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Christian Chronicles, July 2003 - Volume 6, Issue 91

| The Editor's Pen | Perspectives | Mid-East Update | Fruit of the Vine | The Passover Type | On Types & Shadows  | 
| Look & Live! | The Inner Veil | Silver - A Type of Redemption  |

The Editor's Pen

We have addressed the types, shadows and symbols in the Scriptures a couple of times over the years, but we wish to revisit that theme in this issue. We are pleased to present an article by Hugh G. Sherrill, Jr., a pastor and teacher in Lake City, Florida. His column is the center article in this month’s edition of CC, and explains much of the typology of the Passover.

So many Christians consider themselves “New Testament Christians,” paying little attention to the Old Testament at all in their studies, except for the “wisdom” books—Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon– which they read for comfort or motivation more than for instruction. However, the Old Testament is wonderfully rich in its foreshadowings of the marvelous Person and works of Jesus Christ, the last of the Old Testament Prophets and first of the New Testament Prophets. Indeed, much of what we know of the Lord Jesus and His ministry to a lost nation (Israel) and world comes to us through an understanding of the rites and rituals that the Law of Moses demanded of the Jews. Leviticus, daunting to many Christians, is one of the richest books in the entire Bible where the requirements of the Law are seen to portray the works of the Messiah. While an in-depth study of the many types and shadows presented in the Old Testament seems overwhelming, such a study eventually proves to strengthen the faith of Christians in diverse and unexpected ways.

Mid-East Update

It seems that the “road map” doesn’t show every curve. Certainly, there are bumps in the road that don’t appear on the map. What started as the Quartet’s “Road Map for Middle East Peace” (Russia, the United nations, the European Union, and the United States) has suddenly transmogrified into George W. Bush’s road map. The other three members of the Quartet might wind up being happy with that, especially if it leads to yet another dead end.

But that is probably a bit pessimistic. It is much too early to dismiss the latest effort to achieve Middle East peace as another non-starter. Much has already been accomplished. The suicide bombings have pretty much ceased, except for the occasional radical who acts on his own. Israel is in the process of pulling its troops out of the so-called occupied territories. Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas have publicly shaken hands and shown a spirit of cooperation. At the same time, today’s Jerusalem Post (July 14, 2003) reports that Arafat and Abbas have settled their differences and are on the same page, so to speak, regarding the demands for the release of some seven thousand Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Even Syria is making noises about restarting its failed peace talks with Israel, the sole stipulation being that they must begin where they left off, without having to cover again the same ground that they covered in earlier negotiations.

The friction developed between Abbas and Arafat when the three main terrorist groups agreed to cease militant actions against Israel. Many in Fatah, Arafat’s faction, resented the growing power of Abbas, fearing that he was being too soft on the Israelis. But Israel will have nothing to do with Arafat, ostensibly because of his reticence to actually arrive at an agreement with Israel. Probably, the real reason is the long-standing antipathy between Sharon and Arafat, an enmity that seems not to have softened at all on either side.

Another major sticking point in the negotiations has been the refusal of Israel to grant the right of return to those Palestinians who were displaced when Israel became a state in 1948. In recent days, a Palestinian pollster, Khalil Shikaki, reported that a majority of the refugees are willing to relinquish that right in order to achieve peace. However, an angry crowd of refugees stormed Shikaki’s offices in Ramallah on Monday following the release of the results of the poll. Approximately 4,000 refugees were polled.

Ultimately, as we have stated all along, there will be some sort of treaty that “settles” the Palestinian issue, granting them a homeland in the real estate that God gave to Abraham and to his descendants through Isaac and Jacob. Whether Mr. Bush’s “road map” leads to such a treaty is almost irrelevant, except insofar as it raises the hopes of Christians for an early removal from the earth and the realization of what Paul described to Titus as our “blessed hope.”

It seems, on account of the wording of Daniel’s prophecy, that a treaty between only Israel and the Palestinians would not satisfy the terms of the prophecy. Daniel stated that “he (the prince who is to come — the antichrist) will confirm a covenant with many for one week” (Dan 9:27). With many. That would seem to include more than just the one small group, though so many Palestinians can hardly be called a small group. Still, the prophecy is vague enough that we cannot say with certainty that this treaty is or is not the one that will inaugurate the tribulation, the last of Daniel’s seventy weeks of years.

The salient fact in all of the negotiations that have been ongoing since Anwar Sadat visited Menachem Begin is that we appear certainly to be living in those “times and seasons” that the Apostle Paul spoke of in his letter to the Church at Thessalonica (1 Th 5:1). Whether the road map that is currently guiding the troubled peoples in that region toward what will prove to be a false peace is actually the treaty that brings God’s judgment onto Israel and the world cannot be unequivocally stated, but it does indeed seem to be the season for peace and a time for trusting in the reasonings of man rather than in the Word of God. While little of substance is being said publicly, it is encouraging to know that Syria, and therefore, Lebanon, are also moving in the right direction for something more comprehensive than an outright Israeli-Palestinian treaty. Whether or not the separate Israeli/Palestinian treaty materializes from the current negotiations, it seems that a comprehensive Middle East peace treaty is in the works, and that bodes well for the body of Christ.

Fruit of the Vine

We have stated many times the simple truth that it is impossible to lead anyone to the Lord without presenting the Gospel to him. The Gospel is extraordinarily simple, especially given the profound results of its fruitful sowing. A person steps from time into eternity, from darkness into the brilliant light of the glory of God’s grace.

There are many, many ways to present the gospel. The most effective, of course, is to tell how Jesus was crucifed, buried and resurrected on account of our sin and the justification we received on account of His sacrifice. Paul said, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and Him, crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). That is the Gospel.

However, the Bible is literally filled with a vast diversity of ways to present this simple truth, as almost every Bible story has some sense in which it relates to Christ’s Person or His work. If a person will not listen to the straight Gospel, it is often possible to pique his interest by explaining one of the many types and shadows found throughout the pages of the Scriptures. God has not left His children and His ministers without ample means with which to wage a victorious warfare. But, like every worthwhile endeavor, successful evangelism requires preparation. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things” (Rom 10:15).

Perspectives

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work

(2 Tim 3:16-17)

The Apostle Paul wrote, “But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart” (2 Cor 3:13-15). The context shows that Paul was speaking of the ministry of the New Testament saint being spiritual, and not legalistic. He was not saying that Christians ought not read the Old Testament, but that we are to live by the spirit of the Law, and not the letter of the Law of Moses. When anyone, saved or otherwise, attempts to place himself under the Law of Moses, seeking his own righteousness, a veil does indeed drop over the heart, leaving that person dispirited and disillusioned. The reason is that no one has yet been able to keep the whole Law, and James says that if a person should keep the whole Law, and yet offend in a single point, he is guilty of all (Jas 2:10). The veil that lies on the heart when one seeks his righteousness by the works of the Law is the veil of condemnation. The Law makes us want to hide from God, not draw closer to Him. That is the point of Paul’s statement in this paragraph. However, if he had meant that we should not study the pages of the Old Testament, he could not have written the opening verse of this article (above). There would be such a blatant contradiction between what he wrote to Timothy and what he wrote to the church at Corinth that we would have to discard the Scriptures as unreliable. Paul was not saying that we should not read the Old Testament, but he was referring to the practice of the Jews in the synagogues of reading a passage of Scripture and applying it to the morality of the listeners by way of commands This we cannot do, for we are not under the Law, but we are under the amazing grace of God.

How, then, are we to approach the Old Testament? What did Jesus say? “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (Jn 5:39). When Christians study the Old Testament, it ought to be for the purpose of discovering Christ. He is to be found on every page of the Bible, including the Old Testament, whether it be in theophanies or in types and shadows. We do not study the Old Testament in order to learn how we are to become righteous in the flesh, but in order to learn the many ways that Christ is portrayed in both His Person and His work. Of course, Jesus was here speaking to the Jews, not to Church Age saints, and He was speaking to admonish them concerning their conception of righteousness altogether, but the central point remains that the Old Testament Scriptures are filled with testimony concerning Christ. The whole Bible is “Christocentric.”

From the animals that were slain to provide the coats of skin for Adam and Eve, to every single ordinance and ritual found in the Law of Moses, all speak of the Person or work of the Jewish Messiah, and the Savior of the world. Every sacrifice under the Law portrayed one aspect or another of the sacrifice that Christ would make at Calvary. All of the “Bible stories” that we have loved as children and taught to our own children have tremendous significance when properly understood as they relate to Jesus Christ. The three Hebrew youths in the fiery furnace at Babylon survived, not because of their own righteousness, but because of their faith; by which faith even Nebuchadnezzar could see a fourth Person in that furnace. That fourth Person was Christ Himself, seeing the faithful through their trials and tribulations. The ark that Noah built is a type of Christ, rescuing His bride before the judgment falls upon the earth. Noah rode in the ark above the waters of the flood, even as we shall be in heaven itself in Christ’s embrace when God’s judgment is poured out on the earth. The ram that was substituted for Isaac when Abraham was about to slay him is a type of Christ, our Substitute in judgment.

The pages of the Old Testament abound with types and shadows of our Lord. The Christian who embarks upon this field of study will find himself enriched beyond measure, and his faith will be strengthened mightily. The theological significance of the types in the Scriptures cannot be overstated. This, because the Old Testament Scriptures are those which testify of Christ, who is alone the Author of eternal life. What vast treasures can be found in a study of types!

The Passover Type

Almost every blood-bought Christian knows about all the plagues (ten of them) that God brought on Egypt because Pharaoh held God’s people captive in slavery, refusing to let them go. Many of us have seen the movie, “The Ten Commandments” repeatedly. But most Christians still do not understand that much of the story of the Exodus is a wonderful type, or foreshadowing, of something much more beautiful and much more meaningful, something eternal, not temporary. The story of the Passover in Exodus was a type of the Passover that was yet to occur, namely, the offering of the body of the Lamb of God, Christ Jesus. That Passover would allow God to be both just, and the Justifier of those who believe in Jesus (Rom 3:26) by “passing over” the sins of believers.

One of the most beautiful types and pictures of our Lord is found in the Passover. All of God’s people should familiarize themselves with this portion of the Scriptures (Exodus Chapters 1-13, especially chapter 12). Pharaoh’s heart was hardened more and more after each of the first of the plagues, but he still refused to let God’s people go (Ex 7:13, 23; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 34; 10:20, 27; 11:10). As it always does when people go against the direction that God wants them to go, things just got worse and worse for Pharaoh. Each of the plagues was worse than the one that preceded it. There were moments when Pharaoh’s resolve wavered (Ex 8:8, 28; 9:27-28; 10:16-17) and he determined to let God’s people go free, but he changed his mind each time. Every time, his heart was hardened.

Chapter 11 begins with a warning “And the Lord said to Moses, I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt” (Ex ll:1a). Of course this plague was by far the worst. It was God’s decree that all first-born in the land of Egypt shall die (Ex. 11:5). Now notice it says “all first-born in the land,” not just the first-born of the Egyptians but all first-born. Indeed, it was not only first-born children who would die. If you were a great grandfather, but were the first-born among your siblings, you would die. If you were a great herdsman, with many herds of camels, cattle, and flocks of sheep, each of the first-born among those herds would perish. If your pet dog were the first-born, it would die. The first-born among the animals in the wild would die in this plague (Ex 11:5), with the resulting disease and pestilence that all the rotting carcasses would generate. It was a great plague indeed. Yet, in spite of the warnings by Moses that this plague was about to fall, Pharaoh would not heed the voice of the prophet, but arrogantly resisted the God of Israel. The warning of the death of the first-born did not exclude the first-born among the descendants of Jacob, and they were subject to the same curse as the Egyptians.

Therefore, for God’s people to be protected, something special had to happen. Blood had to be shed. Yes, for the children of Israel to be spared, blood had to be shed, and if blood had to be shed, that meant something had to die. In this case, we are told that the animal that had to die was a lamb. When God made those coats of skins in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve sinned, we are not told what kind of animals were slain in order to provide those skins. Here, and hereafter, we are told specifically what kind of animals must be slain for the deliverance of God’s people. Jesus was the Lamb of God.

Exodus Chapter 12 tells of the Passover lamb that had to be killed. Verse 5 says the lamb must be without blemish. Lev. 22:17-15 speaks more of the condition the lamb must be in before it can be offered as sacrifice. The unblemished nature of the sacrificial lamb speaks to the impeccability of Christ, who was born without sin, and who also lived and died sinlessly. A man who was a sinner could not bear the guilt for the sins of others, because he would need to bear the judgment for his own sins, but Christ was sinless, answering to the unblemished lamb, so that He could bear the sins of the world and pay the penalty for them.

God’s simple direction to the children of Israel that night was to kill the lamb, take some of the blood and put it on the door post of each house where the Jews lived, and on the lintel, or over the top of the door. The Scriptures go on to speak of how the lamb was to be prepared and how it was to be cooked and eaten. We won’t deal with that now because we want to show what a tremendous type of our redemption is shown in the shedding and spreading of the blood of the lamb that night when the death angel passed over. Let me say right here, if you don’t have the blood of the Lamb (Jesus) on the doorpost of your soul, then, when the death angel comes, you will surely die spiritually. The eternal fate of those who die without the protection of that Lamb’s blood will be far worse than Pharaoh's temporal fate on that death-ridden night..

Thanks be to God that just over two thousand years ago, God sent His only Son in the likeness of human flesh to be our sacrificial Lamb, to die on the cross for you and me, to be our Substitute. Substitution is prominent in the Scriptures. The word “substitute” simply means “a person or thing in place of another, or, to exchange”. We believe that Christ’s substitutionary work on the cross is the heart of the gospel. In fact, according to Paul in 1^st Cor. 15:1-4, it is the glorious gospel. “How that Christ died for our sins and was buried and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

As we study the Bible, we quickly see the importance placed on substitution in matters pertaining to judgment and redemption. The Tabernacle was a place where animals (bullock or ox, sheep or lamb, goats), or some birds (turtle doves or pigeons) were accepted as a substitute to pay for man’s sin. In fact, it is this doctrine of substitutionary atonement that is found in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Animals were killed in the day that Adam and Eve sinned, for God had promised that “...in the day you eat thereof (from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), you shall surely die” (Gen 2:17). Those animals that gave up their lives were the substitutes for Adam and Eve, whom God spared from death that day by slaying the animals in their place. It is not possible to make coats of skins without the animals whose skins were used losing the blood contained within those skins. The wages of sin is death, and those animals drew the wages that rightfully belonged to Adam and Eve. Thus have animals done for millennia, until the Lamb of God was slain to pay for the sins of everyone.

Likewise, this is the reason why God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but not Cain’s. Abel’s sacrifice involved the substitutionary death of a living animal, the shedding of its blood, whereas Cain’s sacrifice involved only vegetables. Why is this so? Why did God accept Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s? Because, “without shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb 9:22). Abel was a shepherd, but Cain was a row-crop farmer, and he reasoned that, if he sacrificed what he had, God ought to be satisfied. Abel offered an unblemished lamb in atonement for his sins, but the sacrifice of rutabagas or eggplants or corn could not atone for Cain’s sin. Vegetables lack the one necessary ingredient, blood. When John the Baptist looked up and saw Jesus, what was it that he said? “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!” (Jn 1:29; cp. 1:36). Jesus is that Lamb that was “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). God accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but He did not accept Cain’s, and Cain became jealous and killed Abel. Had Cain offerd a lamb, one must wonder how different the world might be today.

It is from the primal security that was found in the wearing of animal skins that man today has that vestigial desire to wear leathers and furs. It represents, somewhere deep in the chambers of the human heart, the security of redemption. There is something visceral about wearing skins, and that gut feeling hearkens back to the original coats of skins that God made for Adam and Eve when He provided a substitute for them in death after they sinned. Before the Flood, men wore their sacrifices. It was not until after the Flood that men began to eat their sacrifices, for that is when meat was added to man’s diet. Just as it is no longer fashionable to follow God’s prescribed order in marriage or elsewhere in life, neither is it fashionable today to wear animal skins and furs, but the reason that men and women today still feel protected somehow in leathers is because of the connotation of redemption. When one wears a skin, he must know that something died in order to provide it. By the same token, there is an element of arrogance and rebellion in the sinful heart of man that proudly resists the wearing of skins and furs today, as the human race seeks ever to worship and serve the creature more than the Creator (Rom 1:25). But that is not truly an issue that is germane to this discussion of the Passover.

Leviticus 1 tells us that the one who offered a sacrifice had to identify himself with his offering. By doing so there was the transference of the offerer’s guilt to the lamb (or substitute), and also the transference of the virtues of the lamb (or substitute) to the offerer. The sinner transferred his guilt to the innocent animal, and the innocent animal surrendered its innocence to the sinner. Praise God, when the sinner lays the hand of faith upon the head of the Lamb of God and accepts Christ as his Substitute, then the transfer takes place. He took our guilt; we receive His righteousness. “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:21-26).

Getting back to the Passover, that night when the death angel came, all who were under the blood were redeemed. Yes, redemption is ours through the blood. But that night was only a sign of something far better that was to come: The Son of God who was made flesh and dwelt among us. The original Passover in Egypt has been memorialized ever since and, under the Mosaic dispensation, animals have been sacrificed every year. That practice was to be continued until the one and only genuine Passover Lamb was slain. He is our blessed Redeemer. All of the animal sacrifices that were performed up until then merely pointed ahead in time to that sacrifice at Calvary. Those animal sacrifices did not actually atone for the sins of the Jews, but simply pushed their sins ahead in time one year, each year, on the Day of Atonement, until all of those sins were laid on the Lamb of God at Calvary. For, it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Heb 10:4). The Jews, rejecting Christ, and counting His sacrifice an unclean thing, continued to offer animal sacrifices until the Roman armies laid Jerusalem low in 70 A.D.

As Dr. Herbert Lockyer wrote “Thinking of the Bible as a whole, what would you say are the two inescapable truths forcing themselves upon our attention? Are they not man’s departure from God and God’s deliverance of man? In its broadest sense, the act of redemption fittingly summarizes the entire work of God in Christ, delivering man from the guilt and government, penalty and presence of sin” (Herbert Lockyer, “The Doctrines of the Bible” Zondervan Publishing, 1964, Page 186).

For us to fully understand God’s redemption plan and how it works, one must understand the true significance of redemption. (Please don’t forget this plan of redemption was shadowed at the first Passover.) As we gather together different words used by the writers of the Bible to express the truth of our redemption from the penalty of and the captivity of sin, through the finished work of our Redeemer, we will find them to be most helpful. The word “lutrod” means: “to loose by a price”, “to release by a ransom”. 1 Peter 1:18 shows the use of this word, “Ye know that ye are not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your Fathers.” “Exagorazo,” another word translated redeemed in Galatians 3:13, 4:4-5, Ephesians 5:16, means: “to purchase out” “to buy up out of the possession of any one.” Is it not wonderful to know that Christ met the demands of the law for us and that He, with His own blood, bought us! Many other words could be shown to show how our Savior redeemed us from the curse of sin.

As one searches the Scriptures, one cannot miss all the shadows and types of our Savior throughout the writings of the Old Testament, starting in the Garden of Eden and continuing through, not only the Old Testament, but through the New Testament as well, where almost every antitype is found. But there is none more vivid, more blessed, or more complete, than the one we see at that first Passover in Egypt when the death angel passed over the land and the Jews were spared and then freed.

Christians are also freed by the sacrifice at the Passover those two millennia ago when the Lamb of God bled on Calvary. We are freed from the penalty and power of sin, freed from the curse of the Law, freed to travel the wilderness of this temporal life with the full power and might of our great God dwelling within us. We are freed to live our lives as ourselves, in service to God, in the fullest measure of celebration and rejoicing, not only because of our redemption from the penalty of the Law, but also because of the new life in Christ and the renewing of our minds. We are now not under Law, but we stand in the light of God’s grace. We have been freed from a law that no man could keep (Rom 3:10, 12), and we are given the glorious liberty of children of God. What was it that Jesus said? “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (Jn 8:32).

Faith is a wondrous thing, imparted to us by God. Four times does the Bible say that the just shall live by faith (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 3:11; Heb 10:38). The Jews had to believe Moses’ testimony on the night of the first Passover before they would actually put the blood on their doorposts and lintels. In like manner, a lost person today must hear the Gospel and believe it before he can be spared the judgment of God. Those who do believe the Gospel are admonished to work thereafter in spreading it to other lost souls. The Jews in Egypt were commanded to eat the animals they sacrificed. In like manner, Jesus told His disciples at the Last Supper to eat His flesh and drink His blood. While there are those who suppose that it is possible today, through a doctrine known as “transsubstantiation,” to actually eat His flesh, we know that Jesus is the Word of God (Jn 1:1-14), and that we grow spiritually by consuming that “Bread of life” that is our Sustainer, the Word of God. Just as men have, down through the ages, eaten the animals they have sacrificed for their sins, that the innocence of those animals might be transferred to them, so does the Christian partake of the Word of God in order that the righteousness of Christ might be imputed unto him. Let us partake of our own Passover Lamb daily, with great appetite!

On Types & Shadows

There are many Old Testament types, most of which are types of Christ. These types, rich in essential truth, foresee His Person and work on the cross. The details of the Old Testament passages illuminate New Testament statements that give the Old Testament passages authenticity as a type. In the following quote by L.S. Chafer, he not only succinctly defines what a type is, but brilliantly sets forth its purpose:

“A type is a divinely purposed anticipation which illustrates its antitype. These two parts of one theme are related to each other by the fact that the same truth or principle is embodied in each. It is not the prerogative of the type to establish the truth of a doctrine; it rather enhances the force of the truth as set forth in the antitype. On the other hand, the antitype serves to lift its type out of the commonplace into that which is inexhaustible and to invest it with riches and treasures hitherto unrevealed” (Chafer, Systematic Theology, Kregel Publishing, 1947-48, Vol. 3 pgs. 116-117).

Joseph, who has been said to have foreshadowed the Savior more than any other Old Testament character, is the shadow, of which Christ is the Substance. Joseph is nowhere in Scripture explicitly declared as such, but the fact is unquestionably implied in his life and service.

A shepherd, said to be the most beloved by his father, Joseph was also hated by his brothers. It was envy, brought about by their father’s favor of him, that was at the root of his brothers’ hatred. Joseph had a dream and related it to his brothers, a dream which predicted Joseph’s future reign over them, and thus they hated him all the more. They neither believed him nor accepted him and so they conspired against him, stripped him of his coat and delivered him up as a slave to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

Joseph was then brought into Egypt and sold to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer, where he was tempted by Potiphar’s wife, who wished to engage in sexual relations with him. Joseph resisted, but was falsely accused and, regardless of his innocence, was sentenced to prison. Two men were bound with him: the chief of the butlers and the chief of the bakers. They each had dreams and and went to Joseph for interpretation. To the one, Joseph announced a message of deliverance but to the other, a message of Pharaoh's wrath.

In Joseph’s imprisonment, he suffered much but because of the eternal counsel of God, was afterward highly exalted to a position of rule where Pharaoh placed him over all the land of Egypt. “And he [Pharaoh] had him ride in his second chariot; and they proclaimed before him, ‘Bow the knee!’” (Gen. 41:43). In Joseph’s exaltation, he opened the storehouses of Egypt, in the time of famine, to all who came to him and bestowed grace upon his brothers, despite their guilt.

Jesus too was a shepherd, the Good Shepherd, beloved of His Father. Despised, envied, and rejected by his brethren because of his right to rule over them, He was sold for the price of a slave and delivered into the hands of His enemies. Innocent of the charges brought against him, he nevertheless suffered. Crucified between two thieves, Jesus proclaimed to the one who believed in Him a message of salvation saying to him, “Truly I say to you, ‘Today, you shall be with Me in Paradise’” (Lk. 22:43). Afterward, God highly exalted Christ, having “bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.” He now, in His exaltation, brings salvation, despite guilt, by His grace, to all who come to Him for it. Thus Joseph’s life does indeed “enhance the force of the truth” set forth in the life of Jesus, and Jesus’ life lifts Joseph’s “out of the commonplace into that which is inexhaustible.”

In this story, we can see how the antitype gives eternal significance to that which was originally related as a temporal circumstance. Divine design can be seen in each and every type found in the Scriptures insofar as neither the people involved, nor those who recorded them in the Bible had any notion whatsoever that the things they experienced, nor the things that they recorded, would later have any greater significance than the temporal circumstances suggested. Yet, throughout the pages of the Old Testament, one type after another is found in which, when the antitype is given in the New Testament, profound truths are illuminated.

Another such story is that of Jonah. It was our Lord Himself who raised the story of Jonah’s sojourn in the belly of the great fish to the level of an Old Testament type, by comparing Jonah’s experience to His own time in the heart of the earth (see Mt 12:38-41).

Boaz is yet another example of an Old Testament type. He is a type of Christ. He was a near kinsman of Ruth, which gave him the legal right to redeem that which had been previously lost. He had both the means and the willingness to redeem the lost property, and thus, did so. The story of Ruth and Boaz is a beautiful illustration of the redemption of the lost race of men by our own near Kinsman, Jesus Christ, who had the redemption price (His own blood), and the willingness to pay that price in order to claim the purchased possession.

There are many and varied expressions of Christ to be found in the Old Testament, but one must be careful to understand that a New Testament antitype is required for a thing to be called a type. Many more passages have the authority of spiritual congruence, and others are shadows of some New Testament truth. The point is, everywhere one looks in the Old Testament, Christ is to be found, or some element of His work as our Redeemer, Advocate or Priest.

Look & Live!

So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole;
And so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone,
When he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

(Num 21:9)

When the Israelites spoke against God and Moses in the wilderness, God chastened them for their unbelief by sending fiery serpents among them. After many were bitten and died, the Israelites were moved to acknowledge their sin, and implored Moses to intercede with the Lord on their behalf that the poisonous snakes would be taken away. But instead of immediately removing the serpents, God had Moses fashion a bronze serpent and place it high on a pole amongst the people, saying to Moses that, “It shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live” (Num 21:8b).

Although Jesus and a bronze serpent are perhaps the least expected combination of type and antitype, Christ plainly identified the bronze serpent that Moses formed as a type of Himself. In His late-night meeting with Nicodemus, Jesus said to him, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:14-15).

In order to understand the full meaning of this, we first look at the symbolism surrounding the type itself. Bronze, the metal of divine judgment, and the serpent, a symbol of judged sin, anticipate the cross work of Christ on behalf of the guilty sinner. The complete picture of the bronze serpent speaks of Christ bearing our own judgment, and thus, sin itself being judged by God in Him. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Cor 5:21a). Concerning this judgment, C.I. Scofield writes: “Historically, the moment is indicated in the cry, ‘My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?’” (Mt 27:46). The answer to this question is found in Psalm 22:3; “Yet Thou art holy.” Just as sin separates the sinner from God, because He is holy, so too the Father forsook the Son as He “laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6).

Regarding the function of the type, we see the Savior again clearly as the antitype. The Israelites, helpless with the poison of the venomous serpents coursing through their veins, had only one avenue of deliverance. The salvation did not and could not come from themselves, but was, rather, provided for them by God with the only requirement that they were able to fulfill. Faith, the only thing sinful man can do without “doing” anything at all, was that requirement as they were instructed by Moses to simply look. This type brilliantly illuminates the nature of simple, childlike faith. As the Israelites, once bitten, lay dying, they simply had to look at the serpent on the pole in anticipation of their temporal salvation. And, in like manner, we look to Christ, lifted up on His cross, as our precious Substitute, with the same anticipation, and thus, we live eternally. As the antitype always expands our understanding of the type itself, so the Israelites had their temporal lives spared by looking through eyes of faith at the symbol of sin judged in the bronze serpent. We today gain eternal life by looking at the Antitype as He hung on the cross at Calvary.

The Inner Veil

The veil that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place was heavy linen, four inches thick. It was stout indeed, and no man could tear it. Its presence prevented the admission into the presence of God by sinful man. Only the High Priest could enter behind that veil, and that, only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. The penalty for entrance by another was immediate death. Sinful man could not stand in the presence of God, and it was in the Holy of Holies that God dwelt in both the tabernacle and the Temple. The presence of the glory of God made that chamber the holiest place on earth.

When Christ died on the cross, that veil tore in half from the top to the bottom, signifying the ability of believers to stand before the very throne of grace, in the presence of God. That veil was symbolic, or typical, of the body of Christ, torn for us at Calvary. Hear the words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews:

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies wshed with pure water. (Heb 10:19-22)

It is altogether too easy to miss the greater significance of such seemingly small items in the Scriptures. But ages before, when God instructed Moses to place that veil in its place, He knew precisely what it would come to stand for in the Christian mind. Now, the Holy of Holies is within the body of every living Christian, where God dwells. The veil is lifted forever.

Silver - A Type of Redemption

Many of the metals named in the Bible have “typical” connotations. Bronze, for example is often used as a type for judgment. Silver is the metal of redemption.

When God gave Moses instructions for building the tabernacle that the Israelites carried with them in their wilderness wanderings, He had Moses collect half a shekel of silver from each person. This collection was not to actually make atonement for their sins, for there is no monetary amount that can pay for a single sin, but it was used in the construction of the tabernacle in a very particular way.

The tabernacle was the place of atonement. Essentially, it was a wooden framework, built of poles, upon which hung curtains. Each pole was made of acacia wood (a type of Christ’s humanity, by the way), and had bronze balls on the ends that fit into silver sockets. Thus, the entire structure of the Israelites’ redemption was suspended upon silver. In addition, the curtains, or veils, that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place were hung on silver hooks and bands, so that the atonement for the sins of the Jews was both suspended from and based upon silver.

Of course, the silver collected from the Israelites was only a token of the redemption price that would actually be paid in the shedding of Christ’s blood at Calvary (1 Pet 1:18-19). Exodus 30:11-16 identifies the silver collected from the Israelites as “redemption money.”

Hebrews 9:23-24 tell us plainly that the tabernacle and all its furnishings are typical. That is, they are an Old Testament illustration of a New Testament truth. Since we know that the tabernacle itself is typical, we can also understand that the details of it are also typical. Gold, for example, is typical of Deity in manifestation. Silver is typical of redemption. Bronze is a symbol of judgment, as in the case of the bronze altar and the bronze serpent that Moses fashioned in the wilderness (cp Jn 3:14-15).

Even the colors of the curtains at the entrance to the tabernacle and the Holy of Holies had typical, or symbolic, significance. Blue symbolized the heavenly origin of redemption; purple is the color of royalty, speaking of the necessity of someone greater than man to carry the actual price of redemption into the tabernacle not made with hands, or into the heavenly tabernacle, which no man could do. Another of the curtains was scarlet, speaking of the Blood that must be shed in order to accomplish the atonement for the sins of mankind in general as well as for the Jews specifically.

The Pentateuch is literally filled with types, shadows and symbols of those New Testament truths upon which we hang our entire theology. It is a wise Christian who seeks out those deeper truths found in both the Old and New Testaments. Read with types in mind, the OT is rich in teaching!

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