Submission to the Son of Man

The first of the four visions of the second part of the book introduces us to the vivid and striking imagery characteristic of apocalyptic literature. To a modern readership, this figurative language seems quite fantastic and even strange. When read it in its ancient context, however, many of the images have ancient roots that would have made the message more immediately clear to its original readers. Unfortunately, modern readers who do not understand this ancient context are often misled by some popular contemporary readers who are able to exploit our modern distance from the language of these chapters (see more in chap. 2).

Each of the four visions in the second half of the book is self-contained. They present their own account of future events. But that does not mean that they don’t overlap, treating at least in part the same time period. They all start in Daniel’s present and stretch our vision into the future. Some, but not all, take us to the end of history. Along the way, they treat different parts of the story with different levels of detail.

Daniel 7 is the first of these divinely given visions. As we will see, this vision is an example of one that takes us to the end of history, though we will mention those who dispute this idea. Daniel 7, with its striking figurative depiction of evil kingdoms and divine intervention, may be the best known of the four visions. It is, after all, the one that is most often alluded to in the New Testament (see chap. 16).

THE VISION (DAN 7:1–14)

Beast-like human figures (Dan 7:1–8). The narrator sets Daniel’s dream in the “first year of Belshazzar” (Dan 7:1). In our earlier historical review (see chap. 2), we noted that Belshazzar became his father Nabonidus’s coregent after the latter moved his palace out of Babylon to Tayma. We do not know exactly when this occurred, but we surmise that it was a few years after Nabonidus became king (556 BC) and a few years before the writing on the wall episode (Dan 6) and the end of the Babylonian Empire (539 BC).

The message of this vision was not meant for the Babylonians though. Rather, God through the vision is speaking directly to Daniel and through Daniel to God’s faithful people. Though the vision is terrifying, the ultimate message to this audience is one of tremendous hope.

The first part of the vision describes four horrifying beasts arising out of a chaotic sea. While the vision mystifies a modern twenty-first-century audience from the start, much of the figurative language would have immediately resonated with the original audience, though they too would have needed the angelic interpretation that follows the description of the vision to plumb more deeply into its meaning (Dan 7:15–27).

Daniel begins by describing the setting of the vision, which is at a shore looking out at the sea whose waves are being whipped up by the four winds of heaven. The four winds would be winds coming from all four directions, thus producing a scene of chaos.

By the time Daniel had his vision, the sea was a long-established symbol of chaos and even the forces of evil in the broader ancient Near East. The Babylonian (Enuma Elish) and the Canaanite (Baal Myth) accounts of creation all pictured the creator god as creating order out of chaos by controlling the waters. The Bible, too, often describes creation in this way (Job 38:8–11; Ps 24:1–2; Prov 8:22–30; perhaps even Gen 1:1–2). In addition, the psalmists (e.g., Ps 29:10) and the prophets (e.g., Nah 1:4) often depicted chaos through the figure of the sea.

Thus, not only the waters but its monsters were associated with evil. One only has to think of Leviathan (Job 41; Ps 74:12–17; Is 27:1) as an example. Here in Daniel’s vision, we have four beast-like monsters emerging from the sea. A Jewish reader would have an immediate gutwrenching reaction to such a vision. But worse, these are not any ordinary sea monsters. Their individual descriptions are horrifying.

The first one is a hybrid beast. It was like a lion, but it had wings like an eagle. Ultimately it stands on its feet like a human being (Dan 7:4). We begin with the observation that hybrids of any sort were repulsive to the original readers. Remember that the Torah forbade mixtures of all sorts, whether material or of seeds in a field (Lev 19:19). Further, the best explanation for why certain animals were considered clean and others not clean (and therefore inappropriate to eat) was because the former were normal to their environments (like a fish with fins and scales) and not abnormal for its environment (like a lobster that looks like a land creature living in the sea). Thus, the very hybrid nature of the first creature would have been nightmarish to the original audience. The fact that this animal-like creature took on a human form would have been particularly upsetting.

The second beast was not a hybrid, but it frightens in a different way (Dan 7:5). The creature is like a bear, one of the most dangerous animals known to humans. And this one is pictured in a violent pose. Lying on one of its sides, it was gnawing on three ribs. An unidentified voice then orders it, “Get up [from its prone position] and eat your fill of flesh!” (Dan 7:5).

Daniel’s attention then is directed to a third beast, another hybrid (Dan 7:6), again a beast of prey (“like a leopard”) combined with a bird’s wings. This bird-leopard was abnormal in another way: it had four heads! This beast is said to have been “given authority to rule.”

Finally, Daniel sees the fourth beast rising out of the sea (Dan 7:7–8). The first three were indeed horrible, but this beast took it to a new level. It was “different from all the former beasts” (Dan 7:7). The focus of the vision is on this fourth beast; the first three were just the beginning.

This beast is primarily different in the fact that it is not compared to any known animal in human experience. It is not like a lion or an eagle or a bear or a leopard or a bird or even a human. The only physical description we get in the vision itself is that it has “iron teeth,” while later in the interpretation we will hear that it has “iron teeth and bronze claws” (Dan 7:19). Daniel describes his understanding of what this metallic beast’s description communicates by saying that it was “terrifying and frightening and very powerful” (Dan 7:7).

The last important detail of the description of this fourth beast is the fact that it has horns. Animal horns were a well-known biblical symbol of strength. While most animals have two horns at most, this beast had ten. The number ten itself is often, and certainly here, used symbolically rather than straightforwardly. It connotes a large number. But then Daniel sees another horn break through. This horn is little, but it still manages to displace three of the original horns. Amazingly, this little horn has human-like characteristics, having eyes and the ability to utter proud words.

Thus ends the first part of the vision. But before we hear the interpretation of its meaning, we turn next to the second part of the vision itself.

Human-like divine figures (7:9–14). In Daniel 7:9–14 the setting of the vision abruptly changes. No longer are we at the seashore where we observe the emergence of horrifying and destructive beasts. We are now in a courtroom and are first introduced to a figure referred to as the Ancient of Days.

The scene is a courtroom, but this is not any ordinary courtroom. The centerpiece is the throne of the Ancient of Days, a title that indicates a person of great antiquity. As such he is described as having white hair. He is also wearing a white robe. His throne is engulfed in flames, fire often associated with the appearance of God, and indeed, this figure can only be taken to refer to God himself. A river of fire flows from this throne. Fire not only warms and illuminates but also burns. Here God is pictured as a judge ready to render judgment (“The court was seated, and the books were opened,” Dan 7:10). God’s angelic servants surround him by the thousands.

The object of the judgment of the Ancient of Days is implicit but made clear in verses 11–12. The boastful words of the destructive little horn had drawn the attention of the Ancient of Days with the result that the fourth beast, which hosted the horn, was destroyed. Interestingly, and somewhat enigmatically, we learn that the first three beasts were still alive and allowed to survive for a period of time.

But then something totally unexpected occurs. Into the presence of the Ancient of Days steps “one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven” (7:13). Who is this figure? While the language and imagery of this verse would have been familiar to the ancient reader (though strange to us), the implications would have shocked them.

First, we should realize that “son of man” is a phrase that occurs a number of times in the Old Testament, particularly in the book of Ezekiel (2:1, 3, 6, and throughout the book), and always means “human being.” But notice this is one “like a human being,” not a human being per se. And his association, though not identification, with humanity is clear from the fact that this human-like figure is accompanied by the clouds of heaven. In other words, this person is a cloud rider, a sure indication of divinity.

In the first place, in the broader ancient Near East, cloud riding was the function of storm gods like Baal, who was often called “cloud rider” in the Ugaritic myths that describe his exploits. By the time of Daniel, many Old Testament texts had appropriated this description and applied it to God (Ps 18:1–9; 68:4; 103:3; Is 19:1; Nah 1:3). Thus, to ancient readers this human-like figure was God himself riding into the presence of the Ancient of Days, also God himself, after achieving victory over the beasts. No wonder this passage is cited so often in the New Testament in reference to Jesus, God’s Son and God himself (more on this in chapter 16).

But for now, restricting ourselves to an Old Testament reader’s perspective, we should notice that the vision ends with the Ancient of Days conferring great honor on the one like the son of man. Indeed, “he was given (presumably by the Ancient of Days) authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (7:14).

THE ANGELIC INTERPRETATION OF THE DREAM (DAN 7:15–28)

Daniel has been perplexed and disturbed by this vision. He thus, still seemingly in the vision, turns to “one of those standing there” (Dan 7:16), perhaps one of the thousands of heavenly beings surrounding the Ancient of Days, to get the meaning of what he has seen.

The angel begins with an overall interpretation. He starts by simply saying that the four beasts are four kings who will appear in earthly history, but then “the holy people of the Most High … will possess it forever—yes, for ever and ever” (v. 18). In other words, while beastly human kingdoms will oppress the people of God (in spite of present difficulties), God is in control, and he will have the final victory.

But Daniel wants more details, particularly about the fourth beast and the little horn. The angel obliges him, but only to a point.

In verses 19–22, Daniel recounts what he saw and what he understood about the fourth beast. He knows that this beast was particularly frightening and devastating, different from all the rest in that it is never compared to any known animal but simply described in metallic terms. He also wanted to know about the meaning of the horns and in particular the little horn that had human-like features (eyes and a mouth) that uprooted three of the ten horns.

At this point we learn a detail about the violence of the little horn that we did not learn in the description of the vision itself. For example, we learn that the object of the little horn’s violence was “the holy people” (v. 21). These people, of course, are none other than those, like Daniel, who were among the faithful, and, shockingly, the little horn was winning! That is until the Ancient of Days rendered judgment, and then they, “the holy people,” would possess the kingdom.

The angel responds by filling in more details but, interestingly, still keeping matters somewhat opaque. He says that the fourth beast is a fourth kingdom and that the ten horns are ten kings of that kingdom. The little horn is a king that will arise and will direct his ill‑will against the holy people. He will interrupt the “set times” (perhaps ritual times like Sabbaths and festivals) as well as the holy people’s laws. This will take place for a period, described as a “time, times [or two times] and half a time” (v. 25), which appears to be an intentionally enigmatic statement (see comments on the use and purpose of statements about time in chap. 3).

But, according to the interpreting angel, this is not the end of the story. Turning to the second half of the vision, he notes the judgment that will be rendered on the oppressive king represented by the little horn. His power will be removed and given to the “holy people” whom he had oppressed. But then finally, “his [presumably the one like the son of man] kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him” (7:27). Daniel reacts to this interpretation with increased concern, but he keeps it to himself.