute the names anyone else has given you. You are not defined by the opinions, thoughts, and preferences of people. You are who God says you are. Stand confidently in the identity He has given you and know that the names that God has given you are true, significant, and meaningful.
PRAYER:
God,
Thank You for calling me victorious, beautiful, capable, set apart, and loved. Today, I remember, recite, and receive the identity You have given me. I repent for the times I have believed the lies of the names that others have given me and for the times I have forgotten, devalued, and didn’t believe the names You have given. I renounce the lies and cancel the names the devil has tried to place upon me, and I replace it with the truth of who You say that I am––that I am loved just as I am because You said so. Thank You, Lord, for creating me, for giving me purpose, and for loving me. I love You, my Lord, and I live to bring glory to Your name.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
