Our first reaction to the reading of a paragraph like this one from the book of Daniel is to shake loose from the long, blank stare of disbelief and ask, "Just what was that about?"

If we heard aright, it seemed to paint the picture of an old man sitting on a throne of fiery flame, surrounded by ten thousand times ten thousand equally strange looking creatures, and it seemed to say that this was something like a courtroom where the record books were open and a judgment soon to be pronounced. Suddenly great clouds appear, and in the clouds one like a son of man who stands before the Ancient One. And the son of man receives the kingdom and the power and the glory - a kingdom that shall never pass away and one that cannot be destroyed. All people, languages, and nations bow before him.

The W…