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CHAPTER
26
CHAPTER
TWENTY SIX
THE
ANCIENT OF DAYS
“In
my vision at night I looked, and there before me was
one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.
He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his
presence----”
(Daniel
chapter 7, verse 13).
Can
we rightly call Jesus ‘the Ancient of Days’ or is this
one title too far? I ask this because in Daniel’s prophetic
vision we read of ‘one like a son of man’ being led
into the presence of ‘the Ancient of Days’. The ‘one
like a son of man’ must refer to Jesus, and the ‘Ancient
of Days’ is surely the Father. However, as we are constantly
reminded, God is God. Jesus is not any less God than
the Father, and the Holy Spirit is no less God than
the Father and the Son---to say otherwise is heresy
and the delusion of the cult. But, to imagine there
to be no reality to the triune nature of God is also
heresy. The fact is that this title reveals an attribute
which the whole Godhead shares---the eternal nature
of Almighty God.
It
is interesting to note the similarities in the descriptions
of the ‘Ancient of Days’ and the ‘one like a son of
man’:
----and
the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was
white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire----
(Daniel
chapter 7, verse 9).
-----and
among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man”-----His
head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like
bronze glowing in a furnace-----
(Revelation
chapter 1, verse 13-15).
In
the Old Testament book of Micah, we see this same idea
of being around forever and, in these verses, it certainly
applies to Jesus:
But
thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou be little among
the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come
forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings
forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
(Micah
chapter 5, verse 2, KJV).
The
above was a prophecy that the Messiah (Christ) would
come from Bethlehem and from the tribe of Judah---both
came to pass about 700 years later. Also that He would
be from God and for God, and He would rule over Israel---His
complete rule over Israel is still future, in the sense
that the Jews have yet to recognise who Jesus really
is. Then we read of His Ancient of Days attributes---His
‘goings forth’ have been, and are, ‘from everlasting’.
Because,
as we have seen repeatedly throughout this book, Jesus
Christ has eternity within Himself, He always was and
always is, I believe we can safely apply to Him the
title, Ancient of Days.
O
worship the King,
All-glorious
above;
O
gratefully sing
His
power and His love;
Our
shield and defender,
The
ancient of days,
Pavilioned
in splendour,
And
girded with praise.
(Robert
Grant 1779-1883)
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