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Scripture focus
...but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.
Daniel 11:32 KJV
At a glance
How would you recognize someone who truly knows God, as opposed to someone who merely knows a great deal about him?
By four things the book of Daniel makes visible under pressure: energy for God, exalted thoughts of God, boldness for God, and a settled contentment in God that nothing else can supply.
Summary of the chapter
Packer contrasts theological knowledge with relational knowledge by pointing to Daniel and his three companions in a hostile foreign court. They were as well educated in Babylonian learning as anyone around them, yet what set them apart was not information but familiarity with God himself — the kind of knowing that shows up in a crisis rather than in a classroom.
Four marks of that familiarity are drawn out. Those who know God act; they do not merely admire faith from a safe distance. They think about God in exalted terms rather than shrinking him to a manageable size. They take risks for him that make no sense unless he is real to them. And they carry a peace under threat that has no other visible explanation.
The chapter's edge is pastoral rather than merely descriptive: it is possible to be fluent in Christian ideas and still be a stranger to the God those ideas describe. Packer's point is that real knowledge of God is evidenced, not merely professed — it shows itself in energy, thought, boldness and contentment that a purely notional faith cannot produce.
Key points
- Knowing facts about God and knowing God personally are not the same achievement.
- Daniel and his friends are offered as a test case: their conduct under threat, not their education, revealed what they actually knew of God.
- Genuine knowledge of God produces decisive action, not merely correct opinion.
- It also produces a settled, almost stubborn contentment that survives real danger.
- The chapter functions as an examination: what would an observer conclude about how well you know God from watching your life this year?
A line worth remembering
A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge about him.
J. I. Packer Knowing God, ch. 2
Related Scripture
- Daniel 3:16-18
- Daniel 6:10
- Philippians 3:7-8
- Psalm 9:10
For reflection and discussion
- Of the four marks — energy, exalted thoughts, boldness, contentment — which is currently weakest in your own walk with God, and why?
- Think of a time you acted the way Daniel's friends did in the furnace. What made that possible?
- What would have to change for your knowledge of God to become more visible to people who don't yet believe?
These notes are an original UECF.NET study companion and are not a reproduction of the book. Read the full chapter — chapter 2, “The People Who Know Their God” — in Knowing God by J. I. Packer (InterVarsity Press / Hodder & Stoughton, 1973).