O UR LAST CHAPTER FOCUSED ON A FEW OF THE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS of the Old Testament’s messianic mosaic. One of those elements was kingship. I noted that Israelite kingship possessed a quasi-divine flavor. This was common throughout the ancient Near East—civilizations believed that kingship was instituted by the gods, and therefore the king was a descendant of the gods. What that meant and how it worked varied. In Israel’s case, the human king was chosen or adopted into the role of the “son of God” to carry out Yahweh’s rule. This official status was legitimized to only one dynasty in Israel—the line of David.
Although it’s clear how that would be important to a messianic claim, it leaves us with an important question: Would the messiah be truly divine—Yahweh incarnate—or would he be merely a man thought to be divine, by adoption? 1 By the time of Jesus’ birth—as God incarnate—Jews were intellectually acclimated to the idea of Yahweh being (at least) in human form, including being embodied. The incarnation takes that notion another step. There is indeed a clear indication from the Old Testament that Israel’s final Davidic ruler would be God become man—an idea reinforced by the New Testament, particularly in one telling scene.
THE DIVINE COUNCIL MEETING OF DANIEL 7
All roads seem to intersect somewhere with the divine council. The divine nature of the messiah is no exception. The idea derives from a divine council scene in Daniel 7 . The scene begins (Dan 7:1–8) with an odd vision. Daniel sees four beasts coming out of the sea. 2 The fourth beast is the most terrifying and imposing. We learn that the four beasts represent four empires, as had been the case with Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 2 .
What’s described next is significant.
9 I continued watching until thrones were placed and an Ancient of Days sat; his clothing was like white snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool and his throne was a flame of fire and its wheels were burning fire. 10 A stream of fire issued forth and flowed from his presence; thousands upon thousands served him and ten thousand upon ten thousand stood before him. The judge sat, and the books were opened (Dan 7:9–10).
Several things jump out at us right away. First, we know that the Ancient of Days is the God of Israel because the description of his throne as fiery and having wheels matches that of the vision of Ezekiel 1 . Ezekiel’s vision also included a human figure on the throne of God (Ezek 1:26–27). Second, there are many thrones in heaven, not just one (“thrones were set up”). These thrones mark the presence of the divine council. 3 Third, the council is called to session to decide the fate of the beasts—national empires. The decision of the council to slay the fourth beast and remove the dominion of all the beasts (vv. 11–12) is important for eschatology, but that’s peripheral to our focus here. 4 Daniel 7:13–14 moves us forward in our pursuit of a truly divine messiah. Daniel says:
13 I continued watching in the visions of the night, and look, with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming, and he came to the Ancient of Days, and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given dominion and glory and kingship that all the peoples, the nations, and languages would serve him; his dominion is a dominion without end that will not cease, and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
There’s a lot to unpack here. It’s clear from the text that the Ancient of Days (the God of Israel) and the “one like a son of man” are different characters in the scene. “Son of man” is a fairly frequent phrase in the Old Testament. Ezekiel, for example, is called “son of man” dozens of times in the book of Ezekiel (e.g., Ezek 2:1–8). The phrase simply means “human one,” and so Daniel 7:13 describes someone who appeared human coming on or with the clouds to the Ancient of Days. It is that description that points in the direction of a second deity figure in the scene. We are back to the concept of two Yahweh figures we saw earlier in the Old Testament.
The first thing we need to understand is the wider ancient context for this description. We’ve talked a good bit about the ancient literature of Ugarit, Israel’s close neighbor to the north. In the Ugaritic texts, the god Baal is called “the one who rides the clouds.” 5 The description became an official title of Baal, whom the entire ancient Near Eastern world considered a deity of rank. To ancient people all over the Mediterranean, Israelite or not, the “one who rides the clouds” was a deity—his status as a god was unquestioned. Consequently, any figure to whom the title was attributed was a god.
Old Testament writers were quite familiar with Baal. Baal was the main source of consternation about Israel’s propensity toward idolatry. In an effort to make the point that Yahweh, the God of Israel, deserved worship instead of Baal, the biblical writers occasionally pilfered this stock description of Baal as “cloud rider” and assigned it to Yahweh (emphasis in the following passages is added).
There is no one like God, O, Jeshurun, who rides through the heavens to your help, and with his majesty through the skies (Deut 33:26).
O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God; sing praise to the Lord, Selah, to the one who rides in the highest heavens of old. See, he gives forth his voice, a mighty voice (Psa 68:32–33).
Bless Yahweh, O my soul. O Yahweh my God, you are very great. You clothe yourself with splendor and majesty, you who cover yourself with light as with a garment, who stretch out the heavens like a tent curtain, the one who sets beams in the waters for his upper chambers, who makes clouds his chariot , who rides on the wings of the wind (Psa 104:1–4).
An oracle of Egypt: Look! Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. And the idols of Egypt will tremble in front of him, and the heart of Egypt melts in his inner parts (Isa 19:1).
The literary tactic made a theological statement. The effect was to “displace” or snub Baal and hold up Yahweh as the deity who legitimately rode through the heavens surveying and governing the world.
The lone exception to the pattern of using this unambiguous deity title of the God of Israel is Daniel 7:13. There a second figure—a human figure—receives this description. The description was known across the ancient world as Baal’s. No one questioned Baal’s deity status. Daniel 7 therefore describes two powers in heaven—two Yahweh figures, since, in all other places in the Old Testament, Yahweh is the cloud rider.
Just as importantly, the one who rides the clouds in Daniel 7:13 receives everlasting kingship from the Ancient of Days. As we saw in the previous chapter, everlasting kingship belonged only to the son of David. We’ve just filled in more of the messianic mosaic: The ultimate son of David, the messianic king, will be both human (“son of man”) and deity (“the rider of the clouds”).
That’s precisely what we get in the New Testament.
JESUS AS DANIEL’S SON OF MAN, THE CLOUD RIDER
With respect to New Testament studies, the descriptive phrase “son of man” is intensely debated. Since it means “human one” and was a title used of prophets in the Old Testament, many scholars see no divine status attached to it. That’s likely the case in most of the description’s occurrences of Jesus. But when the New Testament writer quotes Daniel 7:13, it’s a different story. The backdrop of Daniel 7 and the divine nature of the phrase must be willfully ignored to avoid a statement of deity.
Two verses in Luke make a transparent connection between the profile of the suffering messiah (“anointed one”; Greek: christos ) and the “son of man” phrase (emphasis added):
For just as the lightning shines forth, flashing from one place under heaven to another place under heaven, so the Son of Man will be in his day. But first it is necessary for him to suffer many things, and to be rejected by this generation (Luke 17:24–25).
Was it not necessary that the Christ suffer these things and enter into his glory? (Luke 24:26).
But the most dramatic passage in regard to Jesus as the divine son of man is Matthew 26 . The scene has Jesus standing before Caipahas prior to his condemnation and crucifixion:
57 Now those who had arrested Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 But Peter was following him from a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest. And he went inside and was sitting with the officers to see the outcome. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus in order that they could put him to death. 60 And they did not find it, although many false witnesses came forward. And finally two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it within three days.’ ” 62 And the high priest stood up and said to him, “Do you reply nothing? What are these people testifying against you?” 63 But Jesus was silent. And the high priest said to him, “I put you under oath by the living God, that you tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power and coming on the clouds of heaven .” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes , saying, “He has blasphemed ! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have just now heard the blasphemy ! 66 What do you think?” And they answered and said, “He deserves death!” (Matt 26:57–66).
In what seems like a cryptic answer to a very clear question, Jesus quotes Daniel 7:13 to answer Caiaphas. The reaction is swift and unyielding. Caiaphas understood that Jesus was claiming to be the second Yahweh figure of Daniel 7:13—and that was an intolerable blasphemy. Jesus’ answer provides the high priest with the accusation he needs for a death sentence, but also gives us a clear testimony of Jesus as the final son of David, Yahweh incarnate, through whom Yahweh will reclaim the nations disinherited at Babel.
As with the ancient conquest under Joshua, that dominion isn’t going to come without conflict. But this time, there will be no failure at the end of the campaign. Yahweh’s message of the messianic mosaic to the hostile gods opposing his global Edenic vision was, “You’ll never know what hit you.” But he has one more thing to say to them before the kingdom is launched under Jesus: “You can try and stop my plans, but you’re all going to die like men.”