This article is contributed by Ray Konig, the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.
By Ray Konig
Published: August 18, 2024
Bible passage: Daniel 7:13-14
Prophet: Daniel
Written: About 2,500 years ago
In Daniel 7:13-14, the prophet Daniel gives a prophecy about how the Messiah will return in the future for Judgment Day and preside over the eternal Kingdom of God, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven.
In this prophecy, Daniel foretells that the Messiah would arrive in a most spectacular way, with the clouds of heaven:
13 "I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 Dominion was given him, 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 one that which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14, WEB)
In this prophecy, Daniel identifies his subject, depending on the English translation, as being like or as a son of man. In other words, he would not be an angel, or a spirit, but a human being. And, this person would arrive in a spectacular way, with the clouds of heaven. And, this person would have an everlasting dominion and preside over a kingdom that will not be destroyed.
We can know that Daniel, who lived about 500 years before the time of Jesus, is speaking of the Messiah because of the description that he is providing. He is talking about someone who is human and divine, someone who can be called a son of man, and yet have the divine quality of being eternal, of being able to preside over an everlasting kingdom.
Daniel 7:13-14, as explained in my book Jesus the Messiah, is one of several prophecies that foretold that the Messiah would have human qualities and divine qualities, that he would be human and divine. Other examples include 2 Samuel 7:12-16, Psalm 2, Psalm 72, Psalm 89:34-37, Isaiah 7:13-14, Isaiah 9:6-7, Micah 5:1-4 and Jeremiah 23:5-6.
In Isaiah 7:13-14, for example, we see that the subject is a human person, a son born of a woman, as a descendant of the House of David, but he also is worthy of being called Immanuel, which means God with us. And in Isaiah 9:6-7, we again see that the subject is a human person, a son born of a woman, as a descendant of the House of David, who has the divine ability to reign forever.
These crucially important connections that Daniel 7:13-14 shares with other Messianic prophecies are consistently overlooked by scholars and commentators, throughout the ages, which is a failure that is discussed frequently in my books. The constant failure to recognize even the basic and obvious connections that prophecies share with one another is what allows many scholars and commentators to give faulty, incomplete, and otherwise misleading commentaries about Bible prophecies. The fact is, the prophets of the Old Testament had made it very clear, even before the time of Daniel, that the Messiah would be extraordinary, that he would be human and divine, as we see in Daniel 7:13-14 and in each of the other prophetic examples listed above.
As for the kingdom that Daniel speaks of in Daniel 7:13-14, we can know that it is the Kingdom of Heaven, because it is an eternal kingdom. Daniel speaks of this eternal kingdom also in Daniel 2:44, as part of the broader prophecy in Daniel 2:27-47.
We can know that Daniel 7:13-14 is speaking about the return of the Messiah because another prophecy, in Zechariah 9:9-11, predicts the first arrival of the Messiah:
9 Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King comes to you! He is righteous, and having salvation; lowly, and riding on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow will be cut off; and he will speak peace to the nations: and his dominion will be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you also, because of the blood of your covenant, I have set free your prisoners from the pit in which is no water. (Zechariah 9:9-11, WEB)
In that prophecy, which was given by Zechariah about 2,500 years ago, he predicted that the Messiah would publicly announce himself in a most humble way, by riding a lowly donkey into Jerusalem.
Together, these two prophecies, in Zechariah 9:9-11 and Daniel 7:13-14, foretell both arrivals of the Messiah, as explained more in the article: Did the Old Testament teach a second arrival for the Messiah?.
Jesus fulfilled the predicted arrival in Zechariah 9:9 about 2,000 years ago when he publicly announced himself as the Messiah in a most humble way, by riding a lowly donkey into Jerusalem. Jews who were visiting Jerusalem for Passover at that time realized what Jesus was doing, that he was fulfilling Zechariah 9:9, and surrounded him and hailed him with Messianic praise (Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-38; John 12:12-19).
Jesus also gave prophecies about his future return for Judgment Day, when he will fully realize the Kingdom of God and preside eternally. When doing so, he sometimes quoted from Daniel's prophecy, in Daniel 7:13-14, such as in Matthew 24:26-27 and Matthew 26:64.
Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man, using the phrase as a Messianic title.
In fact, Jesus is known by three different Messianic titles that include the word son: Son of Man, Son of God and Son of David. He is all three by virtue of his miraculous birth. Because he was born of a woman, he is a human being and is a "son" of David, as in a descendant of King David, who was ancient Israel's greatest king. Because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, he is divine and is the Son of God, and is God incarnate.
© 2024 Ray Konig.
Ray Konig is the author of Jesus the Messiah, Jesus the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker, and 100 Fulfilled Bible Prophecies.