Daniel 7:13-18

The Son of Man (Part 1)

A sermon by Pastor Joe Haynes

Preached on March 26, 2017 at Beacon Church

When I was 11 or 12, one of the bright spots in a dreary school day was when our teacher would show this TV program that featured investigative questions: Who? What? When? Where? How? and Why? It seemed like a good idea to use similar questions as my outline this morning. Looking at this intimidating passage of Bible prophecy, I want to ask five questions with you: What? Who? When? Why? and How?

What was Daniel worried about?

“As for me, Daniel, my spirit within me was anxious, and the visions of my head alarmed me,” (Dan. 7:15 ESV). The vision in chapter 7 of the 4 Beasts—four successive Gentile Kingdoms trample on Jerusalem as God’s instruments to discipline His children in Israel--beginning with Babylon and ending with Rome. But the downward moral spiral of those 4 animal-like kingdoms show that the human race is lost. All the nations of Earth are weighed and found wanting in the end. For all of Israel’s stubborn idolatry and rebellion against God, the rest of the nations are even worse. As Habakkuk cried in frustration, “You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong, why do you idly look at traitors and remain silent when the wicked swallows up the man more righteous than he?” (Hab. 1:13 ESV) And this was the awful and scary truth, the truth Daniel knew: Israel didn't deserve a restored kingdom. Israel didn't deserve another chance. God had given the Jews so many chances and so many prophets and they had acted worse than a nation of wild animals. So their land was going to be trampled by foreign nations… until this mysterious king would come. But who is this king? And what did it mean for Israel? It seems to me those were the insecurities, the worries that made Daniel anxious and alarmed when he saw this prophecy.

“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.  14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him…”  (Dan. 7:13-14 ESV)

Daniel and Habbakuk, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, and all the remnant of believing Jews that lived through the Exile in Babylon, they understood justice. But they prayed for mercy. And in this vision spanning 2 ½ millennia, the justice of God was ominous. But where was the mercy of God? Was there any hope for a weak and failed, sinful people like Daniel's own people? So what about you and me? Do we deserve a reward from God? In this vision we see humanity’s utter failure. And only one person—this Son of Man—seems to earn a reward from God. He gets what He deserves, and that’s justice. But is there no way God can decide for justice in the end, but also give mercy to those of us who pray for forgiveness? Where in Daniel 7 is a sign of grace? Where is the Good News?

Who is this King?

The Aramaic phrase, "the son of man", simply means a human. But when you translate it into Hebrew that phrase becomes "son of Adam". And in that reminder of the man all humans are descended from, the mystery of this man's identity gets deeper. Because all humans come from Adam. And that's the problem. Adam was created innocent, but he died a sinner. His personal rebellion against God planted a rebel flag over the entire human race that came afterward. Even worse, we all confirm our identity as rebels by our daily acts of treason against God in the world that He made. So since world history from Adam to the end is this sea of rebellion, out of which crawl these four great kingdoms, one after another--each one more evil than the last--then where does this one man come from? How does he deserve to become king over the world Adam lost? “"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).

The Son of Man is presented before God Himself, the Ancient of Days. And for the second time in world history, all Creation is put under the dominion of a single human. “And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him…” (Dan. 7:14 ESV). The first time was at Creation: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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. 1:27-28 ESV) Maybe you've seen that show on Netflix, The Crown? I was glued to the screen when Prince Phillip said he would not bow to Elizabeth when she was crowned Queen. And she said that a strong man would be able to kneel. And I almost cheered at her coronation when he did kneel. The tension in that relationship! The fact is that he is her husband! But she is his queen. And when you recognize the right of a monarch to rule, it is right to kneel, to obey, to serve. What's really amazing in this vision is the extent and sphere of authority God gives to this Son of Man: “…his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed,” (Dan. 7:14 ESV).

When is this going to happen?

In his vision, Daniel was disturbed and sees someone--probably an angel--standing nearby. So he asks to know the truth. “I approached one of those who stood there and asked him the truth concerning all this,” (Dan. 7:16 ESV). And this person answers and interprets the vision for Daniel. Verses 17-18 are a very short interpretation of the whole vision so far. As we will see when we get to verse 19 in another sermon, Daniel is still wanting more explanation about the details. But I want you to notice that verses 17-18 are what the angelic interpreter considers a good enough interpretation of the most important truths of the whole vision Daniel had seen. Look at it again: “So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of the things.  17 'These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth.  18 But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever.’,” (Dan. 7:16-18 ESV). There are a couple of big things to notice here, but to start with, we find out when the Son of Man is crowned King of the World: after the fourth beast is killed. That is, after the last of these Gentile kingdoms is gone. We saw a couple of weeks ago that the fourth beast represents the Roman Empire. And we will see that the ten horns on that beast’s head represent the final stage of Roman civilization as Europe is split into 10 countries, the way it is today. But that's for another sermon. Right now notice that the final form of the fourth beast, the Roman Empire, is sentenced to death in verse 11. The Roman Empire did fall apart in the 5th century, but it was replaced by 10 kingdoms in Western Europe, and that's still the shape of Western Europe today. The Judgement Day is still in the future. The condemnation of the fourth beast is still in the future. And the coronation of the Son of Man happens right afterwards. Daniel must have realized he had seen this before in a different set of symbols: in chapter 2 God showed Daniel how to interpret King Nebuchadnezzar's dream in which he prophesied the same four Gentile kingdoms, one after another and the fourth one was the Roman Empire. And then the Kingdom of God came and destroyed the 10-part commonwealth of Roman Europe and established a Kingdom that grew to fill the whole earth and lasts forever. The coronation of the Son of Man is the future event when the Son of Man becomes the King over the whole Earth, when the Kingdom of God has finally come. At the end of this age. At the end of world history as we now know it.

Why is God going to do this?

The question of why is a question that needs to make our hearts ache. Because when we ask God "why are you doing this?" we are not talking about something abstract, "long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away…" We are talking about our world here, our past and our present. We are asking for God to explain to us His reason for all the wars, all the violence, all the destruction; for the deaths of so many, the ruined lives, the grief and loss of billions of people. We are asking God to make sense of everything that has been wrong with humanity since the very beginning; for a reason that will help us understand God's purpose and plan when citizens pray for their country to win the war, and subjects pray, "God save the queen!", and when those prayers seem to go unanswered and the barbarians invade anyway: the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans, Attila and the Huns, the Muslim armies of Arabia, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, the Turks and Ottomans, the Nazis, the Soviet Union, and ISIS… "God, please tell us why?" Millions of praying believers have asked for deliverance from these armies, and died before witnessing the victory they prayed for. “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever,” (Dan. 7:18 ESV).

There is a word that jumps out in verse 18 like a bright star on the blackest night: "saints". The very first time this word is used in the Book of Daniel. Suddenly, in this prophecy of the coronation of the Son of Man on the future Day of Judgement, a people enter onto the stage of Daniels vision who are called, "saints"--holy ones. Like they come out of nowhere! It was the command God gave to Israel in Lev 11:44 that the people should "become holy ones become I am holy" (c.f. Lev 19:2). But they failed. So after Moses was dead, "Joshua said to the people, 'You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins", (Jos. 24:19 ESV). This is the story of Israel in the Old Testament books of history: a nation called by God to be holy, whose story proves that holiness is impossible for the sons and daughters of Adam. Even when we sometimes wish to, we humans have always been unable to serve God the way we know we should.

So out of the blue, in this vision of the coronation of the Son of Man, Daniel sees two miraculous truths that are impossible with humanity, but not for God: a man is found worthy to rule over and restore the world Adam lost, and a whole kingdom of people become holy ones--i.e., "saints". These two miracles have one thing in common: the Son of Man. In verse 13, the Son of Man is presented before God; in verse 14 it is implied that unlike every other human king in this tragedy of Gentile kingdoms, He is found worthy to rule the world forever. And now look again at verse 18: it’s not just that His people are called “holy ones”, but they have a share in the everlasting Kingdom of the Son of Man! The people are weighed and found worthy! “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever,” (Dan. 7:18 ESV). The nations will rage, but Daniel, there is a happy ending!

How is this Son of Man worthy to rule God's Kingdom?

Consider what we have learned from this vision of 4 beasts—4 kingdoms on Earth—followed by the coronation of the Son of Man as King of the whole world forever. If Nebuchadnezzar was "golden", the Son of Man is glorious. He is the ideal human, in contrast with nations described as “beasts” because of their rebellion against God. He is worthy where they are unworthy (found wanting). His rule is everlasting while all of their kingdoms come to a sad end. His kingdom never falls, where theirs are trampled by those who follow. Who is this Son of Man? Tina Turner was wrong: We do need another Hero! Not one that fails to meet our expectations; One who exceeds our wildest hopes! God’s plan all along was to focus the hopes and prayers and faith of the whole world on one person, one King, one Saviour:  on Jesus.  Jesus called Himself “the Son of Man” 81 times in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John! The miraculous mysteries about the coronation of the Son of Man are revealed as Good News for all people in the promises of the New Testament![i]

• Mk. 8:31  And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

• Mk. 10:33  saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

• Lk. 18:31  And taking the twelve, he said to them, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.

• Lk. 6:22  "Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!

• Mk. 8:38  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

• Lk. 12:8  "And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God,

• Lk. 19:10  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

• Matt. 9:6  But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"-- he then said to the paralytic-- "Rise, pick up your bed and go home."

• Matt. 24:44  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

• Mk. 10:45  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

• Jn. 6:53  So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (Jn. 6:54 ESV)

• Jn. 6:27  Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal."

• Jn. 3:14  And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.  16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn. 3:15-16 ESV)

• Lk. 18:7 And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?"

• Jn. 12:23  And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

• Jn. 3:13  No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.

• Matt. 19:28  Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

• Matt. 24:30  Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

• Matt. 25:31  "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

• Lk. 22:69  But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God."