{"id":7729,"date":"2020-03-17T15:56:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-17T19:56:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/?p=7729"},"modified":"2020-03-17T15:56:29","modified_gmt":"2020-03-17T19:56:29","slug":"daniel-325-who-is-the-fourth-man-in-the-fire-was-it-jesus-or-an-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/daniel-325-who-is-the-fourth-man-in-the-fire-was-it-jesus-or-an-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel 3:25 Who is the fourth man in the fire? Was it Jesus? Or an angel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Problem:<\/strong> Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fiery furnace and said, \u201cI see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!<\/em>\u201d (Dan. 3:25) Who is this fourth person in the fiery furnace?<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Solution:<\/strong> Whoever this person was, he was clearly a supernatural being. That much is clear. But who or what was this figure in the furnace?<\/p>\n

First, most Christians throughout history understood this to refer to the preincarnate Christ<\/em>.<\/strong> Collins writes, \u201cChristian tradition typically identified the \u2018son of God\u2019 here as Christ.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Second, the expression \u201cson of the gods\u201d can also grammatically be rendered \u201cthe Son of God.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> Miller writes, \u201cIn biblical Aramaic the plural noun elahin<\/em> may be assumed to have the same force as elohim<\/em> in biblical Hebrew, which can be rendered as a plural, \u2018gods,\u2019 or as a singular, \u2018God.\u2019\u201d[2]<\/a> Against this reading, Archer points out that Nebuchadnezzar was a polytheist, and it\u2019s more likely that he was referring to the son of the gods (plural).[3]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Even before the time of Jesus, the Qumran community used this expression (\u201cthe Son of God\u201d) to refer to the coming Messiah. Collins writes, \u201cA titular use of \u2018Son of God\u2019 is now found in an Aramaic text from Qumran, 4Q246. The identification of this figure has been a matter of dispute. The most likely reference is to a messianic king, although the term \u2018messiah\u2019 is not used.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Third, the text explicitly calls this figure an angel<\/em>.<\/strong> Later, Nebuchadnezzar states that this was an \u201cangel\u201d (v.28). Moreover, the Greek translations of this passage \u201cdescribe the descent of an angel into the furnace.\u201d[5]<\/sup><\/a> On the other hand, many biblical scholars believe that the so-called \u201cAngel of the Lord\u201d is the preincarnate Christ. So calling the figure an angel wouldn\u2019t preclude him also being a theophany of God himself.<\/p>\n

Isaiah writes that God himself would be with his people in the fire during the Exile: \u201cWhen you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, nor will the flame burn you\u201d (Isa. 43:2).<\/p>\n

In the end, commentators are divided on this. Joyce Baldwin does not believe that this is the preincarnate Christ,[6]<\/sup><\/a> while Stephen Miller and Edward Young believe that it is.[7]<\/a> Gleason Archer doesn\u2019t quite take a position\u2014merely calling the figure a \u201cdivine companion.\u201d[8]<\/sup><\/a> We are more inclined to see this as the preincarnate Christ, saving the three men.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Collins, J. J., & Collins, A. Y. (1993). Daniel: a commentary on the book of Daniel<\/em>. (F. M. Cross, Ed.) (p. 190). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Stephen Miller, Daniel: The New American Commentary<\/em> (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1994), 123.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> Archer, G. L., Jr. (1986). Daniel. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor\u2019s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets<\/em> (Vol. 7, p. 57). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> Collins, J. J., & Collins, A. Y. (1993). Daniel: a commentary on the book of Daniel<\/em>. (F. M. Cross, Ed.) (p. 190). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Collins, J. J., & Collins, A. Y. (1993). Daniel: a commentary on the book of Daniel<\/em>. (F. M. Cross, Ed.) (p. 190). Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> Baldwin, J. G. (1978). Daniel: An Introduction and Commentary<\/em> (Vol. 23, p. 118). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Stephen Miller, Daniel: The New American Commentary<\/em> (Nashville, TN: Broadman, 1994), 123. Edward J. Young, The Prophecy of Daniel<\/em> (Grand Rapids, Eerdman\u2019s, 1980), 94.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> Archer, G. L., Jr. (1986). Daniel. In F. E. Gaebelein (Ed.), The Expositor\u2019s Bible Commentary: Daniel and the Minor Prophets<\/em> (Vol. 7, p. 57). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Problem: Nebuchadnezzar looked into the fiery furnace and said, \u201cI see four men loosed and walking about in the midst of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!\u201d (Dan. 3:25) Who is this fourth person in the fiery furnace?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-errors","no-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7729\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pathway2truth.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}