The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man
Open Your Bible
Daniel 7:1-14, Psalm 104:1-5, Hebrews 12:28-29
BY Elaine Phillips
The first part of Daniel’s dream vision was the stuff of night terrors. The four apocalyptic beasts were fierce predators, each more terrifying than the previous one. The four parts of the statue in chapter two represented four kingdoms; now Daniel saw their true nature. These rapacious creatures embodied the four brutal super-powers under which God’s people would suffer—repeatedly. While the stationary image signified the idolatrous world views of the dark kingdoms, the violence of these beasts exposed the lawless end product of idolatry, no matter what form it takes. God’s people should rightfully quail at the prospect.
For that reason, the second part of the vision is of utmost importance—for Daniel’s audience and for us.
The Almighty God is on His throne. What words can possibly capture God’s radiant and holy presence? God is surrounded by fire and flaming wheels, with an accompanying river of fire. Fire purifies. Woe to us indeed, if we fail to bow our faces to the ground in appropriate fear and dread; “our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28–29).
What can convey God’s absolute and everlasting rule of the universe? That’s the point of “Ancient of Days” and blindingly white hair and clothing (see Psalm 104:2). We must linger on these words and images that catapult us to the vaults of heaven. Far above all else that we may find tumultuous and terrifying, God reigns supreme, and God will judge. Daniel saw the books opened and those utterly fearsome beasts either subdued or destroyed.
Then, the Son of Man arrived with the clouds of heaven, was ushered into the presence of the Ancient of Days, and was given dominion, glory, and power (Daniel 7:13–14). Everyone would serve Him, and His kingdom would never end. In other words, the Son of Man is God.
Jesus intentionally chose this title for Himself (Matthew 8:20; 11:18–19). His audiences might first have thought of Ezekiel, whom God repeatedly summoned with the words, “son of man,” affirming the prophet’s human nature, entirely given over to serving God. But they would also be familiar with this passage. Daniel’s “Son of Man” was invested with all the accoutrements of deity. By consistently calling Himself “Son of Man,” Jesus was affirming and declaring that He is both fully God and fully human.
That culminated in the exchange between Caiaphas and Jesus (Matthew 26:57–67). When Caiaphas put Jesus under oath, Jesus declared they would “see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven” (v.64). This one bold statement drew together this passage from Daniel 7 and King David’s words from Psalm 110:1—two key passages Caiaphas would have been well acquainted with, both of which unquestionably point to God and no one less. No wonder those religious leaders at Jesus’s trial tore their robes!
Make no mistake, Jesus was declaring Himself God before those religious leaders who should have been anxiously awaiting His arrival. Their human judgment of Jesus is an ironic contrast with the image of God’s coming judgment in Daniel 7:9–10. Nevertheless, in God’s cosmic judicial proceedings, those events affected true justice—for eternity.
40 thoughts on "The Ancient of Days and the Son of Man"
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❤️
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Powerful
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This has been such a timely study in lieu of our world situation! Thank you all who are a part of the She Reads Truth sisterhood.I especially enjoyed today’s reflections. “Beasts are for a moment, Jesus is forever”. Yes, Churchmouse. As the old hymn states, “Let us keep our eyes upon Jesus. look full in His wonderful face. And the things of the world will go strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” Happy Thursday, sisters!
Please pray for my husband, an RN, who is isolating in the back room as we speak , with Covid symptoms, awaiting testing. Thank you, prayer warriors!-
Amen and amen
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Praise God who is in control, even when kingdoms rise and fall, and rulers come in and out of power. He is still on the throne and will always be throughout eternity.
Prayer request that’s unrelated to today’s topic…I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships (many people I know are getting engaged) and I’ve been feeling conflicted. I’ve never dated anyone and it’s always been a struggle for me to act normally around guys. I feel that the past month or so I’ve been obsessing way too much over a guy I thought was cute. I talked to him yesterday, and I realized, men make horrible gods. I’ve been dangerously close to placing my worth and satisfaction in what this guy thinks of me, and thinking WAY too down the line if he could be a potential marriage partner…so I’m praying that I would have self control and constantly remind myself that only Jesus can satisfy. Nothing else will last…everything else will disappoint. I feel that I’m definitely fighting against the enemy in this area, because I feel sometimes constantly bombarded with thoughts about all of this, and I just want those thoughts to stop and for me to keep Christ above it all. Prayers appreciated to focus on the Lord and trust in his timing and plan. That I wouldn’t be nervous around guys and treat them as friends/brothers in Christ…and remember that ONLY Christ can satisfy. Sorry for the little rant…love you all!-
Thanks for sharing. Praying for you.
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I needed this passage. To remember that my God is a consuming fire and that He is victorious . I’m having a hard time with online teaching 45 kids grade 2/3 and no support from the school. All the resources I have purchased and I sometimes feel overwhelmed getting to bed at 1:00 am and working all day . But I need to draw in him for support and peace in the middle of the storm
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You are making a difference. Keep shining Gods light to your students. He has a plan
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Rhonda, I’m a teacher too. I am teaching 4th graders online, but with a MUCH smaller number of students. Even with the smaller number, I can’t figure out how to do this efficiently and
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Sorry my message sent before I finished. I will be praying for you. One resource that helps me is the Teach 4 the Heart podcast. I know we have NO time to listen to podcasts, but today’s was only 2 minutes long and was very encouraging to me.
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I love seeing how intentional Jesus was in using the name Son of Man and how it directly points to this passage in Daniel. It’s amazing how intricately weaved together the Word of God is, both Old and New Testaments.
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I love the passage because it gives me so much hope. Sometimes I get overwhelmed and scared when I think of the world, where it’s going… But God- He shows us that He’s got this, and if I focus on that powerful picture of him in white, with fire surrounding and thousands worshiping- I can calm that anxiety and fear I have and remember He is was, is, and will be in control no matter what comes.
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This reading was somewhat challenging due to wanting to get everything out of it that I could. I find great comfort in knowing that God knows all and sees all, even when it means He sees all of me at all times.
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