Diving into Daniel: The Son Of Man
Daniel 7:13-14; Psalms 24:7-10 - The Son of Man is given dominion!
““I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:13-14 NASB1995
In these two verses of Daniel 7, we are introduced to one like the Son of Man, who is coming in the clouds of heaven. Steve took these verses and tossed them into the AI tool and it came out with the image shown above, where the Son of Man comes up to Ancient of Days and is presented to Him. I like to think that this is Jesus the Son approaching God the Father after Jesus’ ascension to Heaven. He is supremely confident and triumphant that His role as the Son and Savior and conqueror of death is complete and the everlasting dominion is established forever. Here’s something for you to ponder - how would the Trinity appear to our weak and earthly-dimensional eyes? They are separate and unique supreme beings, yet they are one!
Granted, this is a pretty short devotional compared to many that I write, but the subject matter is abundantly clear and quite succinct! The Son of Man is given dominion, glory and a kingdom and all peoples will serve Him. This dominion is everlasting and cannot be destroyed. The term “Son of Man” also has deep scriptural roots. Here is a great explanation from Gotquestions.org:
Jesus is referred to as the “Son of Man” 82 times in the New Testament (NIV and ESV). In fact, Son of Man is the primary title Jesus used when referring to Himself (e.g., Matthew 12:32; 13:37; Luke 12:8; John 1:51). The only use of Son of Man in a clear reference to Jesus, spoken by someone other than Jesus, came from the lips of Stephen as he was being martyred (Acts 7:56).
Son of Man is a title of humanity. Other titles for Christ, such as Son of God, are overt in their focus on His deity. Son of Man, in contrast, focuses on the humanity of Christ. God called the prophet Ezekiel “son of man” 93 times. In this way, God was simply calling Ezekiel a human being. Son of man is simply a periphrastic term for “human.” Jesus Christ was truly a human being. He came “in the flesh” (1 John 4:2).
Son of Man is a title of humility. The Second Person of the Trinity, eternal in nature, left heaven’s glory and took on human flesh, becoming the Son of Man, born in a manger and “despised and rejected by mankind” (Isaiah 53:3). The Son of Man had “no place to lay his head” (Luke 9:58). The Son of Man ate and drank with sinners (Matthew 11:19). The Son of Man suffered at the hands of men (Matthew 17:12). This intentional lowering of His status from King of Heaven to Son of Man is the epitome of humility (see Philippians 2:6–8).
Son of Man is a title of deity. Ezekiel may have been a son of man, but Jesus is the Son of Man. As such, Jesus is the supreme example of all that God intended mankind to be, the embodiment of truth and grace (John 1:14). In Him “all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). For this reason, the Son of Man was able to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6). The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:28). The Son of Man came to save lives (Luke 9:56; 19:10), rise from the dead (Mark 9:9), and execute judgment (John 5:27). At His trial before the high priest, Jesus said, “I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64). This statement immediately ended the trial, as the court accused the Lord of blasphemy and condemned Him to death (verses 65–66).
Son of Man is a fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus’ claim before the high priest to be the Son of Man was a reference to the prophecy of Daniel 7:13–14, “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then 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 the one Which shall not be destroyed” (NKJV). Daniel saw glory, worship, and an everlasting kingdom given to the Messiah—here called the “Son of Man”—and Jesus applied this prophecy to Himself. Jesus also spoke of His coming kingdom on other occasions (Matthew 13:41; 16:28). The author of Hebrews used a reference to the “son of man” in the Psalms to teach that Jesus, the true Son of Man, will be the ruler of all things (Hebrews 2:5–9; cf. Psalm 8:4–6). The Son of Man, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, will be the King.
Jesus was fully God (John 1:1), but He was also fully human (John 1:14). As the Son of God and the Son of Man, He is deserving of both titles.
So almost 600 years before the birth of our Lord, Daniel is given a vision that shows the everlasting King of Kings! This same prophecy can be found even earlier in Psalm 24:
“Lift up your heads, O gates,
And be lifted up,
O ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!
Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
That the King of glory may come in!
Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah.”
Psalms 24:7-10 NASB1995
I think this triumphal return of the King will be enough to pull people’s attention from their smart phone scrolling and endless Netflix series. I eagerly anticipate it!
My next devotional examines Daniel 7:15-28 - The vision is explained.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Thank You for teaching me about the Son of Man today! I look forward eagerly to His dominion and kingdom! Amen
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 4/25/2025 to answer the question, “Who is the Son of Man?”