A dream or vision
Daniel's Vision of the Son of Man
In a night vision Daniel saw four beasts rise from a stormy sea, then the courtroom of heaven convened. The Ancient of days took His throne, and one like the Son of man came with the clouds to receive an everlasting kingdom. This is a genuine messianic vision, one of the clearest in the Old Testament, later claimed by Jesus for Himself.
“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.”Daniel 7:13
The dream or vision
Daniel watched four great beasts, unlike any creature, come up from the sea, each stranger and more terrible than the last, the fourth dreadful with iron teeth and ten horns. Then thrones were set and the Ancient of days sat, His garment white as snow, His hair like pure wool, His throne a fiery flame, with thousands upon thousands ministering before Him as the books were opened in judgment. The dominion of the beasts was taken away. Then Daniel saw one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven, brought near before the Ancient of days, and given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples and nations should serve Him, a dominion that would never pass away.
What it meant
The four beasts, like the metals of chapter two, picture a succession of earthly empires, violent and beastly in nature, each with its season of power and each brought under judgment. Against them stands the heavenly court, where God the Ancient of days holds the final verdict over history. The climax is the human figure, the Son of man, who receives from God an everlasting, universal kingdom that the beasts could never hold. What came of the vision was Daniel's assurance, and the church's after him, that history is not ruled by the beasts but by the God who gives all dominion to the Son of man. We read it soberly, without setting dates.
How it points to Christ
Jesus took the title Son of man as His own, and when the high priest demanded whether He was the Christ, He answered that they would see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven, quoting this very vision. He was claiming to be the one Daniel saw, the Man who receives the everlasting kingdom from God. This is not a symbol of Israel only but a Person, divine and human, worshiped by all nations. Daniel's vision looked across centuries to the throne of Christ, whose kingdom, unlike every beast, shall never be destroyed and whose dominion has no end.
Questions people ask
Who is the Son of man in Daniel 7
In Daniel 7 the Son of man is a human like figure who comes with the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days and receives an everlasting kingdom served by all nations. Jesus repeatedly took this title for Himself, and at His trial He quoted this vision, identifying Himself as the one Daniel saw enthroned.
Does Daniel 7 predict the end of the world
Daniel 7 shows earthly empires judged and the Son of man given an everlasting kingdom, so it does point toward God's final triumph. But Scripture warns against date setting, and Jesus said no one knows the day. The vision's aim is assurance that God rules history and Christ reigns forever, not a timetable to calculate.