The Name Game (Part 2): Do You Like Your Name?

In my last post, I talked about how it was a common practice in the ancient world for captives to be renamed by their captors. We considered Daniel and his three friends as a case study. While Daniel 1 records their renaming, there are several other references to it later in the book. In 4:7-9 King Nebuchadnezzar admits that he had renamed Daniel after his own god. Daniel takes it with no recorded complaint. In 5:11-13 the next king Belshazzar is counseled by his queen to call on the man formerly known as Daniel for insight into the vision of the handwriting on the wall,

There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.”

It should be noted that last night of the Babylonian empire, in stunned deference they revert to calling Belteshazzar Daniel! But later under the Persian, we find that the Belteshazzar name continued to stick (10:1-2). So why doesn’t Daniel make an issue of it? Was he really intimidated by his captors? I don’t think so, he had a lot of leverage in the dream interpretation gig, yet he was respectful. It’s like he knew who he was in the Lord and nothing else mattered even as the “third ruler in the kingdom”.

While I am not justifying the practice of naming as a show of power and control, I do ask the question of what difference it makes when we know who we really are…or perhaps whose we are. It didn’t seem to bother Daniel and company. He was following in the footsteps of Joseph who, when he was taken from the dungeon and appeared before Pharaoh, was given a new name (and a hyphenated one at that) Zaphenath-paneah (Genesis 41:45).

Sometimes we get stuck with a bad name at the hands of our parents, take Phineas’ son for example, “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, ‘The glory has departed from Israel!’ because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband.” (1 Samuel 4:21) He was named “No glory” right from the start—ouch! Or perhaps we could think of Nabal in 1 Samuel 25 whose name means “fool”, as his wife pointed out to David, “Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him…” (v.25) Or what about Jacob the “heel-grabber”? Or Isaac (laughter), Issachar (wages), or Jabez (caused pain)? The possibilities are nearly endless.

So are we doomed to be only what others have named us to be? No, we have a choice. We can always respond to God's love and live for his glory no matter what our past might suggest. Nabal had an opportunity to make a wise and diplomatic decision but chose not to. Jacob was concerned about the things of God but had to learn to surrender to God’s plan and timing. By the way, God changed his name to Israel. God is in the business of changing names, bad names for good and good names for better.

The question facing us is, will we receive his blessing or insist on our own way?

 

More on this next time!

The Name Game (Part 1)

Top Baby Names 2014

At the creation, God called out the Day, Night, Heaven, Earth, Seas (Gen. 1), and finally Man
(Gen. 5:2). His naming was a natural and reasonable function of his role as the Creator. So when he created man, in his own image, man was also one who would naturally and creatively name all the creatures as a function of his God-given dominion (Gen 2:19-20). Down through history parents’ naming of their children would be an almost sacred function of creativity and dominion.

Often the naming seemed to rise to the level of the prophecy as parents would call out all the possibility and purpose that their faith in God might work in their children. We see this frequently in the Bible. Sadly, sin marred this sacred naming process and in many cases, it became less about a God-given dominion and blessing and more about domination and a mocking control of others…whom we have no right to name.

I grew up knowing what it was to be called names—some good, some bad. On the playground kids always seem to show their oppressive creativity in devising the most unpleasant nicknames. Trust me I know…probably you do as well. At home, even my Dad’s affectionate nicknames for me were words that might be hard for some to swallow such as “Knucklehead”, “Twerp”, and “Dummy.” It could have been much worse. While my dad meant better than the kids on the playground, his naming left much to be desired.

Much has been written in recent years about the oppressor’s practice of naming the oppressed. However, this practice is an ancient one. You can read Daniel 1:1-7 as four young Jewish youths who were taken from Jerusalem as part-hostage and part-culture changers are renamed in especially insensitive ways by their Babylonian captors. How many of them can you name by their real names? (Three of their oppressor-given names are more familiar to us than their original names. Try to answer before looking below.)

  

Original Name	Meaning	Captive Names	Meanings
Daniel	God is my Judge	Belteshazzer	O Lady [wife of the god Bel], protect the king
Hananiah	Yahweh is gracious	Shadrach	“I am very fearful”; or “Command of Aku” [moon god]
Mishael	Who is what God is?	Meshach	“Who is like Aku?”; or “I am of little account”
Azariah	Yahweh is a helper	Abednego	Servant of Nebo (the shining one) sun

Contemporary understanding of justice emphasizes the right of a person to “name his own universe.” But why is this important? So how should we respond when we are named by others? In what ways will their naming of us affect our lives?

As a case study, let’s consider these four Hebrews. How did Daniel and his friends react to their re-naming? (In addition to Daniel 1:1-7, you may want to consider 4:7-9; 5:11-13; and 10:1-2.)

How does this biblical example inform our own situations?

I probably have at least two more posts I could write on this subject but would like to get a dialog started here instead of preemptively putting my opinion out there. Will you join me?

He Took The Fall (Mark 14:53-65)

And they led Jesus to the high priest. And all the chief priests and the elders and the scribes came together. And Peter had followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the guards and warming himself at the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking testimony against Jesus to put him to death, but they found none. For many bore false witness against him, but their testimony did not agree. And some stood up and bore false witness against him, saying, “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and in three days I will build another, not made with hands.’” Yet even about this their testimony did not agree. And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. And some began to spit on him and to cover his face and to strike him, saying to him, “Prophesy!” And the guards received him with blows. (Mark 14:53-65)

Where they likely kept score in the "King's Game"
as they beat Christ. It was carved into the pavement stones... 
which can be seen in the basement of the Sisters of Zion Convent.

Today on my devotional blog we were reading the last section of Mark 14 (v. 53-65) and in lieu of commentary I posted a magazine article I wrote for the newly evangelical Plain Truth magazine back in 2002 that was entitled, “He Took the Fall.”  I include it here as an appropriate way to begin the Lenten season.

He Took the Fall

“He will not cry out, nor raise His voice, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.” (Isaiah 42:2-3, NKJ)

"But He kept silent and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked Him, saying to Him, 'Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?' Jesus said, 'I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.' " (Mark 14:61-62 NKJ)

Though I have read it many times, the story of Jesus of Nazareth being arrested and dragged into a hostile court in the middle of the night still amazes me. He was mishandled, abused, and falsely accused, yet He made no answer, offered no protest, and mounted no defense. I wonder, could Jesus have been shielding someone by His silence? Was he taking the rap, the fall, the heat, out of love for someone else? I've watched enough lunch-time Perry Mason re-runs to know when the accused is trying to protect someone by not telling all they know. Jesus could have gotten Himself off the hook, but He didn't. I am forced to ask, “So why didn’t He?” I believe He kept quiet because He was deliberately taking the blame for someone He loved. But there was a problem with Jesus' plan—just one…His accusers couldn't find any grounds to convict Him, even with a multitude of lying witnesses.

DA Burger and Perry Mason approach the bench.

The judge wanted to condemn Him. The jury wanted to convict Him. The witnesses wanted to frame Him. But they couldn't find a reason. Amazing! There was no dirt in His past, no skeleton in His closet, nothing. They tried to twist His teachings by misquoting and misapplying them, but even then, they couldn't get their stories to agree. Imagine the conviction that must have come upon their souls as they tried to frame the only truly innocent man. Jesus kept silent, not speaking in His own defense, and Scripture was fulfilled.

He didn't sit there, before His accusers, in an angry, hostile, sullen silence. He was not pouting, sulking, or hating. He was silent because He knew that this was the moment for which He had come into the world. How wonderful His example is—He didn't trust in His rights, but in His Heavenly Father. As it is written, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain... Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” “Then a voice came from heaven, saying, ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’ " (John 12:23-28 NKJ)

Finally, it seems that Jesus had to help the prosecution—they were getting nowhere. The Lord Jesus Christ, in his love for the one he was protecting, answered one question—a simple name-rank-and-serial-number type of question. While he neither defended himself — He kept silent; nor spoke out in justified condemnation of His accusers and their arguments — He answered nothing.  He did, however, speak to make his identity clear — I AM. And for that, they killed Him.

It is no surprise that Jesus was protecting someone by His silence, but it was who He was protecting that was so unique. He was protecting the High Priest who envied, the Pharisees who scorned, the false witnesses who spitefully lied and twisted His life-work, and the guards who abused Him. For them, He remained silent. He did it for the thieves who deserved death. He did it for Barabbas, the violent revolutionary. He did it for Peter, who stood outside vehemently denying that he even knew "this man Jesus!" He did it for the soldiers who crowned him with thorns and nailed his hands and feet to the cross. It was for Saul, who would brutally persecute his followers. It was even for those who would manipulate His teachings and deceive many. It was out of an infinite love for men and women throughout the ages who were at war with God—lost people doing lost things—that Jesus remained silent. It was for me. It was for you.

Jesus, the Lamb of God, was no martyr, forced to die for the cause. He planned to save us, long before we were created, and when the hour came, took our place willingly as the supreme act of love. As Paul writes, “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:13-14 NKJ) His plan worked, and I will be forever grateful.

       Jesus Christ, the Second Adam, took the Fall!

© 1995 Greg K. Dueker

Can I Hear You Now?

In writing my final paper for this year's classes, I was trying to briefly express the mutuality of listening that has come to serve as a counterbalance to my desire to be heard by others. This is what I came up with...

For about ten years, Verizon has had a very effective marketing campaign for their wireless network, “Can you hear me now?” In fact, when we hear those five words, chances are good that we will picture the guy on the cell phone walking through all manner of locations testing his coverage. It is a simple phrase that hits at the heart of a deep human need, that of being heard. My most traumatic moments are usually tied to my not being able to communicate the issues of the heart, of identity, to another person. Either because they wouldn’t listen or because I didn’t feel safe sharing. Talk about heartburn! However, I have concluded that a better question for me to ask is, “Can I hear you now?”

If I can’t hear you, is it because I am not listening, because my cultural filters don’t allow me to truly hear what you are saying, because we don’t speak the same language, or perhaps because you don’t feel safe enough around me to say what is in your heart? I suppose there could be another reason I can’t hear you—you may have been so oppressed and rejected that you don’t realize that you have something to say. Trust me you do. Everyone has been given a voice—having been made in the image of God—we, like the Prophet Isaiah, need the Lord to touch our mouth with a coal from the altar because our voice and the voices that surround us have been tainted by sin (Isaiah 6:1-7).

I have found that what I must proclaim involves much more than getting people to hear me. It involves getting myself stop talking and pay attention long enough to be able to hear them more fully. It is as people are given voice, made fully human in my eyes (and theirs), that I can learn from them and we can grow together. It also involves enabling others to become free enough to add their voice to the great anthem of that is the Mission of God in the world.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:9-10)

As we surrender our pride and our fear to our loving Savior—Jesus Christ—he draws us together in dialog, in just actions, and in mutual hospitality, as brothers and sisters in the family of God. I have a feeling that it is a family gathering we have been looking forward to our whole lives, whether we knew it or not. We can have a better network.

I am also working on listening long enough and engaging personally enough to allow you to speak what we both need to hear.

Feel free to tell me what you think.

You have the final say.

So I am asking, “Can I hear you now?” 

Throne Down, or Thrown Down

This week is a guest appearance of a post from my other blog (a Bible/Devotional blog http://psalms-honest2god.blogspot.com/)

Mark 13:1-2

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him,

"Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"

And Jesus answered and said to him,

"Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Comments:

2001 landslide from major earthquake
in El Salvador

Jesus was quick to teach that the things that we think are impressive, solid, immovable, and permanent will be torn down if we honor them more than we honor God. Have you ever experienced an earthquake? We occasionally have earthquakes here in Oregon (I can think of two pretty big ones) but I am originally from Los Angeles  and have experienced many there. Once as a child I was thrown out of bed during one especially strong quake. My daughter is from El Salvador and experienced many terrible quakes including the one in Santa Tecla (2001) that killed 944 people and damaged 150,000 buildings. There really is something unnerving when that which you think to be solid starts moving and shaking, or rolling like the waves on the ocean!

Jesus’ disciples thought the temple was the most beautiful and stable thing in their world. Yet it had come to be a mockery to its original purpose. When Jesus entered Jerusalem he found that it was not a “house of prayer for all nations” and had to drive out the moneychangers and sacrifice vendors. It was not a place concerned with relieving the burden of the very poor, as we saw in the account of the widows offering and Jesus’ condemnation of the predatory practices of the scribes. The leaders in what was supposed to be “my Father’s house” were like wicked tenants who were plotting to kill “the heir” and would soon complete the act. Jesus was telling his followers that their hope was not in a building—or in any impressive works of man—but the work that Jesus was about to do in dying for their sins. He had already told them about this many times but they really didn’t understand. They just wanted to talk about when the temple would be destroyed. End-times fascination started early I guess.

Model of Robinson's Arch into Temple

There used to be a pedestrian walkway to enter the Temple Compound at ground level and it was supported by what we now call Robinson’s Arch. In 70 a.d. the Romans tore it all down and toppled the stones into the street below where they left a significant crater. See photo of stones below.

The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelism sponsored a consultation of “Gospel and Culture” which was published as The Willowbank Report. These diverse ministry leaders commented on the shockwaves of our conversion to Christ.

"True conversion to Christ is bound, therefore, to strike at the heart of our cultural inheritance. Jesus Christ insists on dislodging from the center of our world whatever idol previously reigned there, and occupying the throne himself. This is the radical change of allegiance which constitutes conversion, or at least its beginning."[1]

What is the anchor for our soul, the light of our life, the solid rock that we run to when all around us is sinking sand? It had better be Jesus or we are in for a rude awakening! 

Regardless of timetables, charts & graphs, and debates over symbolism...

That which can be shaken will be shaken.

God will judge every idol exalted against him. Kingdoms and buildings alike will fall.

The question is, will we stand in God's grace or will we fall in our own strength.

---

[1] Ralph D. Winter, and Steven C. Hawthorne, eds. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement: A Reader (Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 2006), 495.