The Names Of God Series - Attiq Yomin

Attiq Yomin - The Ancient Of Days

One of the things that made Daniel such an amazing character was his fascinating relationship with God. God revealed Himself to Daniel. He spoke to Him through angels and gave Daniel the remarkable ability to understand dreams and visions.

It was in one of these dreams that Daniel was allowed a glimpse into heaven. In chapter 7, Daniel saw what appeared to be a courtroom scene with thrones and a river of fire. There, God took his seat. His hair was described as pure wool and His clothing white like snow. Flames, usually a symbol of purity, were all around and then God’s name was mentioned: Attiq Yomin in Hebrew, or The Ancient of Days to you and I.

The Ancient of Days sounds very poetic and stately but what does it mean? The literal meaning is more like “before there were days.” In other words, God existed before days were even possible. God was there before there was a sun to give light and an earth to receive it. There were no planets or stars and no people or anything. There was only God.

Why is it important to portray God in this way? Because He takes His throne and with thousands and thousand and myriads and myriads attending Him, Daniel writes, “The court sat, and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:10)

Ancient of Days, to you and I, means that God is in charge and He is the ultimate and final authority for all people and things. It means that we will all learn some day what thrones are for and what it means to be brought before His. Does this vision of God disturb and alarm you? It should. That’s exactly how Daniel felt about it, too.

God is a God of love, mercy and grace but we forget that He is also just and holy and pure. Daniel 7 is there to remind us of the incredibly complex picture of who He is and what He is all about.

Daniel 7:21-22

“I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them until the Ancient of Days came and judgment was passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the time arrived when the saints took possession of the kingdom.”