My dear brothers and sisters, of FaithLine: “When the Israelites were in captivity of king Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, the king instructed his man in charge of training servants to bring some of the children of Israel, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand…To them the chief of the eunuchs gave names: he gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abed-Nego.” (Dan. 1:3-7) The boys names had the following meanings,
- DANIEL – God is my judge; Changed to: Bel will protect the king. Bel is a god of the Babylonians
- HANANIAH – Yahweh has been gracious; Changed to: inspired of Aku. Aku was the Babylonian god of the moon.
- MISHAEL – Who belongs to God; Changed to: who belongs to Aku
- AZARIAH – Yahweh has helped; Changed to: servant of Nebo who was the Babylonian god of wisdom.
Contrast their God inspired names to their ungodly “new” names whose meanings centered on several false Babylonian gods. Why do we only remember the Babylonian names of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego today? You see, the devil wants us to think in an ungodly worldly manner but as Jesus said, “My kingdom is NOT OF THIS WORLD…“ (John 18:36) and as Paul explained, “…OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will TRANSFORM OUR LOWLY BODY that it may be CONFORMED TO HIS GLORIOUS BODY…” (Phil. 3:20-21)
FaithLine, the bible says: “…OUR CITIZENSHIP IS IN HEAVEN…”
-Bill Stockham