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Let me show you something about the young men we were talking about in Daniel. Daniel’s Hebrew name means God judged. He judged the nation, the natural and spiritual matters of his generation. Daniel was put in Babylon to judge it. You know the fire story and you know the story of the lions. You know that Nebuchadnezzar went nuts, eating grass. Daniel brought such judgment into that nation that they had to let the children of God go.

Hananiah means beloved of the Lord. Mishael means who is like God. Azariah means whom the Lord helps. Nebuchadnezzar gave them Babylonian names. Daniel’s name was Belteshazzar. It means Baal’s prince. Daniel never bowed his knee and never became the prince to Baal. He stood at God’s judgment, even though they changed his name. Listen to me! They can give you a name in the world, but you don’t have to become a servant to the god of the world.

You need to hear this message today! We need to stop listening to the Babylonian dictates. They changed Daniel’s name to Belteshazzar. Hananiah’s name was changed to Shadrach, which means under the command of the moon god. Hananiah, beloved of the Lord, was now told he was a slave to the moon god, but he never bowed his knee to any moon god. Mishael’s name was changed to Meshach, which means who is like the moon god. Azariah was changed to Abednego, which means the servant of Negro, a Babylonian deity.

I don’t care how much money they pay any of these athletes or actors. It’s time that God’s people begin to declare, “Don’t sell your soul to play basketball because God can shut it down overnight. Don’t sell your soul to play baseball. God won’t even let you go to a stadium. Don’t you sell your soul out to play football. God may not even let us have football! We need to understand that God, in his right hand, can control everything that happens in the earth. Listen to me! The idols have fallen all over the world.

We will continue next week! Have a great weekend!