The Ancient of Days is the Father, to whom the Son of Man was brought at His ascension. Daniel 7:13-14 records what followed Christ's disappearance from the apostles' sight: He came with the clouds of heaven and was brought near before the Ancient of Days, a phrase that can mean being presented. Then dominion, glory, and an everlasting kingdom were given to Him, so that all peoples, nations, and languages would serve Him. This vision, recorded long beforehand, shows what awaited Jesus when He returned to His Father, and it likely explains why He spoke to the apostles about the Kingdom and why they asked whether it was about to be restored. They hoped His earthly reign would begin at once, but much had to be worked out first. Christ sat down at the Father's right hand and was enthroned as a Priest on His throne, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. The scene in Revelation 5 magnifies this same event. There the Father sits on the throne holding a scroll, apparently the title deed to all things, and the Lamb, found worthy, takes it from His right hand. On the 40th day Jesus was brought to the Ancient of Days, where He has waited ever since.

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.