Daniel 11:32
To God be the glory for seeing us through the year 2024! Our theme for the year was “Doing Exploits for God,” and our theme Scripture was Daniel 11:32b. This passage is rendered differently in different Bible versions: (NIV- “With flattery he will corrupt those who have violated the covenant, but the people who know their God will firmly resist him;” NLT- “He will flatter and win over those who have violated the covenant. But the people who know their God will be strong and will resist him;” NASB- “And by smooth words, he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will be strong and take action;” KJV- “And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”)
The word “exploit” brings to our mind images of daring adventures, heroic deeds, and remarkable accomplishments. Exploits are those extraordinary feats that surpass what is considered ordinary or expected. They often involve acts of bravery, skill, or intelligence that leave a lasting impact on others. To “do exploits for God” is to embark on a journey of extraordinary achievements and accomplishments in service to the Almighty God. It entails going above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to serving Him and fulfilling His purposes on Earth.
It requires stepping out of our comfort zones and challenging ourselves to do things beyond our own perceived limitations. Whether it be feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, advocating for justice, standing up against oppression, or leading others into a deeper relationship with Christ – all these actions fall under the umbrella of doing exploits for God. These extraordinary acts are not fueled by personal ambition or self-interest but rather by an overwhelming desire to honor and glorify God through our actions. It is about surrendering ourselves completely to His will and allowing His power to work through us.
While these exploits may seem daunting at times and require great faith and courage, they offer immense rewards – not in terms of earthly recognition but in the eternal impact they have on the lives of others and in deepening our own relationship with God.
The text for our theme is from the book of Daniel which was completed in 530 B. C. It combines two types of literature: court narrative and apocalypse. The opening narrative section presents six stories of how God protected and promoted four young men who were taken into exile in Babylon. When Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, demonstrate their faithfulness to God, they are delivered from deadly perils by God’s mighty acts. Daniel was given the ability to interpret dreams, earning him a valued place in the royal court of Babylon, and later in the Persian Empire.
The second part of the book describes visions and messages Daniel received from God through angelic messengers. These visions are presented in the cryptic language and symbolic terms typical of apocalyptic literature. Three ideas are contained in our theme Scripture for 2024, “[B]ut the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32b). There is, one, knowing God; two, being strong; and, three, doing exploits.
God’s people are characterized by what they know, what they are, and what they do. Christians are to be set apart from the rest of the world in these three respects — in the matter of knowing, being, and doing— and these three characteristics of the believer are related, because it is only as we know God that we can be strong, and it is only as we are strong that can we attempt to do great things in the name of God. Conversely, if we are not doing exploits for God, it is because we are not strong, and if we are not strong, it is because we do not know the Lord well enough!
First, we must know God. There are many factors in the Bible that affect our spiritual well-being. But one thing I have discovered for sure is that our personal, intimate experiential knowledge of God is one of the major factors. It is not enough to simply know about Him. It is entirely possible for one to know much about God, His nature, and His attributes, and yet not to know Him personally. Sadly, so many people today have a mere academic knowledge of the Lord.
You can only come to know God through the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the initial sense in which we come to know God — through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Those who truly know God are those who have committed themselves to total involvement with Him—their intellect, their emotions, and their will. They then go on to know Him progressively and intimately, as the apostle Paul described in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”
Paul wanted to know better His person, His power, and His passion. Do you know Him? How well do you know Him? The measure of your knowing will determine the measure of your being… and your doing!
Second, knowing God will make us strong. This is true, and the more we know Him the stronger we will be! Daniel himself was a man who knew God. When the presidents and princes prevailed upon King Darius to issue a decree prohibiting anybody from making any petition of any god or man except the king for 30 days or be cast into the lion’s den, Daniel went right on praying to the God of heaven (Daniel 6:4-15).
He had to. He knew his God, and people who know Him spend time in His presence. They love to spend time in His presence and share their lives with Him. So Daniel continued to pray, in front of his window, just as he always did. He didn’t change. Not even the threat of death could keep him from it.
We will also be stronger morally, as Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah were when they were cast into the fiery furnace because they refused to bow to a false god (Daniel 3). We will be strong spiritually, because we are reminded in Ephesians 6:10, “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” Therefore, as we know God, we become strong — stronger in our trust in Him; stronger in our ability to resist and overcome temptation and evil; and stronger in our ability to be a source of strength to others.
And when we are strong, we shall, in the third place, do exploits for God. The amazing prophecy, of which our theme Scripture forms a part, predicted the severe persecution that the Jews would suffer at the hands of the infamous Antiochus Epiphanes, the Syrian king who reigned from 175 to 164 BC. He assumed the name Theos Epiphanes, which meant “the manifest God.” But the Jews changed one letter and called him Epimanes, which meant “mad man.” And mad he was. Daniel anticipated his reign prophetically in Daniel 11:21-35. Antiochus was just what Scripture calls him: a vile, contemptible, despicable person (v. 21). He was the tyrant who did all he could to exterminate the Jews and wipe them off the face of the earth.
By calling him a contemptible person (Daniel 11:21), Daniel implied that his activities will foreshadow another contemptible person who shall arise at “the time of the end” (Daniel 11:35); that is, the Antichrist or the willful king who shall terrorize the earth during the Great Tribulation (Daniel 11:36). The person of Antiochus looked forward to Antichrist. Antiochus’ hatred for the Jews was literally insane. He did exactly what Daniel predicted in Daniel 11:31, “His armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortress and will abolish the daily sacrifice. Then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” Antiochus ordered Jewish sacrifices to cease and polluted the temple of God by offering swine’s flesh on the altar. Besides that, he prohibited the observance of the Sabbath and the circumcision of children, he ordered all copies of the Scriptures destroyed, he set up the abomination of desolation, an altar to the pagan god Zeus, within the temple and commanded Jews to offer unclean sacrifices and eat swine’s flesh.
Being a master of intrigue, Antiochus used flattery to corrupt and lead many of the Jews to violate the covenant of the LORD. Anyone who disobeyed was sentenced to death. It was an ancient holocaust. As Daniel anticipated it prophetically, he asked himself, “How would these people be able to survive?” That’s when he wrote, “But the people who know their God will be strong and do exploits” (Daniel 11:32b KJV). And that’s exactly what happened. A group of courageous men called the Maccabees led a heroic revolt against Antiochus. Their exploits, against insuperable odds, were nothing short of phenomenal. They knew their God, His righteousness, His sovereign power—so they displayed strength and they took action. And they broke Antiochus’ grip on Israel. Their story is one of mighty power—the power of people who know their God.
People who know God have the courage and strength to oppose wickedness, to face persecution, to triumph through suffering. There’s no other way to have that kind of power, except to know God. People who know God have the courage and strength to do what is right, to stand for righteousness and truth, though they stand alone, though the whole world be against them. Even when everybody else is giving in to sin in their school or in their neighbourhood or at their work, they stand for what is right. And there is no other way to have that kind of spiritual power but to know God. Let’s get to know Him.
The Bible is filled with examples of men and women who did exploits for God. Think about Gideon and his small band of 300 men (Judges 7); of Samson (Judges 14); of David and his encounter with Goliath (I Samuel 17); of Elijah on Mt. Carmel (I Kings 18); and see God’s picture gallery of the great heroes of faith (Hebrews 11). Think also of the apostles of our Lord and the early Christians, “Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 15:26), who were spoken of in these terms, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6).
If we truly know the Lord and are thereby made strong by Him, we shall do exploits, and our God will get the glory. Knowing… being… then doing!
Rev. Kayode Ilupeju,
Good News Baptist Church,
47/49, Olufemi Road,
Off Ogunlana Drive,
Surulere, Lagos.
Tel.: 0803-302-1008
