(Continued-Chapter VI)

Though Rome in the form of its modern successors, Germany and Russia, for the time being has been reduced to a subordinate position among the nations, it is destined to reappear as a world empire in the end-time which will be dealt with summarily by the appearance of God upon his throne of judgment in glory.

In verses 13 and 14 appears the record of the last of this series of visions. In it the prophet saw that "there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a son of man" who came before the Ancient of Days. Upon his arrival the Almighty conferred upon him a "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Who is this one "like unto a son of man" to whom universal dominion and power are granted? This question may be answered by another writer who says "The Jews understood this 'coming in clouds' to refer to a personal Coming, and hence, as various writers have noticed, named as we have noticed, the Messiah, anticipatory, 'the son of clouds'." This Jewish interpretation is confirmed by a comparison of this passage with parallel ones (see for example Isa. 9:6,7; Psa. 2; Zech. 9:10). These passages teach that the Messiah is to have universal dominion; this one who is brought before the Ancient of Days is given universal dominion which does not pass away; therefore he is the Messiah.

Since the judgment scene of this passage is in heaven, and since he who is "like unto a son of man" comes before it "with the clouds of heaven," one immediately asks, "Why is the Messiah spoken of as 'like unto a son of man' and 'why is it that he comes from heaven to earth on this occasion?'" The answer to the question, "Why is the Messiah said to be like a son of man?" finds expression in the fact that he is a man as is set forth in Isa. 9:6,7. He does not simply have the appearance of a man but is in reality a man, a descendant of the house of David; hence he is בֶּן דָּוִד "son of David." (cf. Jer. 23:5,6), "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called: The Lord our righteousness" (Also see Ezek. 37:24-28). In regard to the other question, furthermore, let it be noted that no purely angelic being is anywhere spoken of thus. It is true, however, that on various occasions when "the angel of the Lord" appeared unto various patriarchs, he is spoken of as a man, but the context always makes it plain that he is not a man but that he simply for the occasion assumed the form of man for the purpose of communicating with man. In this passage of Daniel there is no indication that this one has for the occasion assumed a human form; therefore this case is different from all of the theophanies of earlier times.

Since the Messiah is a real man--the God-man--and since He comes with the clouds of heaven to this judgment seat of the Almighty in heaven, the suppositions underlying Dan. 7:13-28 are that He has been in the world before, and that He has gone back to heaven where, He is invested at this time with absolute authority over the entire world. These presuppositions are lifted out of the realm of hypotheses by the facts stated in Isa. 9:6,7 and Psa. 110. The former of these passages teaches that the Messiah is to be born to the Jewish nation and that He is "Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." The latter shows that when the Messiah is rejected by the inhabitants of Jerusalem, He is invited by the Eternal God to ascend to "His right hand" and to remain there until the Eternal God subjects these enemies under his feet. For full investigation of these passages see Chapters XI and XIII.

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