Who Is “The Ancient of Days”?

This phrase appears three times in scripture, and all three are in Daniel 7:

Dan 7:9  I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

Dan 7:22  Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.

It is commonly taught that “the Ancient of days” is God the Father, and “the son of man” in these verses signifies Christ. But is that true? Does that teaching accord with the scriptures when we place them “line upon line and precept upon precept”? The answer to that question, as we will see is, no, that understanding of who ‘the ancient of days’ signifies and who ‘the son of man’ signifies does not accord with “the sum of [God’s] word”.

A proper understanding of this question must be based upon what the scriptures reveal about who is signified by these two phrases “the Ancient of days” and “the Son of man”.

Before we can determine who is “the Ancient of days”, we must first determine who He is not, and to do that we must simply believe what the scriptures tells us about “God… the Father”, and this is what we are plainly told:

“No man hath seen God at any time”

Joh 1:18  No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.

Christ Himself reiterates and emphasizes this truth:

Joh 5:37  And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

What does that tell us about the meaning of this verse of Daniel 7:

Dan 7:9 I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

And again in this verse:

Dan 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

In both verses, Daniel saw ‘the Ancient of days’ and describes for us His garments and His hair: “…the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool.” It is clear that ‘the Ancient of days’ could be seen, and was seen, by Daniel.

Who else fits this very description of “the Ancient of days”? This is how John describes Christ Himself as he sees Him standing in the midst of the seven candlesticks:

Rev 1:14  His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Then who is this “Son of man” who is brought before “the Ancient of days” and is given the kingdom? Once again “the sum of [God’s] Word” (Psa 119:160) will give us our answer. The answer is actually right here is this same chapter where “the Son of man” is defined as “the saints of the most high”.

Let’s look closely at these verses and notice to whom the kingdom is given:

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

These verses state clearly that the “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom” were all given by “the Ancient of Days” unto “the “Son of man”. Then we are given the interpretation of who this “Son of man” is who receives the kingdom and glory and dominion:

Dan 7:16  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.
Dan 7:17  These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth.
Dan 7:18  But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

The phrase “the son of man” appears 108 times in the Old Testament. 93 of those 108 entries are in the book of Ezekiel, where Ezekiel refers to himself as “son of man”. It is true that Christ called Himself “the Son of man” almost twice as many times as He refers to Himself as “the Son of God” in gospels. The  phrase “Son of man” appears in the New Testament 85 times, while the phrase “son of God” appears only 45 times in all of the New Testament. Christ refers to Himself as “the Son of God” only five times in the gospels, and all those five entries are in the gospel of John. The other gospels certainly declare Christ “the Son of God”, but in Matthew, Mark and Luke Christ never once directly refers to Himself as “the Son of God”.

The point being made is the phrase “the Son of Man” in the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament, can and does refer both to Christ and to His Christ as in this verse:

Heb 2:6  But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him?

So the phrase “son of man” demonstrably can and does refer both to Christ and to “His Christ”. It can, and it does, refer both to “the Lord and His Christ”.

God has made Christ “both Lord and Christ”:

Act 2:36  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Christ, because His Father whom no man has ever seen or heard sent Him to do so, has made us to be His Christ, those whom He has anointed and sent out to do exactly what His Father sent Him to do, and that includes receiving a kingdom:

Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;

Heb 12:28  Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

These verses accord with Daniel 7, which tells us who “the Son of Man” is who is given the kingdom:

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

“One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of days… and there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people and nations, and languages should serve him…” Then we are given “the interpretation of those words:

Dan 7:16  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

Dan 7:18  But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

Christ himself tells us:

Joh 20:21  Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

To erase any doubt as to who is “the Ancient of days” and who is “the Son of man”, Christ Himself tells us that from His, and His Father’s, perspective we are who He is:

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Mat 25:45  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

Then Christ makes this statement to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus:

Act 22:8  And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

It is neither ‘adding to’ nor ‘taking away’ from the Word of God to substitute the words “Son of man” for “Jesus of Nazareth”, and we still arrive at the conclusion that “the kingdom is given to the saints of the Most High”

Dan 7:13  I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Dan 7:14  And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Dan 7:16  I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. So he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things.

Dan 7:18  But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.

One last verse which should help us to see that “the Son of man” referred to in Daniel 7 is “the saints of the Most High” is:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

In conclusion, “the Ancient of days” is seen and described to us by Ezekiel while Christ tells us “Ye have never heard His [Father’s] voice nor seen His [Father’s] shape”, and the interpretation of “the Son of man”, both by Ezekiel and by Christ Himself is that He, Christ, at the behest of His and our heavenly Father, have given the kingdom “to the saints of the Most High… to the Son of man”.