Open your Bibles with me, please, if you will, again to Daniel chapter 7. We’re looking at Daniel’s famous prophecy of the four beasts. And today we hope to finish up with the section on the Son of Man. We’ve been going through the chapter. We went through it once at one broad brush, and now we’re going back to cover some themes that are prominent in the passage. One was the God who reigns, and then we saw the little horn who opposes the people of God, and then last week we began the study on the Son of Man.
You’ll remember, and I think I will, for the sake of time, since we have read through the chapter together three times now in its entirety, I’ll summarize all of it and read the verses that we’ll focus on this morning. In the early first half of the chapter, Daniel has this vision of these four beasts. There’s this lion, and this represents Babylon. We saw the bear, and then the leopard, and then this fourth beast that is not described specifically, except that it’s a terrifying beast. And he gives the interpretation in verse 17; verses 15 and following fill in all of the details for us. But these four beasts are four successive kingdoms: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and then the Roman Empire, which then in turn, as I mentioned last week, the Roman Empire does not exhaust all that’s said about this kingdom, and it comes to represent the entire world system all the way to the end.
And we see these four kingdoms, violent in nature, each overthrowing the previous, each becoming larger in its take. And all of this happening with some real devastation, not only to the nations at large that are involved, but also particularly to the people of God. And that is until the Son of Man comes, and that’s verses 9 and following first, where he gives us this judgment scene where the Ancient of Days takes his seat on his throne. He sits in judgment over the nations. The little horn and the beast are killed, destroyed, and now we have another kingdom replacing them all.
And that kingdom then is in view in verses 13 and 14 that we’ll focus on today. “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 and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people’s nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Let’s bow together for prayer. Our Father, we rejoice to see this great prospect that you’ve given to us. We rejoice to know that the Son of Man is the Lord Jesus Christ who has taken his seat at the right hand of the Father, who reigns today and who will reign in fullness tomorrow. Give us a clearer understanding of this, a firmer grasp. Give us through it a greater anticipation of the wonderful day when He returns for us. We pray in His name. Amen.
Well, as I’ve mentioned, the Son of Man then was introduced to us in the context of this judgment scene and the context of establishing the kingdom of God, which supplants and replaces all these previous world kingdoms that have been itemized for us. Verses 9 and following picture the judgment scene when God takes his throne, disposes of these evil empires and the world system. And in turn, then, we find in verses 13 and 14, the Son of Man comes before the Ancient of Days and receives from him the kingdom. Whoever he is, he’s one who has earned the right to rule, and he serves now as God’s king over all the earth. We began this last time when we said that we would look under this under three broad categories.
The Title, The Son Of Man
So first of all, just by way of review, the title, the Son of Man, has several layers of significance to it. Number one, it is just a title that means a human being. A son of man is a man. It’s a term that’s used in the scriptures elsewhere of other people, like the prophet Ezekiel famously: “son of man prophesied,” and so on. It just means he’s a man, a human being. The other kingdoms are described as beasts; this kingdom is overseen by a man.
Then we saw also that the title “Son of Man” has a messianic significance. It has to do with the fulfillment of the messianic promise. The Messiah has come and he is—this is one of his titles—he is the Son of Man. We see in verses 13 and 14, this is a coronation scene, where the Son of Man stands before the Ancient of Days, receives this kingdom from Him, and rules over the world.
We saw that it entails what we call Adam Christology, that just as Adam was the head of the human race and failed, and now this next man, the Son of Man comes, and unlike Adam, he succeeds where God has commanded him and he takes the kingdom and rules over it finally, universally, and in righteousness. This is the fulfillment of the messianic promises, and here the title is the Son of Man. So, the Son of Man, then, is a man. It’s also a messianic title.
And then we saw also that Daniel 7 here, verses 13 and 14, and even in the rest of the chapter, requires that we say a little bit more about the Son of Man, and that is His transcendence—that He’s a transcendent being. He’s a man, sure enough. He’s a human being. But he’s also a transcendent being. He doesn’t come from earth to heaven. He’s there already. And he rides on the clouds. This is language that is used of God elsewhere in scripture. Who else can ride on the clouds but God? And so he comes as one who is worthy to stand before the Ancient of Days and receives the authority to rule over God’s kingdom in God’s stead. And so all of the nations and peoples and languages of the earth render homage and obedience and worship to him. He is a transcendent being. He’s a man. He’s the Son of Man, but he’s also a transcendent being. He is both human and divine.
And that’s something of a puzzle, a mystery in the Old Testament that’s never fleshed out. There’s never even any, at the time, there was never even any puzzling over it. But looking back at it, it’s something of a riddle. How can this person be both divine and human?
The Identity Of The Son Of Man
And then, of course, that comes to our next point, the identity of the Son of Man. And for you, this is easy. This is what we read in the Gospels when God became man, God incarnate, the Lord Jesus who is the God-man come as the Davidic king and as God ruling for God as man over God’s kingdom. And in fact, we said that Jesus uses this term, “Son of Man,” of himself quite frequently. And in fact, it is his favorite self-designation. When Jesus speaks of himself, he doesn’t say, “me” or “I.” He often—he does that some—but often He uses this expression: “the Son of Man must,” “the Son of Man will.” This is his favorite self-designation.
And so what we started to do last time was to show what are the connotations of that in the Gospels. When Jesus uses this expression, the Son of Man about himself, what is he saying? Obviously he’s reaching back here to Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14 saying he is that Son of Man who was prophesied. But what’s the significance of that then? And we began to say that the first area of significance of it in the way Jesus uses the expression of himself is that he speaks of his own authority even in his earthly ministry.
He speaks of his own authority even in his earthly ministry. So he can say “that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sin,” or “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” These are statements that here’s a man who’s clearly a man, Son of David, and yet he’s claiming for himself the prerogatives of deity. The Son of Man has authority to forgive sin. The Son of Man is greater than the Sabbath, and so on. And that’s one cluster of verses where Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man and tends to have that kind of focus: his authority even in his earthly ministry.
And this is just very important. When Jesus uses this expression, the Son of Man, he very often uses it in the context of his coming rejection and suffering and death and resurrection—his passion. And I think what we’ll do is look at one of those verses at least. Keep a marker here, I hope to be back in Daniel 7, but look at Mark. Let’s go to Mark’s gospel. I think I’ll begin reading with verse 27. I’m sorry, are you there yet? I’ll give you time to get there so you can follow. Mark chapter 8, verse 27:
“When Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi, and on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’ And they told him—and remember in Matthew’s account of this, it’s a little fuller—’Who do men say that I, the son of man, am?’ And they told him John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, and others, one of the prophets. And he asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ And Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ.’ And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him. 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.”
So the Son of Man now, in the other context we saw, focused on his authority and his earthly mission; now here’s a strange twist. The Son of Man will be rejected, killed, and then he’ll rise again. For those of you taking notes, you might want to write down Mark chapter 9. Well, we can do that. We’re there. Mark chapter 9, verse 31 as well: “He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.'” And if you’d like, you can mark down Luke chapter 9, verse 44. Matthew 16 is a parallel passage to the one we just read, and there are others as well.
So he uses this title, Son of Man, with reference to the Son of Man’s rejection, suffering, crucifixion, and resurrection. And that’s significant because, like we see here in Mark chapter 8, this comes on the heels of the disciples’ confession of his messiahship. “Who do people say that I am?” “Oh, you’re Jeremiah, you’re Elijah, one of the prophets.” Very respectable kinds of answers, but not respectable enough. And so he presses it. “Who do you say I am?” Answer: “You’re the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And in Matthew’s account, he says, “You’re right, flesh and blood hasn’t revealed this to you, my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.” And then right on the heels of that, in both Matthew and Mark, he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer.
So what a contrast: the Messiah, who is the Son of Man in Daniel 7, who receives the kingdom from God and reigns over God’s kingdom as a transcendent ruler, must be rejected and suffer and be killed and then rise from the dead. It’s a strange irony, a royal sufferer, if you will. The king rejected, the king suffering, the king crucified, and then rising from the dead. And this is exactly how this theme then develops—the Son of Man theme develops in a gospel-centered, in a gospel-shaped kind of way, particularly in the New Testament. There are some statements of it in the Old Testament as well, like in Isaiah 53.
But there’s this theme that we’ve seen before, that he earns his kingship precisely through his rejection and suffering and death and resurrection. So for example, Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20, the Great Commission; verse 18, you remember what Jesus, how he starts it? “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” That’s a fascinating statement. He does not say all authority in heaven and on earth is mine because I am the Son of God. What he says is all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. And the clue to understanding it is just the context. This is post-crucifixion, post-resurrection, and now Jesus is saying through his intercessory work, on the cross he has earned the right to rule. He now has become the successful king.
And so we have echoes of that in Acts chapter 2 verse 36, God has made him Lord and Christ. Well, he’s Lord already, but God has installed him as king as a result of and as a consequence of his successful work in saving. We have the same thing in Philippians chapter 2. God has given him a name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that he is Lord. God has given him this name, God has given him this status of kingship because he has earned it through his humiliation, his suffering, and death.
And it’s in consequence of that then that we find, like in Ephesians chapter 1, that God has seated him at his right hand in heavenly places far above all rule and all the dominion and power and given him a name that is above every name that is named, both in this age and in the age to come. This is something Christ has earned. So he has a lordship by reason of the fact that he is the Son of God, the second person of the eternal trinity. But he has this mediatorial kingship, this messianic kingship that he has earned through his successful saving work.
And so in light of all that, Jesus can say to God the Father in his prayer in John 17, “You have given me authority to give eternal life to all that you have given to me.” This is an authority that Jesus now has claimed. That he now has the right to rule, he has the right to save, he has the right to carry out God’s purpose in judgment. Christ earning his kingship in his saving work. And this is that strange twist, this irony that we find in the gospel of Christ earning his kingship through his suffering. Christ succeeding in his defeat. Christ triumphing in his defeat. In his weakness, he gains the kingdom.
And all of this we find reflected several times through the scripture that Christ in his crucifixion, in his death, in his defeat has achieved kingship. And this is why, as I’ve said so many times before, the older theologians used to like to speak of Christ as reigning from the cross. That here he exercises his kingship in saving those he has come to save. So in his saving work, through his rejection, his suffering, and through his death and his resurrection, the Lord Jesus has achieved kingship. He has achieved the right to rule.
You might remember a reflection of this in Revelation chapter 5, that marvelous scene where we have God in chapter 4 sitting on his throne in transcendent glory. And he’s got this scroll in his hand now in chapter 5. And who’s going to carry out his purpose of salvation and judgment? And no one is worthy. And finally, heaven rejoices because this lion who is the Lamb steps forward, takes the scroll, can undo the seals, and carry out God’s purpose of salvation and judgment. And then all of heaven erupts in praise and says, “You are worthy to take the scroll,” you remember, “because you were slain.” You’re worthy to take the scroll and carry out God’s purposes of judgment and salvation because you were slain and have redeemed people to God out of every nation and tribe and kindred and tongue. It is through his suffering and death that his kingship is established.
And in fact, there’s one prominent expression of this in the Gospels where Jesus uses it in this sense, and that is, ironically, at his trial. Caiaphas, the high priest, says to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” And Jesus responds, “You have said so.” And now he quotes Daniel 7. “But I tell you from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” I don’t think it exhausts it, but at the very least what this says is that Jesus is claiming that here my kingship is achieved. And in the world’s rejection of Jesus, and they’re putting him on a cross, he accomplishes God’s purpose of salvation and establishes God’s kingdom so that now he can save those whom the Father has given to him.
Interestingly enough, by the way, in Matthew 26, where Jesus says that, “You have said this, but I tell you, from here on, you will see the Son of Man seated on the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Seated on the right hand of power. That’s Psalm 110. Remember, we’ve seen that? “Sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” You will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power—that’s Psalm 110—and coming on the clouds of heaven—that’s Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14. So here he’s established as king. Here, through his saving work, he has the right to rule and to carry out God’s kingdom.
That is to say, now that Jesus has suffered and died, has been raised from the dead, he’s king. And yet, it is very evident, isn’t it, that it’s a kingship that’s not yet fully realized. The beasts are still there. The little horn is still making his noise. There’s still the opposition against the people of God. Sometimes whole cultures, as we’ve been seeing in Sunday school, sometimes whole cultures can collectively run against God and say, “We won’t have him rule over us.” Clearly, if Jesus is king, it is not a kingship that’s yet fully realized.
So is Jesus king or not? Or to put it in terms of Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14, when will this be fulfilled? We see this Son of Man standing before the Ancient of Days, receiving the kingdom. And it’s a kingdom that will not pass away. A kingdom that will be enforced in the sense that all nations and peoples and languages will bow before him. Is that happening yet? When will Jesus receive the kingship? Is it happening yet or not?
Now here, and I think this is very important to understanding not only the passage in Daniel chapter seven, but also subsequent biblical prophecy as well. The answer to “when is this fulfilled, Jesus becoming king?”—the answer is not a simple one. The answer in fact is complex. It comes in stages.
And so we turn to the gospels and what is the first thing we find? The first emphasis we find is that the king has come. The Davidic son has arrived and you have this emphasis all through the gospel, the birth narratives in the gospels, the annunciation to Mary, the wise men coming, the fulfilled prophecies, the announcements in the temple and all of that. You have this emphasis that the king has come. So Jesus has come, he is king. At his birth, he is king. The Davidic son has been born, he is king.
And then, a little later, in Jesus’ ministry, you find him doing things like casting out demons and people objecting, and “you did this by the power of Satan.” No, I did it by the power of God, and if I did it by the power of God, that means the kingdom of God is among you. Oh, so Jesus establishes his kingship in his earthly ministry. God’s kingdom has ransacked and invaded Satan’s territory, and he’s come in with power.
Now wait, that’s not enough either. Because we come just before the cross, and Jesus says in John chapter 12, “If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to me.” Truly, he said, this is the time when Satan is being cast out. Here at the cross now, finally, his kingship is established, like we’ve already seen. So it’s established in his birth, he’s the Davidic king. It’s established in his ministry, invading Satan’s kingdom. It’s established at the cross, where now he has been a successful mediator, establishing his right to rule and to carry out God’s saving purpose and his purpose in judgment as well.
But wait, that’s not enough either because it’s not until after the resurrection that he’s been vindicated. God has raised him from the dead and then Jesus can say, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.” But wait a minute, that’s not enough either because it’s not until his ascension that he is seated at the right hand of the father and now receives the kingship.
And yet with all of that—his birth, his earthly ministry, his cross, his resurrection, his ascension—still we see that his kingdom is still being contested. The beasts are still doing their thing. The little horn is still sounding off, opposing the people of God. And so we find that his kingship then is established finally in his return in glory.
Implications Of All Of This In A Fuller Revelation Of Scripture
And in fact, that is the third area of significance now when Jesus uses this expression, the Son of Man. He uses it with reference to his authority in his earthly ministry. He uses the expression “Son of Man” in reference to his suffering and rejection and death and crucifixion and resurrection—his passion. And thirdly, and this is the majority of the uses, He uses the term “Son of Man” in reference to his return in glory at the end of the age.
And sometimes he uses the “Son of Man” language with explicit reference to Daniel chapter 7. “Son of Man” links it back to Daniel chapter 7, but sometimes it is with this expression “coming on the clouds” as well. So for example, Matthew chapter 16 verses 27 and 28: “The Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.” Matthew 19, verse 28: “Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I say to you in the new world, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on the twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'”
Matthew 24 in the Olivet Discourse, verses 29 and 30: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will fall from the heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 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.” And I’ll give you one more, Matthew 25 verse 31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory.”
In all of these you find obviously the reference to Daniel chapter 7; often it is linked again with Psalm 110, seated on the throne. But this, then the Son of Man will come on the clouds and take his glorious throne. So then what we find then is that this is the focus of Daniel chapter 7: the kingdom in its climactic form, Christ coming in his triumph, and the kingdom finally established. That’s what we saw, you remember, in Daniel chapter 2, when you have this metallic image with the gold, the silver, and the bronze, and the iron parts of the image. And then you have this boulder cut out of the side of the mountain and crushing the image and grinding it to powder. And this boulder then grows and becomes a kingdom that fills the whole earth, the kingdom of God. We have the same thing here in Daniel chapter 7 as well.
That is the point, and the New Testament picks that up in several ways. Jesus himself picks it up that way, and then the subsequent New Testament writers do the same. For example, Revelation chapter 1 and verse 7: “Behold, he’s coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen.” And the great hope that John holds out in Revelation chapter 1: he’s coming, he’s coming on the clouds. Daniel chapter 7: he’ll come on the clouds, he’ll bring the kingdom to its consummation.
We find that then finally in Revelation chapter 19 when Jesus comes riding on a white horse and disposes of all of his enemies, throws the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire, throws Satan himself in the bottomless pit. And then as in the words of Revelation chapter 11, the kingdom of this world at last, finally, becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.
And this is the great hope of the church. And so we see Jesus claiming the kingship, claiming to be the Son of Man, showing his kingship at his birth, in his ministry, in his death, in his resurrection, in his ascension, and then climactically in his second coming—in his return, he’ll bring that kingdom to consummation. And so in that way, then, Daniel chapter 7 ties into a whole stream of Davidic messianic prophecy.
And remember, that’s the theme that got us to come to Daniel from our larger series on the story of salvation. Daniel 7 ties into all of that, and it’s fascinating to see. And I think it’s a boost to our faith to see how these various strands of prophecy come together and see just how Jesus brings them to fulfillment. The Son of Man, the true man, reigning as humanity was created and intended by God to rule, reflecting his rule, created in God’s image; and now the true man, the Son of Man, comes and takes that rule to himself. He’s also the transcendent prophesied Messiah, who was appointed by God and promised to take the throne, and now he comes. He’s also the Lord Jesus Christ, once despised and rejected, and now ruling over all.
By his death and his resurrection, he has established his right to rule. And throughout this age, one by one, he’s claiming men and women and rescuing them out of the kingdom of darkness and bringing them into his own kingdom. But what a glorious day it’ll be when finally he comes in glory and exercises all the rights of his kingship in a full sense. And what a thrill to see the Lord Jesus in that day, once despised and now in his glory. And what a thrill to see all the nations who now are in such rebellion against him. In that day, bow before Him and acknowledge Him as Lord and Christ. And at last then to see our Redeemer, the King, coming in all His glory.
As I keep saying through this, this is the hope of the church. This is the outlook of Daniel. Men and women of God, be faithful. Be faithful. God is King. And His King will come. And He will bring God’s kingdom to its culmination.
Let’s bow for prayer. Our Father, this has for us a wonderful prospect, how we look forward to that day when Christ will come and take the reins of all of this world’s government to himself. What a great day to see him, and what a great day to see all the world acknowledge him as King. We pray with John the Apostle, Lord, hasten that day, come quickly. Until then, we pray that you will keep us faithful. Help us, Lord, in light of all of this, to live with a sense of anticipation. May we never lose sight of the fact that our King is coming. In his name we ask, amen.