Their names were Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. (Hananiah means Yahweh Has Been Gracious. Mishael means Who is Like God. Azariah means Helped by God.)
We know them better as Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego (pagan names given to them by their captors). They were the “Three Hebrew Children” captured along with Daniel and taken to Babylon.
They were commanded by the king to bow down and worship a golden statue when they heard the “sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music.” To refuse to do so meant being thrown into the fiery furnace (capital punishment).
They famously responded, “If the God we serve exists, then He can rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and He can rescue us from the power of you, the king. But even if He does not rescue us, we want you as king to know that we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” [Daniel 3:17-18 HCSB]
These three young men refused to bow down in idolatry, and God honored their response by rescuing them from the fiery furnace. They stayed faithful to JEHOVAH God, never considering what that faithfulness might require of them.
I have always considered it a shame that we remember them by the pagan names (Shadrach, Meshack, and Abednego) given to them by their captors.
Should we not remember them by their names which were prophetic of their faithfulness to God Almighty? And God Almighty’s faithfulness to them!
Yahweh Has Been Gracious (Hananiah)
Who is Like our God (Mishael)
Helped by God (Azariah)
