Question:

In the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Daniel 3:8-30), “Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, 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” (verses 24 and 25). Was that an angel, [such as a] “guardian angel,” or was that God Himself?

It is remarkable that we are not told that anyone else except Nebuchadnezzar saw the fourth person in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. His words are “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” (Daniel 3:25). Just as God used the likes of Balaam (Numbers 22:18) and Caiaphas (John 18:14) to speak the truth when they thought little of it, so He used Nebuchadnezzar to speak the truth here.

Nebuchadnezzar could have used the title “the Son of man” for Christ which appears elsewhere in Daniel 7:13 and 8:17, as Christ is “Son of man” because all judgment is committed unto Him (see John 5:22). But as “Son of God” He gives life. Jesus said: “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” (John 5:25). Therefore it seems that the overruling power of the Spirit of God was manifest in leading the king to use the expression “the Son of God.”

Where the confusion comes in is after Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the burning fiery furnace Nebuchadnezzar said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent His angel, and delivered His servants that trusted in Him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God” (Daniel 3:28).

Nebuchadnezzar used the words: “His [the Lord’s] angel,” and the Scriptures show that the term: “The angel of the LORD” is God Himself, which we see when He appeared to Moses:  “And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. Moreover He said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God” (Exodus 3:2-6).

The meaning of the Greek and Hebrew words for “angel” is messenger or representative, and we are told: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Hebrews 1:14).

Your question is: “Was that an angel, [such as a] “guardian angel,” or was that God Himself?”

We may not be able to say definitely whether the Lord used an angel to be with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the burning fiery furnace, or if the Lord was with them Himself, but it seems from the following promise that it was Lord Himself: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee” (Isaiah 43:2).