CHRIST'S INCREASING KINGDOM " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven . . . " (Dan 7:13a) -- Tomorrow:
Devotion 6 of 36
While we may have grown accustomed to hearing of the humanity of the Savior, this aspect of His person has not always been clear. Although there were frequent references to the Redeemer being a Man, the experience of the people of God was quite different. The grandest displays of Divine intervention came through the disposition of angels, not mere men. This was true of the flood, when God came "with ten thousands of His saints" (Jude 1:14), the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19:1-15), the deliverance Israel from Egypt (Num 20:16), and the giving of the Law (Acts 7:53; Gal 3:19). Even the personal deliverances recorded in the book of Daniel came through the hands of holy angels (3:28; 6:22).
There have been great deliverances in which holy men were active. Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the "great and terrible wilderness." Joshua led the people into Canaan, and in conquest of the land. David led children of Israel in the largest expansion of their kingdom. Yet no person would have referred to them as the Messiah, the coming Savior.
God had disclosed that the great Deliverer would be from among men. He would "Seed" of the woman, and would bruise the head of the "old serpent" Satan (Gen 3:15). He would come from Abraham's lineage, being his promised "seed," through whom all families of the earth would be blessed (Gen 12:3). He would also come through the lineage of David, and would occupy the throne forever (2 Sam 7:12-16; Rom 1:3). Isaiah was given a telling word concerning a "son" being given to Israel: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" (Isa 9:6). Yet, none of these were marked with perfect clarity.
Now Daniel will be shown a Man with Divine qualities – one who, although He is like man, is also like God. There is only one person in all of history who was 100% man and 100% God. That is the Lord Jesus Christ, and this part of the vision pertains to Him. For the times, it was a most remarkable vision.
NIGHT VISIONS
"I saw in the night visions . . . " Daniel keeps looking at the vision, and more of God's purpose is unfolded to him. Thus other versions read, "I kept looking in the night visions" (NASB), "As I watched in the night visions" (NRSV). God was unfolding some things pertaining to the future that precious few people were privileged to see or hear.
It should be noted at this point that those who cannot concentrate on the things of God during the night, when there are fewer distractions, will not be able to adequately ponder them during the day, when there is more competition for their attention. One of the great religious weaknesses of our time is the lack of extended thought on the things of God – meditation and cogitation. When it comes to the things of God, this is a day of shallow thought, when men's considerations of things pertaining to life and godliness are much like a spider walking on water.
THE SON OF MAN
" . . . and, behold, one like the Son of man . . . " Daniel's magnificent visions that commenced in the first year of Belshazzar's reign continued. They did not end with the appearance of beastly governments (Dan 2:37-43; 7:17-26). Nor, indeed, do they conclude with the revelation of God the Judge (Dan 7:9-10). Daniel will be shown the means through which God will judge the world. It will be through "one like the Son of man."
This is the only place in Moses and the Prophets where the coming Messiah is likened to as "the Son of man." Although the expression is used 107 times in Genesis through Malachi, only here is it used exclusively of the coming Redeemer. One other possible allusion is found in the eighth Psalm (80:17). However, it is not marked with the clarity of Daniel. The phrase "the Son of man" is used eighty-three times in the Gospels, and is the term Jesus used most frequently to describe Himself.
When the Spirit says "like the Son of man," He means this Person had Divine qualities and exercised sovereign prerogatives, yet did so in the form of a man. "Like" does not mean He really was not a man, but that the appearance of a man was prominent in Him. Daniel was not seeing the Word "in the form of God" (Phil 2:6), but in His redemptive capacity as a man. Because the Word had not yet been made flesh, Daniel saw Him prophetically as "like the Son of man." He was given to see the crucified, risen, exalted, and reigning Christ. The Savior never "took upon Him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men" until He appeared as a Babe in Bethlehem of Judea. Daniel is given a most remarkable insight in this vision.
Because the humanity of Christ is so critical to our redemption, and is the reason judgment has been given to Him, some time must be given to establishing this aspect of the Savior. We are saved through the humanity of Christ, and that is why much is made of this in Scripture.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank You for a Savior who was made like the ones He came to save.