Nov 16, 2025
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Scripture: Daniel
As we finish out exciting journey through the book of Daniel, the big idea of the final two chapters of Daniel:
Thankfully, Daniel 11-12 provides two reasons why the people who know our God stand firm and take action:
The year was 169 BC. A ruthless leader named Antiochus IV Epiphanes took control of Israel’s temple—the place where God dwelt with His people through sacrifices offered by priests. He stole the temple’s treasures and turned the altar devoted to Yahweh into a place of pagan sacrifice. Two years later, Antiochus issued a decree that everyone in Israel must abandon their ancestral customs or be executed. For God’s people, that meant if they worshiped God, observed the Sabbath, and circumcised their baby boys as a sign of their faith in God’s covenant promise, then they and their children would be executed.
There was no third option with Antiochus. Either be seduced by his flattery into compromise or stand firm and be executed along with your precious children. Daniel 11:32 lays out the two ways God’s people responded: “He [Antiochus] shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant, but the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” Antiochus seduced many into violating God’s covenant to save their own skin. However, the people who knew their God stood firm, refused to conform to forced paganism, and fought back. Their standing firm and taking action is known as the Maccabean revolt. Their faith, heroism, and fight to reclaim true worship at God’s temple is still celebrated each year during Hanukkah.
Many were seduced into compromise to save their lives, but those who knew their God stood firm and took action. Honest question: Which side of Daniel 11:32 would you land on? “He shall seduce with flattery those who violate the covenant” or “the people who know their God shall stand firm and take action”?
Citylight—be the second group.
That brings us to the big idea of the final two chapters of Daniel: The people who know our God shall stand firm and take action. Let’s linger over that big idea, taken from the second half of Daniel 11:32, for a moment. What does it mean to be the people who know our God, stand firm, and take action?
First, it says, “The people who know their God shall stand firm and take action.” It is those who know our God who will stand firm and take action. True Christian conversion is coming to know God through the one mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ, by grace and grace alone. And the Christian life is growing in your knowledge of and intimacy with the Father, through the Son, by the Spirit.
There are three primary means of grace that God has given to us so that we can know Him more: Word, prayer, and church—or, as David Mathis puts it in Habits of Grace, “hear His word, have His ear, and join His people.” We pursue these things because it is the people who know our God who will stand firm and take action against a hostile mob or Monday’s mundane temptations.
Many of you have seen that viral video of two men nearly coming to blows in a grocery store. One man acts like he’s about to fight, but the other repeatedly says, “You’re not that guy, pal. You’re not that guy.” If you don’t know your God, then you’re not that guy. If you’re not laying aside time most days to be alone with your Father in the Word and prayer, if you’re not with God’s people nearly every Sunday, getting to know Him more, then you’re not going to be the person who stands firm and takes action. You can’t even stand firm against the alarm clock.
The second part says that “The people who know their God stand firm and take action.” This reminds me of Romans 12:1–2:
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice… Do not be conformed to this world…”
This world wants to squeeze you into its mold and conform you to its ways. But that’s not you. By God’s mercies—through the sinless life, sin-atoning death, and victorious resurrection of Christ—you’re a newborn, adopted child of God. You know your God, so do not let this world mold you. Instead, because of God’s mercies to you, offer yourself to Him.
Finally, “The people who know their God stand firm and take action.” This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 15:58:
“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…”
The people who know their God stand firm—rather than being conformed to this world—and they take action. They seek God’s kingdom first and make His name known in their homes, on their campuses, at their workplaces, and to the ends of the earth.
How is God calling you to increasingly be a person who knows our God, stands firm, and takes action to advance His kingdom?
This way of living is costly. It was costly for believers in Antiochus’ day, and it is costly today. It is costly to follow Jesus daily, to join yourself to a church, to spend time with your Father in secret, to give generously, to serve others, to build a godly household, and to believe what God says rather than what you think is best.
Thankfully, Daniel 11–12 provides two reasons why the people who know our God stand firm and take action:
To grasp the significance of Daniel 11, we need to get our timing right. Daniel wrote the book that bears his name in the 6th century BC.
Daniel wrote in the 500s BC, and in chapter eleven he recorded an overview of events stretching from about 530 BC to the end of history. Daniel wrote the history of the Middle East before it happened.
In Daniel 11:2–20, he correctly predicted:
Daniel wrote the history of Persia, Greece, and the Ptolemaic and Seleucid empires—with stunning accuracy.
In 11:21–35, Daniel introduces a wicked ruler: Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the “little horn” of chapter eight. Daniel predicted that Antiochus would profane the temple, abolish sacrifices, set up the abomination that makes desolate, seduce many with flattery, and violently persecute the faithful. But Daniel also foretold that those who know their God would stand firm and take action, even unto death.
But Daniel saw further. In 11:36 the vision shifts to a figure greater and more terrifying than Antiochus—the Antichrist, the “man of lawlessness” described in 2 Thessalonians 2. Daniel saw not only Antiochus but the ultimate Antiochus, the final enemy whom Christ will destroy with the breath of His mouth.
Why did God show Daniel all this?
Because when you know the God who declares the end from the beginning, you can stand firm and take action—no matter the trial.
Jesus summed up the vision in a few words: “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33). And “Because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). But those who know their God stand firm and take action because they know that their God reigns over every moment.
Isaiah 46:9–10:
“…I am God… declaring the end from the beginning… My counsel shall stand.”
A few weeks ago, I told you that my son’s cross-country coach has the team walk unfamiliar courses before they run them so they can see the end from the beginning and persevere through the challenges. Citylight Church—no matter who is seduced into violation of the covenant, let’s be those who know our God, stand firm, and take action because we know that God declares the end from the beginning.
The people who know their God stand firm and take action because our God rules history, His name is Jesus Christ, and He will defeat the Antichrist with the breath of His mouth.
And the second reason is…
The people who know our God stand firm and take action because God will deliver us through trouble into eternal life.
What can’t you stand firm through if the end of your story is resurrection and everlasting joy?
Daniel 12:1–3 gives one of the clearest Old Testament descriptions of the resurrection and eternal life. There will be great tribulation, but God will deliver all whose names are written in the book of life. Some will rise to everlasting life; others to everlasting contempt. The wise will shine like stars forever.
The New Testament echoes the same reality. Revelation 20 shows that the dead will be raised for judgment, and only those in the Lamb’s book of life will be saved. Revelation 21 shows the final destination of God’s people: a renewed creation, every tear wiped away, death destroyed forever, God dwelling with His people.
Dear friends—the people who know our God stand firm and take action because suffering, trials, and death will not have the last word. Our God will deliver us through trouble into eternal life.
What temptation is threatening your faith?
Stand firm—God will deliver you.
What action is God calling you to take?
Take action—your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
Fix eternal life in your mind, and you will be among the people who know their God, stand firm, and take action now.
Florence Chadwick was one of the most accomplished American long-distance open-water swimmers of the 20th century. She was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions, setting world records both times.
In 1952, she attempted the 26-mile swim from the Southern California coast to Catalina Island. Thick fog set in after 15 hours, and although she swam another hour, she eventually gave up—unable to see the coastline—only to learn she was one mile short.
Two months later, she tried again. The same fog returned. She couldn’t see the shoreline. But this time she kept swimming and reached Catalina. When asked how she endured, she said she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind.
Citylight Church—keep the gracious promise of eternal life in your mind, and you’ll be among the people who know their God, stand firm, and take action.