This is another episode in our series on God’s portrayal as a character in the Bible. In this episode Tim and Jon finally (finally!) begin to talk about Jesus. But in order to talk about him, they need to unpack a confusing phrase in the Bible, “the Son of Man.” What’s the story behind this phrase? It comes from a famous vision from Daniel chapter 7.In part one (Tim shares a quote from biblical scholar Mehrdad Fatehi, saying that for the biblical authors, “Yahweh cannot be reduced to any one of the manifestations of his presence (Word, Spirit, Wisdom, Angel, etc.). Yahweh is not completely identified with any one of these, but rather dynamically related. Yahweh is the Spirit, in so far as he is relating himself to creation. This is why the biblical writers prefer to speak of Yahweh’s 'spirit,' or 'arm,' or 'glory,' or 'word,' rather than to refer to God himself in a more direct way. By adopting such a procedure, they manage both to express the objective reality of God’s contact with his creation, and at the same time maintain that God himself is always greater than any specific act of revealing himself to someone.” -- Mehrdad Fatehi, The Spirit’s Relation to the Risen Lord in Paul’s Letters, 57-58.In part two (I kept lookingUntil thrones were set up,And the Ancient of Days took His seat;His vesture was like white snowAnd the hair of His head like pure wool.His throne was ablaze with flames,Its wheels were a burning fire.10 “A river of fire was flowingAnd coming out from before Him;Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him;The court sat,And the books were opened.Daniel I kept looking in the night visionsAnd behold, with the clouds of heavenOne like a son of human was coming,And he came up to the Ancient of DaysAnd was presented before Him.“And to him was given dominion,glory and ba kingdom,That all the peoples, nationsand languages Might serve (or “worship”) Him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionWhich will not pass away;And His kingdom is oneWhich will not be destroyed.Who is this Son of Man? Jon asks if it’s a physical child. Tim explains that it's actually biblical imagery to depict a class of being. This is a “son” similar to the “sons of the prophets/Elijah” depicted in the Old Testament. Tim says the point of the vision is that Daniel represents a summary of the future hope of the Hebrew Bible, and it envisions the coming of God’s Kingdom as the coming of a human figure (“a son of humanity”), who will sit beside God, share in his rule over the beasts (remember the plural “thrones”), and receive worship from all nations.In part three (Thank you to all of our supporters!Show Music:Defender Instrumental, TentsPraise Through The Valley, Tae the ProducerMoments, Tae the ProducerShow Produced By:Dan Gummel, Jon CollinsShow Resources:Mehrdad Fatehi, The Spirit’s Relation to the Risen Lord in Paul’s Letters, 57-58.Ezekiel the Tragedian, "Exagoge"See: http://jewishchristianlit.com/Texts/OT/EzekielTheTragedian.htmlwww.thebibleproject.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.