The Gospel Vision of Daniel’s Ancient of Days and Son of Man
The Gospel Vision of Daniel’s Ancient of Days and Son of Man.
“The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed.” (St. Augustine).
The “Old” Testament? Actually, I don’t think I agree with Augustine’s long-accepted claim. First of all, can’t we Christians start referring to the “Old Testament” as the “First Testament” (FT), or the Hebrew Bible, or the Earlier Testament, or the Jewish Scripture, or simply the Torah? “Old” implies something that is outdated, hobbled by age, past its usage date, irrelevant, antiquated, expired… none of which is true of the Hebrew Bible. The Old Testament is the First Testament, Act One of a Two-Act Bible, and the New Testament is the Newer Testament, the Second Act of that Two-Act Drama. The First Testament anticipates and lays the foundation for the Newer Testament, which fulfills the earlier Scripture. If I were a Jewish believer, which in many ways I am since I follow the Messiah Jesus and am thus grafted onto the Jewish tree (Romans 11), I would be offended by those who assume that the Jewish Scriptures are unnecessary or past its prime. Of course, the Bible of the completely Jewish Jesus, the Scriptures read daily by Him and considered by Him to be the eternal Word of God, was the First Testament. We who follow Jesus don’t have the right to consider the FT as irrelevant or past its usage date.
The First Testament! The other reason I disagree with the claim that the NT is concealed in the OT is that that there are countless stories, teachings, and prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures that very clearly point directly to the gospel story. These mini-gospel vignettes are fascinating and inspiring, and they fertilize the ground for the Good News, preparing the way for us to welcome in a fresh way the story of salvation and deliverance. Many of these mini-gospels are not well-known, while many are quite famous. So some of the stories in this series might be vaguely familiar, while the reader might be tempted to skim over others because of their familiarity. Either way, the gospelettes in the Jewish Bible deserve to be unpacked. The criteria I try to use as I choose these FT stories include… the story has to include gospel themes such as sacrifice and death; resurrection and life; redemption and deliverance; punishment and hope; forgiveness and healing. And each gospel vignette in the Hebrew Scripture needs to be a preparation for Christ in some way, pointing to Jesus Messiah as the fulfillment of the story. In other words, if the FT story is the only story you know from the Bible, would it prepare your imagination and spirit for the story of Jesus? Would this vignette make the story of Christ less unexpected and more feasible? If you happen to hear the full gospel story after first hearing the FT story, would the gospel story in the NT remind you in some way of the FT story?
“I kept looking until other seats were placed, and the Ancient of Days took His seat, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was like the fiery flame, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire came forth from before Him; angels numbering a thousand thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand rose up and stood before Him; the Judge was seated – the court was in session – and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:9-10).
The Timeless One, the Ancient of Days. We know our God is ageless, in that He has no age and is an eternal Being. “God inhabits eternity.” (Is. 57:15). Our Lord exists from everlasting to everlasting (Ps. 90:2). He just always is. He always has been. He always will be. God has no beginning, no birthdate. He will never have an end date. The eternality of God is a wondrous mystery way beyond our temporal minds. To think that He somehow came from a dimension outside of time, then created time itself. He appeared from His own world, a place without past, present or future. A place with no chronology, no measurements in time like seconds and centuries. God somehow had the idea of time within His limitless imagination, and remained a timeless Being. He invented the reality of time and then entered into it, a different reality altogether. God is not merely a really, really Old One, or an extremely Venerable One, or the Ancient One. All those terms are time-bound. Maybe the most we can say with all this is that God is the Timeless One.
The Everlasting Judge in the Divine Courtroom. The biblical term Ancient of Days in Daniel’s vision is Aramaic, Atik Yomin. It is one of the very few Aramaic titles for God in Scripture. In Daniel’s vision, the Ancient of Days is the Judge of the Gentile nations. The setting for this vision is a cosmic courtroom somewhere, in heaven perhaps? There are a number of world empires being judged, powerful empires that rose to great prominence then crumbled and fell. Who better to be the ultimate Judge over these nations? He has seen everything that has ever happened in the history of the universe, the world’s only eyewitness to all the deeds of mankind. This Judge has literally seen it all, so if He doesn’t have the perfect perspective, who would? What a gift… the world’s only objective Person. God is wise to what the world has to say in its defense. The perfect Judge, the Ancient of Days.
A Description of the Ancient of Days. In Daniel’s vision, the Judge’s robe is snow white, symbolizing holiness and purity. His hair is as white as lamb’s wool, which is a symbol for being ageless, for having an eternal nature. The Judge’s throne is made of flames of fire, and so are the wheels beneath the throne. Those wheels of fire symbolize the Judge’s unlimited range of mobility. He can go wherever He wants at any time, up or down, left or right, heaven or earth, in and out of time and space. The wheels reveal that the Judge’s mobility is not dependent on anyone or anything but Himself. He is a completely independent Being who can go wherever He wants in His judgments. From His throne flows a river of fire. Could we ever find a more poetic picture of the Holy Spirit? The Spirit of God, the river of fire, fills up the courtroom with His presence as they open the books of life and death. Now comes one of the most dramatic scenes in all of Scripture, the only time in the Bible when God the Father meets with God the Son face-to-face.
The Son of Man Appears with Heavenly Clouds: “As my vision continued at night, I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14).
On the Son of Man as Jesus Messiah. When Jesus called Himself the Son of Man, He was most likely declaring Himself to be the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Son of Man vision in Daniel 7. Many scholars claim that during Jesus’ time the Son of Man was the “highest term used in Jewish thought for the Messiah, and it was the most exalted view of the coming Redeemer.” (Brad Young, Jesus, the Jewish Theologian). So when Jesus used that title, it was commonly understood by those who heard it that He certainly intended to suggest Messiah. Although not having taken the time to certify this number, one biblical scholar claims that Jesus directly referenced the vision of Daniel as many as fifty times when using the term Son of Man.
“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another…” (Matthew 25:31-32). Jesus gave Himself the title Son of Man throughout His ministry as recorded in the gospels. Son of Man was His favorite way of describing Himself, even though He never once heard that term applied to Him by His disciples. Practically all biblical scholars believe that Jesus, at least in part, took that title from this well-known vision of Daniel’s and turned it into a title for Himself. There is much controversy, though, about what exactly this title Son of Man means. There were times in the gospels in which Jesus called Himself Son of Man in reference to His humanity. Jesus used the title in order to remind everyone of His humble condition as a flesh and blood, generic human being, in complete solidarity with all of humanity. Matthew 8:20 probably falls in line with that thought, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Human and Divine. Daniel’s vision reveals the “One like the Son of Man” to be in human form, but was also divine, given His sovereignty over all the earth. This majestic person in the vision is “like” the Son of Man, but then again it is obvious here that He is much more than that. When Jesus claims to be the Son of Man, He is referring to both His humanity and His divinity. Jesus claimed to be both aspects of the prophesied Son of Man in Daniel, completely human and completely divine. He claimed to be the glorious fulfillment of Daniel 7, coming in the clouds of heaven to approach God in His eternal presence. Yes, He was born of a human being, mother Mary. And yes, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, God Himself. He was a Person, yet He received from God the kingdom of the earth. The Messiah, both human and divine. Jesus the Messiah. He wasn’t merely “like the Son of Man,” He was as He repeatedly said during His ministry, “the” Son of Man.
Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending
“Then will appear in the sky the sign of the Son of Man, and all the nations of the earth will mourn over Him. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, revealed with mighty power, great splendor, and glory!”… “You are about to see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of God the Almighty! And one day you will also see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven!” (Matthew 24:30 and 26:64).
The Grand Appearance in Heavenly Clouds. Historically, the vision in Daniel 7 has been understood as a vivid description of the Second Coming of Christ in glory. It is the momentous time in history when the Messiah, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, returns and receives from the Father “dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.” (Daniel 7:14). John’s revelation dovetails with Daniel’s prophecy as he said in his Revelation 14:14, “Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown.”