The Son of Man is given Dominion!

[Santiago Cuellar]

Daniel 7:13-14

13 “I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.

Rashi on Daniel 7:13 says – “This is King Messiah.”

Commentary:
Dan. 7:13–14 The Coming of the Son of Man. The one like a son of man
combines in one person both human and divine traits. Elsewhere, this
phrase “son of man” often distinguishes mere human beings from God
(e.g., Ps. 8:4; Ezek. 2:1). However, this son of man seems also
greater than any mere human, for to “come on the clouds” is a clear
symbol of divine authority (cf. Ps. 104:3; Isa. 19:1). This “son of
man” is given “dominion and glory and a kingdom” (Dan. 7:14; cf. v.
27; this is parallel to God's dominion, 4:34), which at present
resides in the hands of human kings such as Nebuchadnezzar (cf. 5:18).
But he is far greater than Nebuchadnezzar, because he will rule over
the entire world forever: all peoples, nations, and languages will
serve (or worship) him, and his dominion . . . shall not pass away
(7:14). Thus, he must be much more than a personified representative
of Israel (cf. vv. 18, 27), and certainly more than a mere angel, for
no “created being would have the right to rule the entire world
forever.” – Selah! Ponder this for a minute.

Yeshua claims he will fulfill this role (cf. Mark 14:61–62), and it is
ultimately fulfilled in Rev. 19:11–16 when Yeshua comes at the end of
the age to judge and rule the nations. Yeshua refers to himself as
“son of man” more than any other title (see notes on Matt. 8:20; John
1:51). This title was used in the OT in two different ways, first, to
refer to a mere human being (see esp. Ezekiel, where it is used over
90 times referring to Ezekiel), and second, to refer to the son of man
in Dan. 7:13, who is a divine being dwelling in heaven with the
Ancient of Days. When people heard Yeshua use the term “son of man”
for himself, they had to decide which type of “son of man” he was.
Technically he was both, but it took faith to believe he was like the
“son of man” in Daniel. At the end of Yeshua' ministry, when he
claimed to be this heavenly “son of man” predicted in Daniel's vision,
his opponents said he had committed blasphemy (see notes on Matt.
8:20; 24:30; 26:64).

What is the different between Worship and Serve?
LeHishtachavot – in Hebrew simply means to "do reverence before," give
honor, prostrate oneself before, fall down before, kneel before, etc.
The word in and of itself, says nothing about what is going on in your
heart, but everything about your body position. Mark 15:19 is the
classic example, where the text is obviously reporting that the
soldiers "knelt before Yeshua and worshiped him in a mocking way."

La'Avod – in Hebrew means, to "serve." To work for WITH YOUR WHOLE
HEART. To give yourself in service to, and it is ONLY this word which
is used in our Holy Torah (22 times), to describe what bnei (sons of)
Israel is NOT to do, concerning other gods... Lo La'avod Elohim
Acheirim! Don't serve other gods! This word, not only indicates body
position, but also expressed in it, is the attitude and activity of
your heart.

There is prayer is taken directly from the verses of D'varim (Deut)
11:13-21, also known as the second half of the Shema, and there...
right there in the middle of verse 16, both of our words for worship,
hishtachavot, and La'avod, are set together like precious jewels in an
engagement ring, which forever declare our connection and commitment
and loyalty and dedication to serve and worship the ONE indivisible
God of Israel, and ONLY Him!

Deut. 11:16-17 - 16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you
turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of
the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens,
so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and
you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you.

Also in Psalms 97:7 we read the following and very similar warning:
7All worshipers of images are put to shame,
who make their boast in worthless idols;
“worship him”, all you gods!

So the message is clear, worship God and God alone! But wait, who is
this "him" in Psalms 97:7?

Ps. 97:7 “worship him, all you gods!” The Septuagint translators
rendered this phrase into Greek as “worship him, all you his angels,”
and this may be the OT text quoted in Heb. 1:6. The author of Hebrews,
like other NT authors, is willing to apply OT texts about the Lord
(YHVH) to Yeshua (cf. Heb. 1:10–12, using Ps. 102:25–27); these
authors were not saying that the OT texts were directly messianic, but
they were certainly recognizing that if Yeshua was in fact the God of
Israel in human flesh (cf. John 1:14), then these texts apply to him.

The Hebrew text of Psalm 97:7 says, “Worship him, all gods (elohim).”
Since Judaism allows that elohim sometimes means angels, the
Septuagint's rendering. “Let all God's Angels worship him,” is not
surprising. What is surprising is that whereas in the original, the
object of worship is Adonai, here it is the Son. This is another New
Testament's indirect ways of identifying Yeshua with God. Verse 4b
parallels Philippians 2:9; this parallels Philippians 2:10-11.Needless
to say, if angels worship the Son, the Son is greater than angels! –
Selah! Ponder!

Ah! Things are getting interesting now... But where does the Psalmist
get this concept from? Afterall, David cannot make up some new
theology or contradict what God says. He gets it from Torah, which was
spoken to Moses, Face to Face!

Deuteronomy 32:43
43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens;
bow down to him, all gods,
for he p avenges the blood of his children
and takes vengeance on his adversaries.
He repays those who hate him
and cleanses [4] his people's land.”

Commentary:
Deut. 32:43 The Hebrew Masoretic text, which most bibles usually
follows, presents problems in this verse. So here the Dead Sea Scrolls
and Septuagint variants have been followed, as they represent an
earlier stage of textual transmission. The verse brings the song of
Moses to a triumphant conclusion affirming that, despite Israel's sin
and exile, God will ultimately restore them. The quotation from this
verse in Rom. 15:10 uses a phrase found only in the Septuagint,
“Rejoice O Gentiles, with his people,” to convey the expectation that
God would one day bring the light to the entire Gentile world.

How then can the Old Testament text contradict themselves when we read
such articles as the Shema which proclaims that God is One (echad)?

They simply do not contradict themselves.... scripture never does. It
is us who create the conflict.

The Famous Jewish thinker Philo sheds light on this conflict:

“I have heard also an oracle from the lips of one of the disciples of
Moses which runs thus: ‘Behold a man whose name is the rising (shoot
or sprout), strangest of titles, surely, if you suppose that a being
composed of soul and body is here described. But if you suppose that
it is that INCORPOREAL ONE, who differs not a whit from the divine
image, you will agree that the name ‘rising’ assigned to him quite
truly describes him. For that MAN is the eldest son, whom the Father
of all raised up, and elsewhere calls him his firstborn, and indeed
the Son thus begotten followed the ways of his Father, and shaped the
different kinds, looking to the archetypal patterns which the Father
supplied” – Philo, De Confusione Linguarum 4:45, as cited in Rafael
Patai, The Messiah Texts Pages 171-172)

Messiah is not someone or something apart from God. Scripture does not
support that teaching. So for those who claim Messiah is not Divine,
how would you explain The Son of Man Who Is Given Dominion? How would
you like to explain Dan. 7:13–14; Psalms 97:7; and Deuteronomy 32:43–
Selah! Ponder that!

Many will try to mislead people by twisting the Gospel and OT text, by
saying that nothing that is created can be worshiped.... and they are
actually correct! I could not agree more!

But what they fail to point out is the Messiah was present during the
creation of the Universe, according to the sages. They fail to point
out that the Rabbis taught that there was no difference between the
Spirit of the Lord and the Spirit of Messiah. They Taught that there
was no difference between the Shekinnah (presence) of the Lord and
Messiah. They taught that there was no difference between the Word
(thoughts of God made audible) of God and the Messiah. They taught
that unlike the Angels, Messiah was not a created being.

What they also fail to point out is that we do not worship flesh and
bone of a created being, or the image of something created, or the
statute of a created being or a cross, rock, animal, nothing under the
sun do we worship! We worship the God of Israel and God alone! The
INCORPOREAL ONE, who differs not a whit from the divine image! We pray
to the Father (YHVH), in the name of the Son, who as Daniel said was
one “like the Son of man” whom was given dominion forever!

Man, a created being can not and did not become a god (Sorry, get over
it, it did not happen that way).....Also a mere man, a created being
cannot have Dominion over the earth forever, either! (Sorry, get over
it, it will not happen that way either). However, God can manifest
Himself through a man (or a burning bush for that matter) and he did!–
Selah! Ponder that!