Ancient of Days

Daniel 7:9-12

⁹ “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.

¹⁰ A stream of fire issued and came out from before Him; a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

¹¹ “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beast was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire.

¹² As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

Daniel is finally getting to good stuff! After witnessing four earthly kingdoms and Satan’s attempt at stealing God’s power, he is now getting a glimpse into the actual throne room of God. What an absolutely remarkable gift this vision must have been. Daniel must have pondered it for the rest of his life.

There is much discussion among commentators as to just which part of the Trinity is represented by The Ancient of Days. Some have speculated that it is Christ, but that just doesn’t jive with the context. Some have said it is the Godhead in totality. But that doesn’t really work either. Most fall into the belief that it represents God the Father and that seems to work best for the context. “Thrones” are set up, with the Ancient of Days occupying one of them and the other is occupied by the Messiah (who appears in verses 13 & 14). The Ancient of Days is depicted as having snow white hair and clothing, indicating His perfect purity and holiness. The fire streaming from the throne shows us that He is well within His right to judge all of mankind with His righteous truth. The wheels on his throne (also see Ezekiel 1:15 and 10:6) are an interesting feature. Remember that this vision and in fact Daniel’s whole life, are taking place in Babylon. God is portable! He is not restricted to the Temple in Jerusalem. His sovereign presence is everywhere. The tens of thousands of angels who serve God are seen as such a huge number as to not be countable. But – the number is finite. God only created so many angels albeit a huge number.

Then Daniel describes the judgment that will take place at the end of time. All will stand before that throne. Read how John (600 years later!) describes the same scene in Revelation 20:11-15.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

The books are opened. There are two of them. One records the deeds of those who are trusting in those deeds to get them into heaven. The other records the names of those who are trusting in the Lord for their salvation. The “dead”, those who do not trust in Christ, will be judged on the basis of merit. Those who trust in the Lord Jesus will go with God into eternity. Their good deeds serve only to bring glory to the name of God. Then both Daniel and John record that those who are not believers in the saving work of Christ will send into destruction (along with the "little horn" - Satan). What an incredible scene for these two men to see! Placing these two passages next to one another makes both of them shine a little brighter. They are easier to understand and bring great joy to the heart of the believing hearer!