Daniel 7:13
Daniel 7:1313In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
JWs read as the Son of Man receiving kingdom authority from the Ancient of Days in 1914. The "coming with the clouds" is interpreted as an invisible heavenly enthronement, not a visible descent to earth. The vision supports the Watchtower's 1914 framework: Jesus received the kingdom invisibly and began directing his earthly organisation through the "faithful and discreet slave."
is the exegetical key to the "coming on the clouds" language in the Gospels. The Son of Man "coming with the clouds of heaven" goes UP to the Ancient of Days to receive the kingdom — the direction is toward heaven, not descending to earth. This is the Ascension. The Son of Man receives "rulership, honour, and a kingdom" so that "peoples and nations of every language should serve him" (v. 14). The NWT's own 1945 edition used "worship" in for this same proskuneo before later editions changed it to "obeisance." A parousia (royal arrival) is consequential: Christ's AD 70 judgment was unmistakably consequential — temple destroyed, priesthood ended, sacrificial system terminated. The year 1914 had zero verifiable consequences except the Watchtower claiming authority. A parousia without consequences is no parousia at all.