Two centuries before Jesus, the Greeks ruled Jerusalem, a result of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Some of these rulers commanded Jews to eat pork and offer sacrifices to Greek gods. Those who disobeyed faced torture and death for treason.
Jews had little power or hope for their political future. They looked to the heavens in this time of grief. This period sets the scene for the prophet Daniel’s vision of a human figure, a Son of Man, coming on the clouds of heaven. In the vision this king accepts rule over all nations, displacing earthly tyrants.
That people trust God will deliver justice is comforting yet disturbing. This vision calls us to work for justice in our world.
Headlines stun us, sometimes paralyze us, and often animate us. Children in cages at our borders, separated from their families, goes one too far for most Americans. We hear our own children crying. More silently, poverty and hunger affect one in five children in the U.S. whose families live on incomes below the poverty line, $26,500 for a family of four.
Tribal and religious conflicts split up families and put people at tragic risk on the seas and in the deserts. Again many are children. Immigrants arrive with needs for homes, schools, work, and language skills. Some citizens resent and resist their presence among us.
Powerless people should not have to look to the heavens to be delivered from their oppression. It is our work as human beings to respect and honor the needs of other human beings. The God of our faith has a reputation for shaking up the rich to lift the downtrodden from their misery. God needs our human gifts and talents to deliver justice.
God will rule again.
I saw one like a son of man coming on the clouds of heaven. When he reached the Ancient One and was presented to him, he received dominion, glory, and kingship. Nations and people of every language serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not be taken away; his kingship shall not be destroyed.
Daniel 7.13-14
- Who acts with justice in your community, family, and neighborhood?
- How have you experienced God’s calling you to action so that justice may rule?