Titles of the Father – The Ancient of Days

Titles of the Father – The Ancient of Days.

“Then Manoah, father of Samson, asked the Angel of Yahweh, ‘What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?’ The Angel of Yahweh replied, ‘Why do you ask my name? It is a name of wonder. It is unknowable, and too wonderful for you to understand!’” (Judges 13:18).

Trying to determine a list of God’s titles in the Hebrew Bible can be a tricky business, a daunting task. For one thing, the differences between a name and a title are unclear and they often overlap. There are times, too, when one is tempted to consider a common noun or adjective or metaphor to be a title if it happens to reference God. And there are plenty of times when we read of a character description of God, or a unique ability of God, and we find ourselves turning them into titles. So the titles of the Father that I will highlight in this series is a list, not the list. For all I know, there may not even be a definitive list of God’s titles. I aim to provide varied glimpses of God the Father in the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament… who He is, what He can do, what He represents, what He has done. Most importantly, I pray the readers of these titles are able to maintain the Jewish tradition of using God’s titles as ways of addressing the Almighty. As we address God in prayer and worship, may we feel free to put a capital letter at the beginning of each title, making the title an aspect of His identity. In that way each title could be another way to honor God and recognize His greatness.

“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 Ancient of Days. We know our God is ageless, in that He has no age and is an eternal Being. 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.

When I was in elementary school, just for kicks I tried to imagine what it was like to have no beginning. I would time travel in my mind back to creation, then wonder what was before that, then before that, then before that. I think that’s as far as I got. 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 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.

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.

“I kept watching the night visions, when I saw, coming with the clouds of heaven, One like a Son of Man. He approached the Ancient One, the Ancient of Days, and was led into His presence. To Him was given rulership, glory and a kingdom, so that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. His authority is an eternal authority that will not pass away; and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14). 

“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, more than seventy times. 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 is much debate about this, and certainly these thoughts following will not end the debate.

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.” 

But then again, 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.

Isn’t it fascinating that Daniel’s vision reveals the “One like the Son of Man” to be in human form, but was also divine, given the 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, the Ancient of Days, 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.

Historically, the vision in Daniel 7:13-14 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.”

There is a Hebrew name of God that is closely related to the Aramaic Ancient of Days. That name is El-Olam, God Everlasting. 

“And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree at Beersheba; and there he called on the name of Yahweh, El-Olam, the Everlasting God.” (Genesis 21:33).

El-Olam is a powerful and mysterious name of God meaning God Everlasting. Our God is a God of timeless qualities, and eternal constancy of character and holiness. If you are looking for someone with the Big Picture, then our God with His eternal perspective is Who you’re looking for. Only God can put everything and everyone into its proper context.

El-Olam is another compound name of God. El is simply the generic name for God, a shortened form of Elohim. Olam means eternity. But the ancient rabbis have brought up an interesting point about this name. They pointed out that olam is connected to alam, which means hidden. So they believed that El-Olam reveals a mysterious nature of God, that El-Olam is a secret name for God. It is certainly a mystery that something exists that had no beginning and will have no ending. It is surely a mystery that God exists in infinity, that He created time itself, He invented chronology, and is thus outside of time. We indeed worship a God who is outside our understanding, a God who was and is and is to come, a God of yesterday, today and forever. It is a comfort that we can trust in His everlasting wisdom and power.

Gospel Fulfillment. “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord, ‘who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Rev. 1:8). Jesus is A to Z, because He is eternal. He was there at the beginning, He is here now, and He’ll be there at the end of the age. He is the originator of all things, and the fulfillment of all things. He was there at the starting point of history, and He is its destiny. He is the origin of life, and He is the goal of life. He is the prototype of humanity, and its final glory. He embraces all the eternal truth of God’s knowledge, from the first letter of His first word to the last letter of His last word, from the beginning of time to the conclusion of time, from Creation to Restoration. Jesus is the essence of everything in God’s Reality.