Who was the fourth person in the furnace who looked 'like a son of the gods'?
Daniel 3:25
AMP - 25 He answered, Behold, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt! And the form of the fourth is like a son of the gods!
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Asked February 09 2015
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Oyewole Prince Philip
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Kenneth Heck
Since the fourth person is apparently sent to save the other three, my opinion is that this fourth person is, or represents, Christ in a pre-incarnate manifestation. This is in the same sense that the three men who visited Abraham (in my opinion) represented the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Gen 18).
Kyle Gillette
In my opinion, and based on some biblical footnotes, the fourth person is an angel. In Aramaic, according to the footnote, the word here means son of the gods. Later in the chapter (Daniel 3:28) Nebuchadnezzar answers the question for us when he calls them angels and this is affirmed in Job 1:6 when "sons of God present themselves" one of which was the (fallen) angel Satan. Job 1:6 (ESV) Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and l Satan also came among them.
Jack Gutknecht
Great question, Oyewole Prince Philip! The king (Nebuchadnezzar) thought the 4th man in the fire was an angel (Dan. 3:25, 28, New International Version), but it was Jesus Christ in a pre-incarnate appearance. Many patristic writers (early Christian writers who are designated Church Fathers) understood this phrase in a Christological sense (i.e., “the Son of God”). See also Isaiah 43:2. I believe there are other such appearances of Jesus in the Old Testament. Jesus helped them walk around as though in a cool palace and not in a hot furnace! What an event! Here is what dedication of one’s body to the true and living God (Romans 12:1-2) and not to any false god (in this case the king’s false god) can do. The hymn writer wrote, “I saw him in the furnace; he doubted not, nor feared, And in the flames beside him, the Son of God appeared; Though seven times ’twas heated, with all the tempter’s might, He cried, ‘The yoke is easy, the burden, it is light.’”
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