Bold Faith - Know Your True Identity

The story of three friends standing up to one of the most powerful kings of the time, surviving an attempted murder, and being able to tell others about their story even to this day is insane! One reason why this story is still around, I think, is that God wants to use this story to encourage and motivate you to have a bold faith in Him because He doesn’t just want you to survive, but to thrive.

The only way to truly thrive is by having a bold faith in God.

But how do you do that?

Know Your True Identity

According to the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego the first thing we need to do is to know our true identity. 

If you want to have a bold faith, then you need to know your true identity.

When you know your true identity, then you know who you are and whose you are. 

The first thing that the story of these three friends shows us is that they knew their identity. They knew who they were and whose they were.

Before these three friends found themselves hogged tied and serving as kindling for a fire, they were part of the 1% in ancient Jerusalem. They were being educated, pampered, and conditioned to become the future leaders of Israel during their day. All that ended when the Babylonians invaded Jerusalem and they became prisoners of war. 

Once they got to the city of Babylon, which is around modern day Baghdad, they were submitted to an all-encompassing, weaponized, cultural reprogramming effort by their captures. The purpose of this was to change the identities of these young men away from seeing themselves as Jewish captives in a foreign society to being fully-fledged Babylonians living and working in their new city.

Among those who were chosen were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego. - Daniel 1:6-7 niv

You may not realize it, but names were super important during this time of history and the Babylonians knew it. A person’s name gave them a sense of their identity and also helped others understand the personality and identity of others. The Babylonians knew this so they changed the names of these three friends in order to assimilate them into their culture. They also tried to assimilate them by teaching them their customs, how they worshipped, their language, fed them their food, and thoroughly immersed them into the Babylonian culture. Changing their names was key though, because it fundamentally changed their sense of identity. 

Their Hebrew names brought praise to the true God. Their Hebrew names reminded them of who they were and how they were to live out their lives because they knew whose they were. However, their new Babylonian names brought praise to the pagan Babylonian pantheon of gods and goddesses.

Daniel’s Hebrew name means “God is my judge,” but his Babylonian name, Belteshazzar, means “the divine lady protects the king.” For Hananiah, his Hebrew name means, “The LORD is gracious,” then it is changed to Shadrach, which means “under the command of Aku,” which was a Babylonian moon god. For Mishael, his name means, “Who is what God is?” His name is changed to Meshach, meaning the “guest of a king.” Lastly, Azariah’s name means, “The Lord is my help.” His name is changed to Abednego, which means, “a servant of Nabu,” a Babylonian sun god.

King Nebuchadnezzar was trying his best to create new identities for all of the people he captured. We see him forcing everyone to worship the same golden statue to create a common sense of religion. He instituted a program that would reformat people so that they saw themselves as true Babylonians, instead of who they truly were. He was creating a new sense of belonging for these groups who were vastly different from each other and from the Babylonians. 

We may not realize it, but we live in a modern-day Babylon. We live in the richest country the world has ever seen and that affluence influences us to apathetic toward the needs of others. Every technological advancement is at our finger-tips driving us to be the most connected, isolated generation every! Our culture offers us pleasure and prosperity and promises us significance and meaning but never actually delivers on its promises. Our culture entices us and invites us to join in on the fun, one latte at a time as the world burns. Don’t get me wrong, not everything in our culture is bad, but we would be fooling ourselves in thinking that this world doesn't want to force us to conform to its identity, its agenda, and its values. 

You were made for more than that! You weren’t made to simply work, pay taxes and bills, then become worm food. No, you were made to have a personal relationship with the Creator of the cosmos! A relationship that is never-ending and all-encompassing where God is deeply-devoted to you and gives you your true identity. 

God says that you are loved, just how you are. That you are enough, just as you are. That you are His and nothing can ever change that fact because He never changes. God says you are worthy because He doesn’t make junk! God says that you have a purpose and reason for living that goes way beyond a bank account and zoning out to Netflix. 

God wants you to have a bold faith in Him because that’s your spiritual heritage. He gives you your true identity and that is more than enough to have a bold faith in Him.