***This post is about us, but I need to start with Daniel.***
I made an interesting observation in the Book of Daniel (KJV Version). (Since the last ‘V’ stands for ‘Version’, can we call it the KJ Version? Or the KJVV? It seems too redundant.)
Daniel’s friends (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego) were actually named Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah in Hebrew. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were the Babylonian names that they were given after going into captivity. Daniel was renamed Belteshazzar (meaning: “he whom Bel favors”).
The following thought crept through my mind: Why do we know Daniel by his given Hebrew name, but we know his three friends–brave men who would rather be thrown in a furnace than betray the God of Israel–by their false Babylonian names?
It’s claimed that Daniel wrote the Book of Daniel, but it’s written in third person. Why would Daniel insist on calling himself by his true Hebrew name but not his friends?
I don’t have an answer (yet), but I’m willing to speculate he kept referring to himself by his true Hebrew name because he was committed to God. No way was he going to advertise himself as being the one “whom Bel favors.”
I believe we will have new names in heaven because of Revelation 2:17 (NASB)–“To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
The idea that our Father has different names for His children than the names we own here seems symbolic of our identities and how we’re understood. Everyone belongs to one of two kingdoms: The Kingdom of God or the kingdom of darkness. And what partnership does light have with darkness? Unbelievers cannot truly understand and deeply befriend a Believer. (I am NOT saying that we shouldn’t be nice to unbelievers. On the contrary, we are to be kind to everyone and we can be friends with unbelievers. My point is that an unbeliever can’t truly understand what makes you tick unless they know your Watchmaker.)
We have identities that are being molded for eternity (if we’ve placed ourselves in Jesus Christ). Life is messy, but our Creator knows how to help us along. The world is getting darker, and modern-day Babylon will try to rename you.
DON’T LOSE YOUR TRUE IDENTITY.
Michelle ~ “We love Him, because He first loved us.” — 1 John 4:19
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