Christ's declaration to the Jewish leadership comes from two passages, including Daniel 7, which contains Daniel's dream of the four great beasts rising from the sea. Within his dream is an inset that is not part of the general flow of the prophecy but clarifies a portion of it. The opening phrase, I was watching in the night visions, indicates a separate vision and marks the inset's beginning. Then, the prophet exactly describes what Christ says about the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. Notice, though, that this vision is not about Christ coming to earth but to the Ancient of Days. This vision, then, answers the question of location in Matthew 26:64. During His trial, Jesus was not talking about coming back to earth but arriving before the Father. Once He came to the Ancient of Days, He would receive dominion, glory, and a Kingdom. When Jesus told the Jewish leadership that, from now on, they would comprehend Him sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds, they caught His reference to this prophecy and His claim to be the Messiah, the Heir of the Kingdom. When does this inset take place? Within the flow of the chapter, this inset appears after the fourth beast is killed, yet the events within the inset happen long before, providing the backstory for understanding the origin of the divine Kingdom that will replace all other governments at the end of the age. The clouds of heaven had already brought the Son of Man to the Ancient of Days when Jesus ascended to the Father. At that time, Christ received dominion, glory, and a Kingdom. Overall, Daniel's prophecies describe the Kingdom's future establishment on earth, but here we see a flashback to Christ's ascension. In I Peter, the apostle draws on Daniel's vision twice, repeating that to Christ belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. John uses the same phrase in the introduction to the book of Revelation, writing, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Clearly, the inset has already come to pass. What Christ declared to the chief priests, the elders, and the council began to be fulfilled shortly after He spoke it. The chief priests and elders knew something was happening. They did not accept it, but evidence that the Man they had crucified had been resurrected, had ascended to the Ancient of Days, and had received power that was fueling a movement was overwhelming their minds. As Daniel saw, Jesus Christ already sits at the right hand of the Power, already invested with glory and dominion.

Go to one more in the Old Testament, Daniel 7. This one does not use El, Elohim, or YHWH. It uses a different term. This Messianic passage finds its parallel in Revelation 4, 5, 19, and 20, because it covers a lot of ground. It is very clear that the Ancient of Days is the Father, and that the Son of Man is the Son who ascends to heaven, where He is given a crown and a throne, to rule the nations forever. Ancient of Days has essentially the same kernel of meaning that YHWH does. It means someone who has lived forever. They both suggest eternity and eternal life, and this description again applies to both the Father and the Son, because both have always existed. But the Father has always been shown in the senior position here and everywhere else in Scripture. In John 14:28 Jesus makes it very clear. Very plainly, no two ways about it, He says, the Father is greater than I. What do these Old Testament passages tell us about God the Father? They tell us a great many things. Here is a glimpse of God the Father upon His throne in heaven, receiving the praise, glory, and honor that He deserves from all of us. He is the one who has poured His love out upon us, and He works day and night with His Son to bring us into His everlasting Kingdom. He is not that angry, wrathful God of the Old Testament so many seem to think, but He is the loving, Almighty Father who desires billions of His sons and daughters to be made into His image. Among them are you and me.

The Son of Man was a different personality from the Ancient of Days. But Daniel called him like the Son of Man, because he was not as clear on this as he might have been either at that time. Now, what does that teach you? Who was the Son of Man? It was the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. We had a Bible study subject by Richard just a month or so ago, and he gave us, I do not know, it must have been 15 or 20 scriptures, in which Jesus identified Himself as God. That was right out of what is now the New Testament. So He made it very clear to those people, even those people who rejected Him when He was preaching there on earth. They rejected His testimony that He was the Son of Man. I believe that Jesus named Himself the Son of Man very close two dozen times. But even if He did not name Himself the Son of Man that number of times, the Son of Man is mentioned about a dozen times, and He came before the Ancient of Days. These were two distinctly different personalities. One of them was absolutely known to be God in the vision. And of course it turned out that the other One was also God in the vision. It is the Son of Man to whom is given the Kingdom and all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him. Now, this is a very important section of identification. It is the Son of Man who is given the Kingdom and all peoples, nations, and languages serve Him. Brethren, from what you know from the New Testament, is that clear or what? You also know, I am sure from the New Testament, angels are not mentioned in any ruling, governing function anywhere. So with the addition of the identifications given in the New Testament, that Son of Man's identification here is pointing in this Daniel 7 prophecy, singling out Jesus Christ to the Jews. We should understand this and know this. They had a weakness there, but it was made up in a hurry. Now, Jesus called himself the Son of Man somewhere near to a dozen times and He is clearly identified. He did not lie.