BIBLE TYPOLOGY – WHAT IT IS

There is a special language in the Scripture that God used to communicate with His covenant people, it is called Bible typology.

Typology is a tool of Old Testament prophecy, used to predict things that will happen in the New Testament.

Bible typology refers to the persons, events, activities, places, and objects of the Old Testament that foreshadow Christ, His work in Redemption, and the products of His finished work.

A type is a prophetic picture of Christ’s person and finished work. A type is a person, an event, or a ceremony that is recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures to foreshadow a New Testament person, event, or revelation.

God used typology to “write history” before it happened. He used Old Testament typology to prophesy New Testament events before it happened. For this reason, typology is said to be a category of prophecy.

Certain Old Testament persons, events, objects, and statements are seen as “types” of events or aspects of Christ, His revelation, and His finished works.

God ordained the types and shadows to offer prophetic insight into the story of redemption, giving the Old Testament saints a way to look ahead into the future. The types and shadows of the Old Covenant were designed to be a preview of the realities of the New Testament.

The story of redemption is God’s plan of salvation, and how it played out in the New Testament times. Typology is a dramatization of redemption, the finished work of Christ.

In Scripture, several individuals are a type of Christ. People like Adam, Melchizedek, Isaac, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jonah are types of Christ.

Some of the objects that typify Christ and His work of redemption are The Ark of Noah, the Ark of the Covenant, the Bronze Serpent, and the Mercy Seat, and so on and so forth.

The Flood of Noah, the Plagues of Egypt, Crossing the Red Sea, and the Jordan, are also typological events that foreshadow redemption and the future of humanity.

The Prophet Moses was the one God used to establish the doctrine of typology in Scripture. The Torah is loaded with typological ceremonies like the Sacrifices, the Feasts, the Ordinance of Washings, the Sabbath, the Year of Jubilee, and the Day of Atonement.

Moses instituted the sacrificial system after the people of Israel came out of slavery in Egypt. The sacrificial system was designed to foretell the sacrificial, redemptive work of Christ.

Within the typological ceremonies, you’ll find objects like the Veil, the Ark of the Covenant, the Seven Candlesticks, and the Tablets of the Ten Commandments. Moses also made typological furniture, like the Brazen Altar, the Table of Showbread, the Mercy Seat, and others.

The Mosaic Law also contains typological colors. These colors represent a revelation, an idea in the mind of God which He revealed to Moses. These colors include red, blue, green, white, and purple.

Typology, a Dramatization of Christ & His Finished Works

Colossians 2:16-17 - So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME, but THE SUBSTANCE IS OF CHRIST.

In this verse, the Bible says that the ordinances of the Old Testament (the food, drink, festivals, observing moons, and Sabbaths) are a shadow of what is to happen in the New Testament. “The things to come” are Christ, His work of redemption, and the products of His salvation.

In other words, those ordinances of the Old Testament are not the real deal, but a pointer to the real thing. Christ and His finished work are the very essence, the meaning and substance of those prophetic ordinances.

Acts 15 Vs Colossians 2 - Doctrinal Disputes on Circumcision

When the gospel began to spread in Israel, some Pharisees believed in Jesus and joined the church. The Pharisees are one of the strictest religious sects in Israel. When some of them accepted Christ, they came into the church with all their religious baggage.

In the city of Antioch, Paul and Barnabas had a doctrinal disagreement with them. These men came from Judea and began to compel the Gentile believers to keep the Law of Moses. They threatened the new converts that they could not be saved unless they kept the Law of Circumcision.

Acts 15:1 - And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”

It is an absolute error to preach that one cannot receive eternal life without circumcision, but that is what these overzealous Pharisees taught.

Circumcision was a sign given by God, representing a covenant made between Him and the descendants of Abraham. They did it on the eighth day, and it symbolized the formation of a covenant bond between God and the Israelites from birth.

They had to do nothing except to be born into the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—God’s Covenant friends. This symbolizes salvation without works, by the new birth, which comes by faith in Christ.

When God commanded Abraham to do this, He had His sights set on the future, with a timeline that stretched well beyond Abraham’s time. God’s eyes were on the future (the New Testament). Like other typological ceremonies of the Old Covenant, God’s intention of giving Abraham this ordinance of circumcision was prophetic. It extended well beyond its initial benefits.

This was a typology, a prophetic act to foreshadow the born-again experience of the New Covenant. Circumcision symbolizes the internal transformation, which the Holy Spirit will perform in the heart of the New Covenant participants.

Therefore, Old Testament circumcision was a ritual that symbolized spiritual circumcision, which happens to anyone who makes the New Covenant with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

The Law of Moses (including circumcision) was given for the purpose of guiding Israel to salvation. The law (including circumcision) cannot give eternal life. The Law was given as a means of revelation, so that Israel would recognize the Messiah when He comes.

Circumcision was a typology of the new birth, which is the putting away of the body of sin.

Colossians 2:11 - In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, BY PUTTING OFF THE BODY OF THE SINS OF THE FLESH, by the circumcision of Christ…

Romans 6:6 - knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DONE AWAY WITH, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

These overzealous Jews of Acts 15 didn’t understand the purpose of the law. They were trying to teach what they didn’t really know. Paul told Pastor Timothy, “these people desire to be teachers of the law. They don’t understand what they preach, but they do it so much confidence.”

1 Timothy 1:3-7 - As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some that they teach no other doctrine, nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.

Now THE PURPOSE OF THE COMMANDMENT is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

Paul and Barnabas argued publicly with those ignorant Pharisees, persuading the people that Christ was enough for total salvation. This caused much confusion, so the church of Antioch sent delegates to the elders in Jerusalem to get clarity. The Apostles, Peter, James, and the others had to sit down to deliberate on it.

Acts 15:2 - Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question.

There was a division among the people. A part of the Jerusalem committee sided with this erroneous view.

Acts 15:5 - But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

It was time for a decision to be taken, so Peter stood up among them and spoke with apostolic authority.

Acts 15:7-10 - And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.

So God, who knows the heart, ACKNOWLEDGED THEM BY GIVING THEM THE HOLY SPIRIT, just as He did to us, and MADE NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN US AND THEM, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, WHY DO YOU TEST GOD BY PUTTING A YOKE ON THE NECK OF THE DISCIPLES WHICH NEITHER OUR FATHERS NOR WE WERE ABLE TO BEAR?

Peter reminded them that neither they nor their forefathers could bear the yoke of the Law of Moses. This is why Jesus said, “My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Christ fulfilled the requirements of the law; He did what the law predicted. The prophets in the Scriptures predicted that He would manifest on earth, die for our sins, and rise on the third day for our justification. He is the fulfillment and the substance of the Law and its ordinances. Therefore, we do not need to keep the typology of the Law of Moses to be saved.

 

 

Apostle Paul’s Doctrinal Conclusion

Colossians 2:8-17 says,

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and YOU ARE COMPLETE IN HIM, who is the head of all principality and power.

In Him YOU WERE ALSO CIRCUMCISED WITH THE CIRCUMCISION MADE WITHOUT HANDS, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, BY THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.

SO LET NO ONE JUDGE YOU IN FOOD OR IN DRINK, OR REGARDING A FESTIVAL OR A NEW MOON OR SABBATHS, WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME, BUT THE SUBSTANCE IS OF CHRIST.

Just like it happened in Antioch, other false teachers were trying to persuade the Colossian brethren to begin to observe the rules of the Old Testament.

With Apostolic authority, Paul wrote, “Do not allow anyone to bully you into observing the ordinances of the Old Testament. They are only a dramatization of New Testament realities. Jesus Christ and His finished works are the actual substance of those prophetic predictions.”

Paul tells us that, “We are complete in Christ.” You do not need to practice the Law of Moses to be completely saved. He also said, “You were circumcised with the circumcision that is made without human hands.” The circumcision of the Law is made with human hands. It is a type of the circumcision which the Holy Spirit would perform in the heart of everyone who believes the gospel of Christ.”

Clearly, the circumcision of Christ means to be born again.

He wrote to Timothy too,

1 Timothy 1:3-7 - As I urged you when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may charge some THAT THEY TEACH NO OTHER DOCTRINE, NOR GIVE HEED TO FABLES AND ENDLESS GENEALOGIES, WHICH CAUSE DISPUTES RATHER THAN GODLY EDIFICATION which is in faith.

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, FROM WHICH SOME, HAVING STRAYED, HAVE TURNED ASIDE TO IDLE TALK, DESIRING TO BE TEACHERS OF THE LAW, UNDERSTANDING NEITHER WHAT THEY SAY NOR THE THINGS WHICH THEY AFFIRM.

The people who infiltrated the church at Antioch and Colossae are the ones referenced here. They aim to preach the law, but they do not even understand what they are saying. If they did, they would know that certain activities of the Law of Moses are a prophetic prediction of what would take place in the New Testament.

Types & Shadows - A Prophetic Sketch of Christ & His Redemption

When you want to build a home, you need an architectural design. The drawing reveals the design, structure, and layout of the house. When someone takes a look at the drawings, he has a sense of what the final building will be.

Colossians 2:16-17 tells us that the typology of the Old Testament is a shadow of what is to come. “Shadow” refers to the sketch, a crude drawing of what the end product will look like. The substance is Christ; the substance means the fulfillment, the final product.

“SO LET NO ONE JUDGE YOU IN FOOD OR IN DRINK, OR REGARDING A FESTIVAL OR A NEW MOON OR SABBATHS, WHICH ARE A SHADOW OF THINGS TO COME, BUT THE SUBSTANCE IS OF CHRIST.”

Types and shadows can be compared to God’s architectural plan of Redemption, which was given to the people of the Old Testament. This is so they can take a look at what the final edifice of salvation will look like, when it is actualized by Christ.

Hebrews 10:1 - For the law, HAVING A SHADOW OF THE GOOD THINGS TO COME, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.

Typology is a specific type of symbolism that is used to transmit a hidden message. This hidden message is for the people of the Old Testament, they were responsible for preserving the hidden message until the moment of its fulfillment.

By looking at the shadow, people from the Old Testament would see into the future, into God’s plan, and see the good things that are yet to come. Christ, His salvation, and His church are the good things that were foreshadowed in the Scriptures.

By looking at the types and shadows which have been fulfilled already, those of us in the New Testament would look back at the wisdom of God. We rejoice because what we have experienced in Christ was faithfully foretold in the days of old. Hallelujah!

Typology is a form of biblical interpretation which shows the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. As we study types and shadows, we will understand the prophetic symbolism and what it represents.

Typology is a foretaste, a glimpse of the revelation of Christ and the story of redemption. In a preview, the Old Testament saints saw into the future and anticipated the coming of the Messiah.