During the Babylonian captivity the prophet Daniel served the king. Daniel was favored by God to prophesy about the end times. In a vision Daniel saw the Second Advent of Jesus Christ returning to earth to judge the nations and set up His millennium kingdom.
Daniel 7:13-14 – I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.
During His ministry Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man as a direct reference to the above prophecy of Daniel. Jesus was telling His audience not only that He was God but that He would be the one on that Shekinah glory cloud on the last day. I love the Jewish people and grieve for their loss. They are my brothers and sisters. The Jews knew the coming of Messiah was imminent in the first century but they rejected Jesus because they were expecting their Messiah to crush their Roman oppressors as the conquering King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Jewish people did not realize Jesus Christ was coming to the earth twice, the first time as a suffering servant, and the second time as the Messiah they were expecting.
The Jewish people did not realize God’s mercy and saving grace was for all men and not just the chosen people. A careful reading of the Old Testament clearly indicates the first coming of Jesus. It’s just that the human mind cannot comprehend a sovereign God loving His masterpiece of creation so much that He would empty Himself and come to earth to die a horrible death to save us from our sins. Man simply could not wrap his mind around that fact. I’m not sure any of us could, until after the fact. This is one of the reasons I know the Bible is truth. Man could not have conceived of a triune God and the perfect salvation plan of God. There was no other way to restore fellowship between man and God while at the same time satisfying God’s justice. It’s too mind boggling for us to even comprehend so I know it’s from God’s mind alone.