Ancient of
Days & 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. |