Abednego

Abednego, born Azariah ("the Lord helps"), was one of four young Hebrew nobles taken to Babylon at the first deportation. Renamed for Nebo, a Babylonian god, he was educated in Chaldean wisdom for the king's service. From the beginning he proved his loyalty to the God of Israel, joining Daniel in refusing the king's meat and growing fairer and stronger on a diet of pulse and water.

When the king's image of gold was set up in the plain of Dura, Abednego refused to bow. Brought before the furious Nebuchadnezzar, he and his two companions calmly declared they would not serve the king's gods even if their God did not deliver them. Cast bound into the furnace heated seven times its normal heat, the flames that slew their guards had no power over them. The fourth figure who walked with them in the fire was, Nebuchadnezzar said, "like the Son of God."

Brought forth at the king's command, they emerged with their garments unscorched and without the smell of fire. The king blessed the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, decreed protection for their worship, and promoted them to greater honor in Babylon. Abednego's testimony, preserved in Daniel chapter three, has comforted persecuted believers in every generation.

His faith echoes through the New Testament: "Quenched the violence of fire" (Hebrews 11:34) is written of saints like him. His unbroken loyalty in a pagan empire proves that God preserves His own through the fiercest trial.