Son Of God
In studying the Bible for “the Son of God” is very important to pay close attention to the capitalization of the words “God,” “god(s),” “Son,” and “son(s).” Possibly even more perplexing is that the same verse or verses, among the more than fifty different versions or editions of the Bible, are capitalized differently.
Now, let's list a few verses that do not mean the “Son of God” but rather sons of God: Genesis 6:2, 1446 BC “that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.” Genesis 6:4 “There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came into the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
Then we can read where Job 2:1 refers to Satan Attacking Job’s Health. “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.”
Also, the terms “angel” and “son of God” are sometimes used synchronously. For an Old Testament figure to call any divine figure that miraculously showed up as “son(s) of god(s)” would seem reasonable and possibly make sense.
Jesus, the one true Son of God, is easily found and readily described in all the New Testament books. Below are some representative selections grouped by the Bible books and chapters in which they are contained.
Matthew 4:3, And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4:6, And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 8:29, And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? 14:33, Then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. 17:4-5, And Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” 26:63, But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God. 27:40, And saying, Thou that destroyed the temple, and build it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 27:43, He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. 27:54, Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
Mark 1:1, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; 3:11, And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 15:39, And when the centurion, which stood over against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the Son of God.
Luke 1:35, And the angel answered and said unto her (Mary), The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. 4:3, And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4:9, And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 4:41, And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. 8:28, When he (the man possessed with the devil) saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. 22:70, Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am.
John 1:34, And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. 1:49, Nathaniel answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. 3:18, He that believes on Him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 5:25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 9:35, Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 10:36, Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemes; because I said, I am the Son of God? 11:4, When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 11:27, She (Martha) saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. 19:7, The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 20:30-31, Many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.
Acts 8:37, And Philip said, If thou believe with all thine heart, thou may. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 9:20 Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God.
1 John 2:22-23, Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
Yes, those verses, and many more, reflect the identification, praise, honor, and Glory of Jesus the Christ. But what about the Old Testament Christ, the Messiah, the true Son of God? For sure, Jesus is mentioned in the Old Testament—not by that name, certainly, and not with the same descriptors shown throughout the New Testament.
Today, there are many monotheists, especially Muslims, Jews, and “Christian liberals” who believe in one supreme God, but they reject the deity of Christ. They argue that the doctrine that Jesus was the unique Son of God was invented by the early Christians and that the God of the Old Testament had no son. In 1405 BC, Orthodox Jews, in particular, emphasized one particular verse from Deuteronomy, 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD.”
Nonetheless, Christ is in the Old Testament, as of course is—God our Father. The facts show that there are a number of Old Testament verses that do speak of God's only begotten Son. Note the following: “I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.” (Psalm 2:7) Perhaps the most explicit verse, in connection to our text is this marvelous, Messianic, psalm concluding with this exhortation: “Kiss the Son, Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.” (Psalm 2:12).
There are God's great promises to David: “I will set up thy seed after thee,” “I will be his father, and he shall be my Son,” and “Thy throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel, 7:12, 14, and 16, of approximately 970 BC).
Consider also the rhetorical questions of Agur. “Who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?” (Proverbs, 30:4, approximately 954 BC).
Then there are the two famous prophecies of Isaiah, quoted so frequently at Christmas time. “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (or Emmanuel, meaning 'God with us)” (Isaiah 7:14). “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6, approximately 740–701 BC). Did you notice here, the Son is further identified as “The mighty God, The everlasting Father, and The Prince of Peace? To me, this shows the unity of God and Christ, and possibly “Counselor” refers to the Holy Spirit.
The few verses shown above are representative for sure, but not all-inclusive as anyone can find more wonderful examples speaking to or about the Son of God.
To better understand the Old Testament references of Jesus, God's Son, we should commence by defining two words that are not used in everyday vocabularies. They are; “Theophany” and “Christophany.” Theophany denotes and describes times when gods appear to humans in varying descriptions. Any occurrence of a manifestation of God in the Bible that is tangible to human senses is a theophany. Job, chapter 38, revealed that the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.” That was an example of a theophany.
Christophany, on the other hand, is an appearance of Christ, usually in the Old Testament. The word Christophany is a compound word of the Greek words Christos, which means Christ, and phaino, indicating “to appear,” though not in any manifestation we would recognize as Christ. It is crucial to understand that the word “Christophany” only applies to a manifestation of Christ, whereas the term theophany can be applied to any god, not just to our God Himself, but also to the false gods of myths and other religions. As an illustration, some people believe the fourth man in the fire in Daniel 3:23-26 verses was Christ, therefore a Christophany. We will delve into this in greater detail a bit later within this epistle.
Some say when the Angel of the LORD and Hagar exchanged words in Genesis 16:7-10, it was a Christophany. “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring of water in the desert. The spring was by the road to Shur. The angel said, “Hagar, Sarai’s slave girl, why are you here? Where are you going?” Hagar said, “I am running away from Sarai.” The angel of the Lord said to her, “Sarai is your owner. Go home to her and obey her.” The angel of the Lord also said, “From you will come many people—too many people to count.”
To interpret how this points to Christ we must exert careful attention to what the angel of the LORD says. He not only comforts Hagar but he promises that He will increase her descendants which, as I understand is impossible for an angel to accomplish of his own accord. Thus, this means this is not just an angel speaking but an entity of the Trinity, Christ himself. What brings it all together, and causes us to differentiate this from a theophany or Christophany, is Hagar’s response to the angel of the LORD. “She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” I believe her statement clearly indicates this encounter was with Jesus appearing in a physical form since Christ is the physical form of God recognizable to humans. This too refers to a Christophany.
Some theophanies in the Old Testament include Ezekiel 1:26-27 where God shows who He is by using visual displays like fire, clouds, and sometimes via a human shape. These dramatic occurrences are sometimes accompanied by sounds like “thunder” interpreted as the voice of God. An instance of this is found in Exodus 19:16-21, where on Mount Sinai, on the morning of the third day, a thick cloud came down onto the mountain. There was thunder and lightning and a very loud sound from a trumpet. All the people in the camp were frightened. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to a place near the mountain to meet God. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke. Smoke rose off the mountain like smoke from a furnace. This happened because the Lord came down to the mountain in fire. Also, the whole mountain began to shake. The noise from the trumpet became louder and louder. Every time Moses spoke to God, God answered him with a voice like thunder. So the Lord came down to Mount Sinai. He came from heaven to the top of the mountain. Then he called Moses to come up to the top of the mountain with him. So Moses went up the mountain. The Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people not to come near me and look at me. If they do, many will die.”
Several scholars report more than three hundred Old Testament verses herald the coming of Jesus Christ, and predict, in detail, the prophecies He would fulfill during His time on earth. Genesis 3:15 states, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” From the very beginning, Eve and Adam disobeyed God. That verse indicates that a savior would be coming from the seed of the woman, Eve. God revealed right away that this seed would be the one that would crush the head of the serpent. We know that seed pointed to Jesus. As God revealed and Moses recorded some 1500 years before the birth of Christ.
Isaiah 7:10-14 describes, “Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying, ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel.” Verse 61 states, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;”
Yes, for scholars and the likes of us, more common folk, it can be difficult to differentiate between theophany or Christophany. To make matters much more confusing, the little, but extremely significant differences between the various Scholar-approved Bible editions are even more perplexing. Note, the next under-linings are my editorial additions.
For instance, the NIV states Daniel 3:24-25 as, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?”
They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.”
He said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.”
Whereas, the KJV states the same verses as, “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king. True, O king.”
He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. (The current KJV version says “Son of God.” Although, it was fascinating to me to discover that the original King James, of 1611 AD, did not capitalize the word son.
The capitalizations of a few words make huge differences, don't they?
The ERV quotes this same verse as, The king said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire. They are not tied up and they are not burned. The fourth man looks like an angel.”
The 1599 Geneva Bible states, And he answered, and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the son of God.
Wow! So many similar verses with terribly contrasting meanings. Who or What was the fourth person there? Whomever this entity was, he was clearly supernatural. That much is indisputable. But our human natures want to identify who shepherded the other three men safely through the furnace, don't we?
Throughout history, many Christians understood the fourth entity should be referred to as the preincarnate Christ, thus, identified as the ‘son of God’ there. The expression “son of the gods” can also be grammatically rendered as “the Son of God.”
Also note, at one part the king's text explicitly called this figure an angel. Moreover, the Greek translations of this passage “describe the descent of an angel into the furnace.” Yet, on the other hand, many biblical scholars believe that the so-called “angel of the Lord” was the preincarnate Christ. So calling the figure an angel wouldn’t necessarily preclude him also being a theophany of God himself. Anyone could argue strongly for the fourth figure to be called an angel. Yet, in the King James Version of Daniel 3:25, we see that the text clearly says, “the Son of God.” The scholarly revisers of the 1769 KJV even made a special point to capitalize the word “Son.”
Please, amiss all this confusion, allow me to share a short plea, “Lord help me to understand!”
So, let's consider the entire third chapter of Daniel from the 21st Century King James Version. Once again, the following under-line are editorial.
Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits (90 feet) and the breadth thereof six cubits (9 feet). He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the princes, the governors, and the captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
Then a herald cried aloud: “To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, that at the time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up. And whoso falleth not down and worship shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”
Therefore at that time when all the people heard the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and all kinds of music, all the people, the nations, and the languages fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near and accused the Jews. They spoke and said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live for ever! Thou, O king, hast made a decree that every man who shall hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image; and whoso fall not down and worship, that he should be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.
There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded thee. They serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king.
Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said unto them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that ye do not serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
Now if ye be ready so that at the time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, psaltery, sambuca, sackbut, and dulcimer, plus all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made, it is well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands?” *(Seven distinct instruments are named therein. However, among the 54 editions of the bibles found at Gateway.com, eighteen total instruments are named. They are coronets, cymbals, double-flutes, dulcimers, drums, flutes, harps, horns, lyres, oboes, pipes, psaltery's, sambucas, sackbuts, trigons, trumpets, tubas, and zithers. The included image provided shows for of the most unfamiliar.)
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not fear to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
And he commanded the most mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
Then these men were bound in their coats, their breeches, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.
Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire slew those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spoke, and said unto his counselors, “Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said unto the king, “True, O king.”
He answered and said, “Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hither.” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came forth from the midst of the fire.
And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was a hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed nor had the smell of fire passed onto them.
Then Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve or worship any god except their own God.
Therefore I make a decree that every people, nation, and language which speak anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill, because there is no other God who can deliver in this way.”
Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon. Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
So, herein lies the questions concerning Daniel 3: “Was the fourth man Christ, or Christ as an Angel, or Daniel, or just an angel?” It would seem strange to me that King Nebuchadnezzar, a nonbeliever, and idol worshiper in his Old Testament description would recognize any entity as the Son of God. However, the King, most likely, wouldn’t necessarily have been referring to our God’s angel at that point in time. The King was clearly pagan and worshiped several false gods concurrently. And while it may appear that the king became a believer of our Almighty God after witnessing this miracle firsthand, further reading of Daniel reveals his true nature and true beliefs.
Is it possible that the word of the Hebrew God had reached the king through Daniel or someone else? Perhaps the King was aware of God’s majesty and His promises of a coming messiah? Nevertheless, the argument might be considered settled by Daniel 3:28 when the king refers to the fourth person as an angel.
It bears repeating what Isaiah said, hundreds of years prior to the birth of Christ: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Please keep in mind, even if portions of the Bible perplex you, as long as you have accepted Jesus as your savior, you are heaven-bound. Even if you don't believe in Jesus Christ now, our God and Christ await your decision with open, loving, arms. The sooner you believe, the more good works you can accomplish. Remember, you only have until your last breath on this earth to save your soul for all eternity. Once that last breath is taken, and you did not believe in Christ Jesus—it is too late.
So I ask, “What are your thoughts on this brief lesson?
The End
