Typology: The Patterns of God’s Word

Loading Scripture… Romans 5:14 (ESV)

We now come to the last chapter on interpreting Scripture before we dive into the Word itself. My goal in delaying your reading of God’s Word is not to hold you back but rather to give you the tools you need to know God’s Word as you read God’s Word.

What is it and why does it matter?

Many people get very nervous when you discuss Scripture and symbolism in the same context. We live in a world where nothing is taken at face value. So-called scholars question whether Adam was a literal person or whether Jesus was really raised from the dead. But denying the supernatural truth claims of Scripture guts the meaning and value of Scripture. After all, if Christ has not been raised, “your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)

So, as we consider the topic of typology, I want to first make clear what it is not. Typology is not an approach to Scripture that spiritualizes everything or turns everything into a symbol. Adam and Eve were real people. Axe heads really did float on water. The Red Sea really parted. Jesus really died, was buried, and rose on the third day. Supernatural events were really performed by the One who supernaturally created all things.

What typology does is show that some things in Scripture are intended to point to other things. Adam is described as a “type” of Christ, and typology seeks to explain what is meant by that. That doesn’t mean that Adam is like Christ in every way. For example, Adam is a created being, and Christ is not. But Adam was a type of covenant head who, in breaking the terms of his covenant, made Christ the necessary antitype to Adam’s failure. Christ was the fulfillment of the type of covenant head who kept every requirement of the covenant – securing redemption for his people – those who are part of that covenant – in Christ.

Understanding typology will avoid the need of a convoluted system built around maintaining an insistence that Scripture be interpreted “literally.” If you try to interpret something literally for which the author intended something symbolic, you will get the wrong answer. Pharisees took God literally when he said of his commandments, “they shall be as frontlets between your eyes”. They attached boxes to their foreheads with Scripture in them. Point missed? Yep. Catholics take Jesus literally when he said “this is my body” in Matthew 26:26. And Dispensationalists take Ezekiel’s prophecies concerning the temple literally when they insist upon a future physical temple with animal sacrifice. And none of these “literal” interpretations are correct interpretations.

It is a perfectly appropriate interpretation of Deuteronomy 6:8 to say God intended “the commandments as frontlets between your eyes” figuratively. The intent is not to strap a box to your forehead. Otherwise, when you get to Proverbs 7:3 and are commanded to “write them on the tablet of your heart”, it’s going to get painful and messy. Rather, God’s commands should always be front and center or “in your face”. Treating something as if it’s right in front of you doesn’t require that it be right in front of you – especially if you do so just to be seen by others. (Matthew 23:5) It is perfectly appropriate to reflect on Jesus’ offering of both body and blood as we partake of the Lord’s Supper without thinking we are cannibals on Sunday morning. We don’t eat the literal body of Christ. And it is a perfectly appropriate interpretation of Scripture to understand that the physical temple in physical Israel pointed to a spiritual temple in spiritual Israel. Paul – a Jew – writing to Gentiles – spoke of one body (Ephesians 4:4) being built into one temple (Ephesians 2:22).

Learning about typology will help you to discern the author’s intent – does he intend a literal meaning or is he communicating a truth using symbols? The smorgasbord of doctrines among Christian denominations supports the idea that a study of hermeneutics and typology should accompany Bible study. Don’t read your Bible. Know your Bible.

What should I seek to understand about the topic?

• What is typology, and why is understanding it critical to understanding the Bible?
• Types and antitypes in Scripture
• How symbolism is used in the Bible to convey truth
• Types in Scripture, such as Adam, the tabernacle, and the Passover lamb
• How typology differs from allegory
• Temple theology
• Theophany
• Interpreting the Old Testament through the lens of the New Testament.

My thoughts on the topic

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Scripture can be difficult. If you don’t believe me, just listen to what Peter says of Paul’s letters in 2 Peter 3:16: “There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.” And his responding guidance from verse 17 is equally important for us to grasp: “You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.”

In short, Scripture can be hard, and false teachers often use that to their advantage. Take care so that you don’t fall victim to their schemes. How can we take care? Know how to spot a bad interpretation. Reading the Bible gives you Paul’s words – you know the ones – the words that are “hard to understand.” Studying your Bible – and how to study your Bible – provides insight to understand that which is hard to understand.

Typology is a study whose goal is to help you understand the Scriptures. But because it is often dealing with “hard to understand” passages, it is not a topic that is a walk in the park. Typology will challenge the way you’ve always read and interpreted God’s Word.

To me, one of the best examples of this is Israel. A straightforward reading of the Old Testament would define Israel as a nation formed by God’s leading His people to the promised land, overseeing the defeat of the current landholders, and placing His people in that land. Saul, David, and Solomon were kings of Israel. Israel is a country like any other country with geographical boundaries, an earthly king, and the term “Israelite” applies to every single one of its citizens. Oh, and that promised land was promised to Abraham. And the leaders of Israel considered themselves Abraham’s offspring – a straightforward understanding of descendants.

But then the New Testament comes along and claims something about Hosea’s 11:1 prophecy that you would never get from reading Hosea 11. “Out of Egypt I called my son” is really speaking of Jesus. And Paul declares in Romans 9:6 that “not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel”. And in verse 7, he states that “not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring.” Even Jesus gets into the act in John 8:44, telling some of the Jews “you are of your father the devil”. This is just 7 short verses after he tells them, “I know that you are the offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you”. And then the writer of Hebrews goes and confuses us about the New Covenant promise of Jeremiah 31. Because in Hebrews 8:10, we are told “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days.”

And if you read the Old Testament accounts of the land promises made to Abraham and his offspring, you’ll be hard pressed to find any mention of heavenly land. On the contrary, Abraham is promised this in Genesis 15:18-21: On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites." Yet the writer of Hebrews says this about Abraham and his descendants in Hebrews 11:13-14: These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

There’s just one problem. The “these” of “these all died in faith, not having received the things promised” did indeed receive the land. In the immediately preceding verse 12, we read “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” These innumerable grains of sand were delivered from Egypt, their children wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and then entered the promised land. Oh, and Joshua declares this in Joshua 23:14: "And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.”

How can the writer of Hebrews be correct when he says they “died in faith, not having received the things promised”? Maybe the promises to Abraham ultimately pointed to greater promises than the ones Joshua referenced in Joshua 23:14. Is it possible that the land promised to Abraham is really a type of land and that the ultimate fulfillment is a heavenly land? Is it possible that the offspring of Abraham in the Old Testament are a type of offspring and that the ultimate fulfillment is spoken of by Paul in Galatians 3:7-9?

Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:7–9

Are you ready to read your Bible? We will begin our exploration of the Old Testament with an overarching theme – the Old Testament points to Christ. Let’s move on to chapter nine and a consideration of the Old Testament’s biblical theology.