Ancient of Days and the
Son of Man …the
Chronicle
Daniel 7:13-14 I (Daniel) saw in the night visions, and,
behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of
heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought
him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages, should serve him: his dominion is an
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
This rendering has become
one of my favorites. The dream that Daniel saw is the best
illustration that I have seen in which God the Father and
God the Son are pictured together. In this dream, Daniel
saw two that are one yet separate …He who is and was and
is to come… manifested in a segment of time. I have not
found a better representation in the Old Testament of the
transcendent sovereignty of God.
In
Revelation, Alpha and Omega are used describe God or
Christ. (John 1:1) In the beginning was the Word and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:14) And
the Word became flesh and lived among us… “Alpha and
omega” refers to God’s sovereignty and eternal nature. It
is beyond human comprehension for the beginning and the
end; the first and last to occupy the same space of time.
The picture presented is of
an old man who appears to have lived for many years. In
this rendering, He is looking back through history and
forward to the future. He lives forever, His kingdom is
everlasting …, and here He obviously has the authority to
hand it over to the Son of Man (the future Messiah).
This rendering must be
abstract …for how can one illustrate One who is not bound
by time? God needs to neither look back nor forward in
time. How can we comprehend that Time is in Him? A
thousand years are nothing when compared eternity: between
a moment and a million of years, there is a perceivable
span; but between time and eternity, there is none. “All
the events” of a thousand years, whether past or to come,
are more present to the Eternal Mind, than the last hour
is to us.
God, an eternal being ...
set apart a portion of Eternity and called it time. Time
was necessary for His dealings with humanity. He divides
time into segments ...days, nights, and seasons. Do not
miss your DAY of visitation!
Time
was essential in the fulfillment of the prophetic words
within their season. The words are recorded in the book of
Daniel were long before Christ, God used the night season
to give Daniel the most profound and incredible glimpse of
the future. A time when God (the One older than time)
would complete His plan. The Father would give His Son all
the dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that would never
pass away. That in the dispensation of the fullness of
times He might gather in one all things in Christ, both
which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him…
(Eph 1:10 KJV) …which is essentially what Daniel saw. |
