Daniel 7:13-14, 18, 22, 27

The One and Only Human Win

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on March 8, 2020 at Beacon Church

Has it ever occurred to you that you would be happier if what you dream about is also what God thinks about? It’s not just you and me. Jesus’ original disciples misunderstood what He had come to do. In your Bibles you have four books, called Gospels, that tell us about the things Jesus said and did during his life on earth. After that you have a book called “Acts” which is about the “acts of the Apostles”—the things done and said by the original followers Jesus chose to be his representatives after he was gone. Once you know that the Gospels are about what Jesus did and Acts is about what the apostles did next, it’s a little embarrassing to read what they asked him in Acts 1:6. They had come together and were with Jesus, after he had been raised from the dead, and they asked if now was the time he would “restore the kingdom to Israel?” They would surely have been happier if their dream was what God had in mind.

600 years earlier, God showed the prophet Daniel a dream about what He had in mind and it did not line up with what Daniel wanted and hoped for. That was what we just read in the Bible. After the first part of the dream or vision, Daniel wrote this: “"As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me,” (Dan. 7:15 ESV). After the rest of the vision he wrote this: “Here is the end of the matter. As for me, Daniel, my thoughts greatly alarmed me, and my color changed, but I kept the matter in my heart.” (Dan. 7:28 ESV). Daniel probably had been dreaming God would restore the Kingdom of Israel, just like the disciples had hoped—with an army and horses and swords and a victorious king leading them into battle! That’s what Daniel probably dreamed about; it seems that’s what Jesus’ disciples signed up for. God had made Israel a nation, God had given Israel a land, and God had given Israel a king. And they had lost it all. Yet God had promised David’s dynasty would last forever so obviously they thought God had to restore what they had lost. Maybe for Daniel, Israel’s greatest need was what they had lost—their land and king. But in these verses God showed Daniel a bigger vision that troubled Daniel. The theme of this sermon, in Dan 7:13-14 is that One man will restore what was lost and gather a people to join him.

One man will face God alone (v13)

Nobody is strong enough to face God—Daniel saw the mightiest of emperors brought before God…

8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.  9 "As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.  10 A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.  (Dan. 7:8-10 ESV)

and then killed:

"I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire. (Dan. 7:11 ESV)

And nobody is righteous enough to face God: Job placed a hand over his mouth; Isaiah cried “woe is me!”; Daniel passed out (10:9). And those were only visions of God—not face to face! But verse 13 shows us one man will face God alone. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him,” (Dan. 7:13 ESV). “coming with the clouds”—this man does not wait for God to come and judge the earth: he is not judged along with everybody else. He goes early to face God; He goes to heaven to face God; He goes alone to face God. “a son of man” a descendent of Adam. It might be stating the obvious, but the reminder is an uncomfortable truth: every single human is a lot like Adam. We have two eyes like him; two ears; two arms; two legs; ten fingers and ten toes; and a human soul warped by sin—thanks to Adam. “and he was presented before him.”

If you have ever worried what someone would think of you if they knew your darkest secret, then let me remind you God knows everything about you. People are right to fear death because it means facing God: “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” (Heb 9:27 ESV).

One man will earn back what was lost (v14)

The verdict is beyond shocking. It defies explanation. This son of Adam, The Son of Man who is presented by God is not executed on the spot, he is rewarded. “to him was given dominion”—that’s what Adam had lost!

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."  27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.  28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."  (Gen. 1:26-28 ESV)

And then the very next thing God said to Adam was not to eat the fruit of just one tree. Adam had one job. Obey God, have dominion over everything. He had one specific command to obey. And He thoroughly broke the only law God gave him. He spat in God’s face and received death as his reward. This Son of Man goes face to face with God and God gives him everything Adam lost. “and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him…” etc. This is global, unlimited authority over a universal Kingdom. Which means this Son of Adam also gets to be King over the land of Israel. “his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away…”

Let me remind you why Daniel was in Babylon when he had this vision. It had been over 50 years since the King of Babylon invaded and destroyed the Kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem. Daniel later prayed a long prayer of confession admitting that God had warned his people to repent of their sin but they didn’t listen. They lost their land and their king because they didn’t listen to God (c.f. Dan 9:4-15). This Son of Adam goes to heaven, appears before God in the flesh, and receives everything Adam and Israel lost. Not a temporary gift or another chance, His kingdom has no limits and has no end. The only possible explanation is that He earned it by obeying God perfectly.

One man gathers many to join him (vv 18, 22, 27)

“But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever,” (Dan. 7:18 ESV). He gathers a holy people to join his kingdom forever. “until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given for the saints of the Most High, and the time came when the saints possessed the kingdom,” (Dan. 7:22 ESV). His people become so holy not only do they survive God’s judgement, He rewards them. “And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him,” (Dan. 7:27 ESV). His Kingdom becomes their kingdom too! Six times in this chapter the people who get to share the Son of Man’s Kingdom are called “holy ones” or “saints.”

What should really bother us about verse 18 especially, is that it looks like God is regifting. Maybe that’s the wrong word: It’s like on Christmas morning your oldest child opens his present and it’s the bicycle he’s always wanted! Then your next child opens his present and it’s empty, but you take the bicycle from the first one and you give it to the second—“here’s your gift! The bicycle your brother always wanted!” And so on with the third child and the fourth and the fifth… How many times can God reward people with a worldwide eternal kingdom? Because if it’s worldwide and eternal it seems like that reward can only be given to one person. Well verse 27 has the mind-blowing conclusion that the Holy People’s Kingdom IS the Son of Man’s Kingdom—that somehow, they get to join in receiving the reward God gave to Him. His reward becomes their reward too.

When I was a teenager I worked on a pig farm for 3 years. And most of the time, compared to the pigs, I was really clean. I didn’t roll around with them in the muck. But when I got home, compared to my mom or dad or sisters, I was dirty. I stank like a pig barn. You see, “clean” is relative. Holy is not. Holy means perfect cleanness, it means pure, it means entirely righteous. It means an impossible standard for anyone descended from Adam.

When Adam and Even knew they had sinned against God they felt exposed; the shame and the need to hide was so intense they tried to sew leaves together to cover their nakedness (Gen 3:7). But when God came to find them, they hid from Him. The only way these people of the Son of Man can be called “holy” is that somehow God has removed their shame, cleansed their guilt, and healed their broken human nature. If you could ask God for one gift, isn’t that the most important thing He could give you? The holiness you need to be able to never hide from Him again; to be able to stand before Him; to be restored to Him; to be His beloved child and to join this multitude of gloriously happy, holy people, in the Kingdom of the Son of Man forever? Could it be that you are never happy because what you dream about is not what God has in mind? Wouldn’t it be such a relief, such peace, such joy to know that the one thing you need most from God is exactly what God has accomplished and provided for you through the life, and death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

In three more sermons I will preach up to Easter, we are going to see what Jesus said about being this Son of Man. That He faced God for us; He earned back what was lost and he did it for us; and that He is now gathering us to be His holy people, and to join Him in His coming Kingdom.

On that day when the disciples gathered one last time with Jesus, and they asked him if he was going to restore the Kingdom of Israel now, see what He told them:

7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.  8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,  11 and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."  (Acts 1:7-11 ESV)

So the Son of Man rose with the clouds of heaven and was presented before the Ancient of Days and was crowned by His Father as King of Kings that one day soon every knee will bow before Him and ever tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And one day soon, we who hope in Him, will share in His reward.