The Ancient of Days

In the vision, the final horn (king) fights against the saints and prevails over them (7:20-21). Like the beasts, the precise identity of the “saints” is not given. The persecuting king will appear unstoppable as he tramples upon the world and the saints of God, but the Ancient of Days brings the turmoil into sharp relief. Like the previous chapters, the main emphasis in Dan 7 is that Yahweh rules (4:32, “heaven rules”), brings judgments upon the kingdoms of this world, and delivers his people. Surrounded by thrones and heavenly attendants, the refulgent description of the Ancient of Days (his clothing appears white as snow, 7:9; cf. Ps 51:7; Isa 1:18; 1 En. 14:20; 3 En. 28:7) is intensified by fire imagery: “His throne was fiery flames, it wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and then thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened” (7:9c-10).

Fire is a common attendant in theophanies (Gen 15:17; Exod 3:2; 13:22; 19:18; 24:17; Num 14:14; Deut 4:12, 15, 33; Judg 6:21; 13:20; 2 Kgs 2:11; Isa 4:5; Ezek 1:27). So close was the relationship that Yahweh could be described as a devouring fire (Deut 4:24; 9:3; Isa 33:14) while also being distinguished form it (1 Kgs 19:11-12; Ps 50:3 [LXX 49:3]; 104:4 [103:4]). In Isaiah and Ezekiel, fire is a symbol of Yahweh’s holiness and glory (Isa 6:1-4; Ezek 1:27-28). It became an expectation of the latter prophets that the day of the Lord would arrive in fire (Joel 2:7, 30; Mal 3:19) with the enemies of Yahweh being destroyed by the same (Isa 47:14; 66:15-16; Ezek 38:22; 39:6; Mal 4:1). Fire is a common image for the final judgment and everlasting punishment in the OT and Second Temple texts (Isa 50:11; 66:24; 1 En. 14:9-22; 91:9; 100:9; 102:1; 2 Bar. 37.1; 44.15; 48.39; 2 Esd 7:38; 13:10-11; 1QpHab. 10:5; 1QS II, 708; IV, 12-13). Both aspects are brought together in Dan 7:9-10. The stream of fire that flows from Yahweh’s burning therein is a manifestation of his glory and fire is the instrument of his judgment, silencing the boasting of the little horn: “I looked then because of the sound of the great words that the horn was speaking. And as I looked, the beasts was killed, and its body destroyed and given over to be burned with fire” (7:11).

After the seating of the court in judgment (7:10), the beast is slain with no mention of the one who carried out the execution (7:11). “The bring of a corpse in the OT was a punishment reserved for those guilty of particularly heinous crimes (cf. Lev 20:14; 21:9; Jos 7:25). Although two different words for ‘fire’ in the section (Aram. nûr, v. 9; ’eššā’, v. 11), the point is the utter destruction of the fourth beasts or earthly kingdom and its arrogant ruler. Yahweh’s enthronement upon flames of fire with streams of fire flowing form it is the reverse of the river of life.

Where this judgment takes place is not specifically stated. It might be that the judgment takes place in “mythic space.” Fire and angelic attendants occur in descriptions of heaven (cf. Job 1:6; 2:1; 1 Kgs 22:19; Isa 6:1; Pss 83; 103:21) and, if such were the case here, it would suggest that the one like the Son of Man approaches heaven rather than earth (Dan 7:13). On the other hand, Daniel’s perspective is that of an onlooker to the events of earth. Beasley-Murray makes the added observation that the Ancient of Days ‘came’ (7:22). The placing of the thrones in v.9 could also suggest an earthly orientation (Jer 1:15). Apocalyptic images and locations can be more fluid than fixed, which cautions against emphasizing one particular visionary aspect of the narrative at the expense of the other.

The eschatological scenario of Dan 7 can be summarized a as great upheaval (7:7, 23), persecution (7:21, 25), the coming of God and his hosts (7:9-10), judgment upon his enemies (7:11-12), final deliverance for the saints (7:22, 27) and the enthronement of a king, the enigmatic Son of Man (7:13-14).