“He gave Daniel the name Belteshazzar” (Daniel 1:7). In the year 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came against Jerusalem and besieged it. To avoid destruction, King Jehoiakim surrendered and gave him treasure from the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took to the treasure house of his god in Babylon. But the spoil of Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest was more than treasure. He also took to Babylon some of the finest young people of Israel. They were to be trained for three years in the language and culture of the Babylonians, and afterward, they were to enter into the King’s service. Among these exiles was Daniel, to whom the Babylonians gave the name Belteshazzar.

Consider his Hebrew name. “Daniel.” So his parents named him at the time of his circumcision. The name literally means, “God is my judge.” It was a custom in Israel to name children and places according to the attributes or providence of God, a custom that to the religious in heart was not a matter of formality but faith. Daniel’s name was meant to identify him as one of the children of Israel, one who was called to honor the God of heaven and earth. The meaning of his name served as a reminder of his accountability to the true and living God. It reminded him that God is judge-not only a judge of people in general, but his judge.

Some in our day believe that the love of God is the only proper cause for reverence and obedience, and this, perhaps, is the most honorable of motivations. But scripture emphasizes all of God’s attributes, and God would have Himself seen, not only as loving and compassionate, but also as the judge of all the earth. When God passed before Moses, He declared Himself to be “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7). O for a generation that will see God as the supreme judge! How is it possible that the Judge of judges is not feared in the world of His jurisdiction! -The God to whom every knee will bow and every tongue will confess; the God who will judge every thought and intent of the heart; the God who will bring every idle word to judgment! O that people would see that He is their judge, and in so seeing Him, they would walk as Daniel in fear and reverence. “For what is the allotment of God from above, and the inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is it not destruction for the wicked, and disaster for the workers of iniquity? Does He not see my ways, and count all my steps?” (Job 31:2-4).

Consider his Babylonian name. “Belteshazzar.” So the chief eunuch renamed him at the time of his captivity. Similar renaming is seen elsewhere in scripture: Pharaoh renamed Joseph Zaphnath-Paaneah (Gen 41:45); Pharaoh Necho, after making Eliakim king in place of his father Josiah, changed his name to Jehoiakim (2 Kings 23:34); and Nebuchadnezzar, prior to the final destruction of Jerusalem, changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17). For what cause? -To establish the rule of the King, not only by show of power, but also by display of sovereignty in the naming of his subjects. In the case of Daniel, it was designed to make him think of himself as a Babylonian permanently, with no hope of return to his home. It was designed to promote allegiance to a new sovereign so as to forget the King of Israel.

But the renaming of Daniel had a much more dangerous end in view. The name “Belteshazzar” was derived from the name of the Babylonian god Bel. It is believed that the name most likely means “Bel’s Prince” or “the one whom Bel protects.” Whatever the exact meaning, the name implies favor in the sight of the Babylonian god Bel. Can we not, then, plainly see the reason that the Babylonians renamed Daniel? Was it not to make him forget the God of his youth so that he would serve a god whom he had not known? Was it not to transfer his allegiance from the God who would be his judge to a god who would grant him unconditional favor and protection? Was it not to transfer his allegiance from the God who would place a yoke upon him in his youth to a god who would indulge his desires and appetites?

Dear friend who reads this, understand that the renaming of Daniel was not so much concerned with what he was called as it was with his beliefs and conduct. The renaming was for the purpose of changing his lifestyle by changing his thinking. It was for the purpose of luring him away from commitment to the God who made him. You are under the same attack. There are forces at work every day to keep you away from the true God. The world, the flesh, and the devil offer much. They cry out, “Why serve God! When there are gods who will by no means place a burden upon you! When there are gods who will give you all of your desire!” With the builders of the tower of Babel, the world does not seek a name that would honor God, but says, “let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:4). Many succumb to this temptation, turning from the true God to serve the gods of their own desire. As Paul could say in his day, ”many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame-who set their mind on earthly things” (Phil 3:18-19). Think not that you are safe because you have not been subject to a literal captivity or change in name, but ask yourself whether your thoughts and actions reveal you to spiritually bear the name of another god. Ask yourself whether the god of this age has blinded you so that you have not seen the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Cor 4:6). Ask yourself whether you have been allured so as to live apart from the God who has given you every breath. Beware that you do not fall short through a spirit of complacency, compromise, and disobedience. Begin the battle in your mind. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who is able to save you from the guilt and power of sin. Commit your ways to Him. Entrust Him with your life.

Let there be an admonition to Christians in regard to their conduct. If the devil cannot have your soul, he will seek your compromise. He cannot remove your name from God’s book; therefore, he will attempt to influence your behavior. If he cannot win the war, he will seek to win the battles, and in promoting your failure, he will bring blasphemy against God and shame to your name. It is dishonorable for those who have the light to spend seasons walking in darkness. Therefore, “walk worthy of the calling with which you were called” (Eph 4:1), and “as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation” (1 Pet 2:11-12). Daniel would not allow himself to be molded by the culture that surrounded him. He let the Babylonians call him what they would, but his conduct was above reproach, and he sought the glory of the name of God in the land of his exile. In following Daniel’s example, seek the glory of God’s name above your own. Remember that Christ Himself has overcome the world and now intercedes on your behalf to strengthen you in the fight. With His help, you will keep your name until the end. Then you will know the joy of receiving Christ’s promise: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels” (Rev 3:5).