A Revelation Invitation

(The “Daniel 7” series begins here.)

“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 peoples, 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. (Daniel 7:13-14 ESV)

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, … When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. (Revelation 1:12-13a,17-18 ESV)

My children grew up nearly two thousand miles from my parents. I am my parents’ oldest child, and my firstborn was my parents’ first grandchild. The occasion of their first meeting was a bit accidental, at a restaurant where both my parents and my wife with her parents had coincidentally stopped to eat. When she spotted my parents, my wife walked up to them and presented my infant daughter handing her to my mother saying, “Here is your granddaughter.” It was a special moment that honored my parents with a treasured and longed for gift.

My mother and daughter’s introduction was a delightful moment. However, Daniel was living in dark times. God’s people were in trouble. They had been carried into exile by the beast. They had lost their inheritance. So when Daniel witnessed the presentation to the Ancient of Days of one like a son of man, he realized that this was a game changer. This presentation was certainly an honor, but more importantly it was a commission. It meant nothing less than the destruction of the beast and reestablishment of God’s righteous rule. The Ancient of Days conferred on the one like a son of man the eternal kingdom and with it glory and the authority to rule. To Daniel whose people were under the crushing force of the beast, this kingdom was a promised, blessed future in which God’s righteous rule and divine justice would lift them from that oppression. Centuries later when the one like a son of man presented himself to John, he initially fell at his feet in fear. This image of Jesus is awesome. John’s readers, however, remembered Daniel’s vision and realized that their champion had arrived. Whatever tribulations we as a church or we as individual Christians face in our daily lives, these scenes give us assurance that God’s kingdom and its king have arrived. The reign of our tormentors is limited. Jesus will free his people from the beast, that is, from any subsequent manifestation of Babylon. Jesus’ kingdom is heavenly, his rule is eternal and we are his people.

Ancient of Days, you sent your Son into the world to rescue and redeem it. You made him king of Kings. All other kings and kingdoms are usurpers whom you will destroy. My hope is in your Son. I thank you for his victory over Death and Hades. I thank you for your assurance of eternal life. Knowing this I can endure, even conquer, whatever evil I encounter. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.

(This is the end of the “Daniel 7” series.)