It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. – Daniel 4:2

Today's Scripture Reading (August 24, 2023): Daniel 4

A mononymous person is a person that is known by one name. If I say, "Cher did something," most people would know I spoke about a singer who was once married to Sonny Bono. The same is true of Liberace, Oprah, and Bono, who is not Sonny, the former husband of Cher, but rather the frontman of the rock band U2. You don't need two names to identify these people. One is enough.

The same is true of Jesus. Just the name of Jesus is enough to identify about whom we are talking. Most of us don't know that Jesus was a ubiquitous name in the first century. In the crucifixion story, we run into another Jesus; his name was Jesus Barabbas. I am still intrigued that when Pilate brought Jesus and Barabbas out to offer a choice to the people between these two men as to which one should be set free, the choice was between Jesus, who claimed to be the Son of the Father (God), and Jesus Barabbas, whose name literally meant "Son of the Father" (Bar – son of, Abba – Father). But if I speak the name of Jesus, most people know I am talking about the rabbi from Nazareth and not the revolutionary of Jerusalem, let alone one of the many other Jesuses who roamed Israel before, during, and after Jesus's time on the earth. All that is needed is one name.

About three years have passed since the incident at the fiery furnace. Then, Nebuchadnezzar praised "the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego." In Nebuchadnezzar's mind, there were many gods, but this God of the Jews deserved to be on the pantheon of gods Nebuchadnezzar worshipped. But as he writes this letter, something seems to have changed. Instead of describing God as the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, He is simply "ela," or "God." Nebuchadnezzar no longer felt that he had to differentiate between the God of Shadrach and his friends and the rest of the gods on his pantheon. It was enough that he was God or the Most High God. No other descriptor was needed.

It was the moment that the God of Shadrach became a mononymous God for Nebuchadnezzar. God was God, which meant nothing more needed to be said. 

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 40