This Sunday, I will be preaching from Daniel 3 under the title “Unburned, Unbothered, and Unbound.” The focus will be on how to respond to an empire in authority – with faith; and how God shows up even in the middle of our fires. The central idea is simple but powerful: God does not mind the flames.
But there is something that has been ‘sitting with me’ that I may not have time to unpack on Sunday – something about the names of the three men. The entire narrative focuses on three young men: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The sad truth is these were not their real names. The Babylonian system imposed these names on them.
Throughout history, this has been a common war tactic: capture the enemy, then change their language, their diet, their religion, and finally their names with the hope of erasing their identity and making them subservient.
Their Hebrew names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah – each one – a testimony to the character of God:
- Hananiah means “Yahweh is gracious.”
- Mishael means “Who is what God is?”
- Azariah means “Yahweh has helped.”
But the Babylon regime changed their names to:
- Shadrach means “command of Aku.”
- Meshach means “who is what Aku is.”
- Abednego means “servant of Nebo.”
Names matter!
Names represent identity, and identity represents access.
That is why I love God! Even when we find ourselves in a modern-day Babylon — under systems that rename us: less than, not enough, weak, powerless, radical, and unhinged—God refuses to let those labels be the last word.
Through Jesus Christ, God makes a promise in Revelation 3:12: not only will we receive a new name, but God will write HIS own name on us.
What a glorious thought! Despite the empires we face, and the social labels they try to wrap around us – we bear the name of God. Therefore, we have access to what the ‘Nebuchadnezzars’ of the world cannot take, cannot furlough, cannot tariff, and cannot withhold!
We are bearers of God’s name—unburned, unbothered, and unbound! Amen.
Dr. Ron Bell
