Every Eye Shall See Him
The two primary texts for our background study are Daniel 7:13, 14, and Zechariah 12:10-12. Both passages are used by Christ to present the message of his coming in the clouds. Identifying the Old Testament prophecies serves to confirm our conclusions in lesson one about the imminent time frame by placing these events within their prophecy context setting. The connection with Daniel 7, is Christ in his glory. The text refers not to his first coming but his second coming. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! he came to the Ancient of Days and they brought Him near before Him. This text is quoted by Christ twice in the New Testament. Both of which alluded to a first century fulfillment. The first is found in Matthew 24:30. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." One can note the similarity of this text, both with Daniel 7 and Revelation 1:7. Matthew's gospel places the timing of this event within the first century generation, i.e. before it passes away. See Matthew 24:34. Jesus, on trial before the High Priests relates the other occurrence of the text. When asked whether he was the "Son of God" i.e. the equivalent of the Ancient of Days expressing divinity, Jesus said, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, heareafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven." There can be no doubt that the text in Daniel 7:13, is the source of this prophecy. The high priest so understood it and charged Jesus with blasphemy. He perceived the connection of the text with the image of the Ancient of Days and knew that Christ was declaring himself so to be. Compare the description of Daniel 7:14 with Revelation 1:14. Two additional points from Daniel 7 are these. One, Daniel's prophecy occurs within the days of the fourth and terrible beast, identified historically as the Roman Empire. There is no question that the Caesars reigned in the times of Christ and his apostles. Secondly, Jesus placed the fulfillment of all Old Testament prophecy in connection with the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, by the Romans, Luke 21:20-22. Thus, the Old Testament chronological setting of the text is fulfillment in connection with the overthrow of the Jewish state. In our next segment, we will tie together Daniel 7, showing how every eye relates to the Old Testament framework for the prophecy. Every eye shall see him, Part I Subscribe to our Last Times Newsletter
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