And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. That it much more attractive than any painting we could ever imagine. And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him Who was sitting on the cloud, Thrust in your sickle and reap, because the time has come for You to reap for the harvest of the earth is ripe. It is a “wedding feast,” where truth, beauty and goodness meet, a place of eternal joy that fulfills all the longings of our heart. And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and one like the Son of man sitting on the cloud, having a golden crown on His head and in His hand was a sharp sickle. Heaven is so much more than a celestial city, it is the culmination of our deep and abiding love of God. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit.” This New Studies in Biblical Theology volume argues that the four kingdoms prophesied by Daniel are both historical and symbolicthat the one like a son of man.
John Paul II commented on this topic during a Wednesday audience, “In the context of Revelation, we know that the ‘heaven’ or ‘happiness’ in which we will find ourselves is neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. While an image of clouds is consistent with a scriptural and classical representation of heaven, it inevitably falls short of the reality of eternal life. For example, Daniel recorded the following heavenly vision, “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” (Daniel 7:13).Īlluding to that same vision of Daniel, Jesus said to the High Priest, “hereafter you will see the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64).