Key events in today’s reading:

• The River From the Temple (Ezekiel 47:1-12)
• Daniel’s Training in Babylon (Daniel 1)
• The Golden Image and the Blazing Furnace (Daniel 3)
• Daniel in the Lion’s Den (Daniel 6)

Verse that stood out: “The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego” – Daniel 1:7.

What is the value of a person’s name? A few years ago, Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, offered Chicago radio sports-talk host David Kaplan $50,000 to legally change his name to “Dallas Maverick.”  When Kaplan politely declined, Cuban sweetened the offer offering him $100,000. He even said he only had to go by “Dallas Maverick” for one year.  The reaction from Kaplan’s listening crowd was swift and loud and firmly on the side of taking the money. Kaplan turned Cuban down again. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Kaplan explained: “I’d be saying I’d do anything for money, and that bothers me. My name is my birthright. I’d like to preserve my integrity and credibility.”

Our culture which turns everything in a commodity, it should come as no surprise that there are people out there who would like to coopt your name for their own purposes. What might be surprising to us is just how precious and powerful our names really are. Take for instance, the role names play in the story of Daniel and the Hebrew children. After destroying Jerusalem, king Nebuchadnezzar carried off to his palace the spoils of war. That included the treasures of the Temple (v2); and the best young men of Israel (v3-4). In both cases, Nebuchadnezzar’s purpose was the same. He wanted to coopt the treasures of Israel for his own selfish purposes. He put the gold and silver in the temple of his own gods and entered the young men into a three year training program, after which they would be placed into the king’s service.  

In order to get them ready for that service, verses 4-5, tell us that he fed them from his own table and began teaching them the language and the literature of the Babylonians. That makes sense, if they were to serve a Babylonian king, they needed to learn how to read and write and talk like a Babylonian. But the king went one step further, we learn in verse 7, he gave them new names. To Daniel, whose name means “God is my Judge,” he gave the name Belteshazzar, a name that honors the Babylonian god Marduk; Likewise to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, all names that honored Yahweh, the God of Israel, he gave the names Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, names that honored other Babylonian gods. 

Obviously, there’s a pattern here. Nebuchadnezzar didn’t just want these Hebrew children to be able to live like Babylonians. He wanted them to forget that they were Hebrews. He wanted to redefine their purpose in life from that of being a servant of Yahweh, the God of Israel, into being a servant of the king’s own purposes. You see, if your aim is to erase someone’s true identity, you have to give them a new name. 

But, here’s the thing about names – whether they’re given by force or seduction. Just because someone names you something, doesn’t mean you have to go by it. Just because the king gave Daniel a new name didn’t mean he and his friends had to forget who they actually were.  Verse 8, tells us that Daniel resolved not to defile himself with royal food and wine, he sought permission not to defile himself in this way. Now, contrary to many VBS lessons, this is not about eating one’s vegetables and being healthy. This is actually about remembering who one is. Daniel was a Jew, and faithful Jews throughout the ages have adhered to a very specific diet, one set forth in the pages of the Old Testament. By insisting on eating only food that he could assure was clean or as we might say, kosher, Daniel was essentially saying, the king may have given me a new name, but I don’t have to take it as my identity. I will remember who I am. I am a person set apart for God’s purposes, not the king’s.  

Like Daniel, we live in a day and age that is often at odds with our faith. Like Daniel, we live in a day in age that constantly attempts to rename us for its own purposes. Like Daniel, we really can’t escape a life in service to the powers of this world. The world we live in, is the world we’ve got. But like Daniel, we can resolve to live in this world undefiled. We can resist the names this world places on us by remembering who we are. We are more than consumers. We are more than voters. We are more than employees. We are children of God. That is the name that matters. 

For tomorrow:

• Cover to Cover: Daniel 8:8-Hosea 11:9
• Key Passage: Hosea 11:1-11
• Verse of the Day: Hosea 11:9