Typology

Typology is an approach to the interpretation of the Scriptures found in the New Testament itself, and in the writings of the Church Fathers, which sees certain people and events in the Old Testament (Types) as foreshadowing things fulfilled in the New Testament (Antitypes). This is related, but distinct from allegory.

The Fathers believed that Scripture had different levels of meaning, which included the literal or historical sense of the text, but could also have an allegorical meaning, or a typological meaning. A text also has a tropological or moral sense, and an anagogical or mystical sense. That a text had an allegorical or typological meaning did not negate the historical sense of the text, it was simply another way of understanding the text.

Typological interpretations of Old Testament events and persons saw them as prefigurations, with the events of Christ's life, or other aspects of the New Testament. We find this approach express by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 2:16-17 - "Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ." It also finds expression in the Epistle to the Hebrews, and in other Epistles.

One example of typology is the story of Jonah and the whale from the Old Testament. Typological interpretations of this story hold that it prefigures Christ's burial, the stomach of the fish being Christ's tomb: as Jonah was freed from the whale after three days, so did Christ rise from His tomb after three days, see also Matthew 12:38–42, Matthew 16:1–4, Luke 11:29–32. Indeed, Jonah called the belly of the fish "Sheol," the land of the dead.

Other examples of types in the Bible:

• While in the wilderness, Moses put a brazen serpent (a symbol of evil) on a pole which would heal anyone bitten by a snake who looked at it (Numbers 21:8). Jesus proclaimed that the serpent, was a type of Himself, since "as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up" (John 3:14) and "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." (2nd Corinthians 5:21)

• In a battle with the Amalekites, Exodus 17:11 states that "[a]s long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning." Commentators interpret Moses' raised hands as a type of Jesus' raised hands upon the Cross, for when Jesus' hands were raised as He died, a figurative battle with sin was waged, the end result being victory - that "all will be made alive." (1 Cor. 15:22)

Old Testament Types

Genesis Chapter 37 through 50 brings us the story of Joseph in Egypt. Joseph is commonly cited as a Christ type in the story[4]. Joseph is the only son (at that time) of his mother and a very special son to his father. From his father’s perspective Joseph dies and then comes back to life as the ruler of Egypt. Actually Joseph’s brothers deceive their father by dipping his coat in the blood of a sacrificed animal. Later Joseph’s father finds that not only is Joseph alive but he also is the ruler of Egypt that saves the world of his day from a great famine. Other parallels between Joseph and Jesus include, both are betrayed for silver, both are falsely accused and face false witnesses.

Moses, like Joseph and Jonah, undergoes a symbolic death and resurrection. Moses is placed in a basket and floated down the Nile river, and then is drawn out of the Nile to be adopted as a prince. The baby Moses was under a death sentence. Interestingly, floating the body down the Nile river was part of an Egyptian funerary ritual for royalty.

Genesis Chapter 22 brings us the story of the preempted sacrifice of Isaac. God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to Him, cited as a foreshadowing of God sacrificing His Son. When a suspicious Isaac asks his father “where is the lamb for the burnt offering” Abraham prophesied "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." And indeed a ram caught by it’s horns awaited them. In the larger picture Christ is ultimately the lamb that God provides for the sacrifice in this typology.

In the New Testament Jesus actually invokes Jonah as type “As the crowds increased, Jesus said, "This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Luke 11:29. In the Old Testament Jonah told the men aboard the ship to sacrifice him by throwing him overboard. Jonah told them by taking his life, God’s wrath would pass and the sea would become calm. Subsequently Jonah then spends three days and nights in the belly of a great fish before he is spit up onto dry land. This parallel to Jesus’ three days and nights in the grave for the typology.

The Jewish Tabernacle is commonly seen as a series of complex types of Jesus Christ: for example, Jesus describes himself as "the door", and the only "way" to God , represented in the single, wide gate to the tabernacle court; the various layers of coverings over the tabernacle represent Christ's godliness (in the intricately-woven inner covering) and his humanity (in the dull colouring of the outside covering)

The Ark of Noah is seen as a type of Baptism in 1st Peter 3:18-22. Just as the Ark of Noah saved Noah and his family "There is also an antitype which now saves us -- baptism..." (1st Peter 3:21).

Sources

Some material in this article is taken from the Wikipedia article Typology (theology)

External links

• Patrick Fairbairn The Typology of Scripture
• A Study of Biblical Typology (Wayne Jackson, Christian Courier)
• Catholic Encyclopedia: Types in Scripture
• Jewish Encyclopedia: ALLEGORICAL INTERPRETATION