The Ancient of Days
A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. Daniel 7:10
Can you imagine having a dream and lacking the experience to associate with the events in the dream? When understanding becomes essential, the association is crucial, so Jesus used simple parables to illustrate His life lessons. These parables provided the necessary association to grasp the concepts. Likewise, when Daniel dreamed the events recorded in the seventh chapter of Daniel, what association can we use in the present to learn the concepts from this Scripture?
Recently, the doctors admitted my mother to the hospital because of complications with a bacterial infection. My mother has been a stroke survivor for nine years and recently became unresponsive. So, her medical provider began a series of tests to grasp what was happening inside her body. Throughout her stay in the hospital, I observed the excellent care she received from all the healthcare workers. Yet, she received excellent care when individuals recognized her from her younger days. One of the nurses remembered her as his fourth-grade teacher on one occasion. He remembered how she impacted him as an elementary school student. As a result, he wanted to make a meaningful difference in her life by providing her with the necessary care to recover. For a nurse, the meaningful difference means going above and beyond to care for his former teacher. When I imagine Daniel's dream, I see the same meaningful difference when he wrote thousands upon thousands attended to God, the Ancient of Days, seated on the throne. So, I asked myself what I could do for God. Remember, God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-presence, yet God can speak the words and things materialize. So how can I attend to God?
But then the ultimate question is whether the millions of heavenly beings are attending to God. In the Scriptures, we usually see angels as messengers of God, faithfully carrying out His commands and ministering to His children while praising and glorifying HIM. Since the Scriptures revealed these roles, the meaningful difference still occurs on Earth. Afterward, when believers witness these events in heaven, they will associate their experiences of going above and beyond when aiding the ones God placed in their path on Earth; otherwise, they will have no clue how to perform this momentous task. Their association on Earth will aid them with attending to God, the Ancient of Days, seated on the throne when the books are open for judgment.
The term Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana. Sankofa is symbolic which means it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind. The symbol is a mythical bird with its feet firmly planted forward with its head turned backward, carrying a precious egg in its mouth. Thus, the Akan believe the past serves as a guide for the future. Likewise, if the believers' fate rests in the afterlife, what experience will one have attended to the needs of God if they fail to attend to the needs of others while on Earth? Likewise, if the afterlife is about attending to God, how will one prepare if he has never attended to the needs of His children? In other words, obtaining experiences of attending to others is not taboo if you risk not having those experiences in heaven.
Sankofa
It is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.