"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." ~William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet Last year, I heard sermon about the passage in Daniel about Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refusing to eat the royal rations given to them in Babylon. Part of the sermon talked about the names of the characters and what those names meant. The four men entered Babylon with the names Daniel (judge of God), Hananiah (God has favored), Mishael (Who is what God is?), and Azariah (God has helped). Once they entered the king's service, however, all four were given new names: Belteshazzar (Ba'al protect the king), Shadrach (command of Aku), Meshach (Who is what Aku is?), and Abednego (servant of Nebo). All of these new names gave tribute to one of the gods of the Babylonians, whereas their Hebrew names gave tribute to God. This got me to thinking, why do we refer to Daniel by his Hebrew name, but to his friends by their Babylonian names,
Reflections on modern life through the lens of Christianity. There will be different formats for different posts, but my prayer is that each one will be used by God to help someone else have hope.