Biblical Typology, Part 1

Ask your average seminary or bible college professor, and (s)he can tell you generally what "biblical typology" is. Ask your average pastor, and he'll tell you he's heard of it but doesn't have the strongest grasp of the idea. Ask your average congregant, and they'll say, "Biblical typo-what?"

Theologically in-house definition(s)

Here's a simple definition of what "biblical typology" is: the study of types in the Bible.

That raises the next question: What's a biblical "type"?

The classic definition of a "type" is: "a person, event, thing, or instititution that prefigures or foreshadows another person, event, thing or institution in the Bible." To the average Christian, however, that's not very helpful.

Some other definitions I've personally come up with include:

"A type is a historically enacted prophecy." or "an acted prediction."

"A type is a prophetically historical analogy."

"An eschatologically charged, divinely appointed historical correspondence that both references its original prototype and foreshadows its fulfilling antitype(s), interconnecting with related types and oracular prophecies. It often takes the form of events, persons, things, or concepts."

But in truth these won't help the average believer either.


An explanation

Typology is a concept that requires numerous assumptions, beliefs, and a worldview that is foreign to the average 21st century person. Rather than a definition, an explanation of typoloy is much more desirable and ultimately helpful.

Though scholars have often disagreed about what typology is and whether it's a legitimate idea, a majority who've studied the issue (like myself) have agreed that it is legitimate and its concept fairly straightforward though hardly simple:

Typology is the study of a phenomenon that crops up often in the Bible, Old and New Testaments. It is something very similar to an "oracular" prophecy (a prophecy verbally given whether orally or in written form or both), like the kind preserved in the major & minor prophets of the Old Testament. Except a "type" is a prophecy that's conveyed circumstantially rather than verbally. Most often, it's either an event or a person that becomes "prophetic". God sets up an event or a person that has eschatological or future significance.

For example: Abraham offers Isaac (Genesis 22). Most Christians have been taught that this event/ scene of Abraham being willing to offer his son, the chosen one, to God is a picture, a foreshadowing of God the Father offering His Son, Jesus. Phrases like "God will provide a lamb." become crucial to anticipating the sacrificial Christ. Nothing in this text explicitly says, "And this happened as a foreshadowing..." No commentary is made by Moses or God regarding any future significance of this event. No where in the New Testament does it say that Christ's death was foreseen in Genesis 22. Yet, we continue to see the parallels, why? Because there's something far too coincidental about the parallels. The text doesn't have to say explicitly that it's foreshadowing for it to be so.

Is this reading too much into the text? If this were an isolated phenomenon, then we might be inclined to think so. But it isn't.

Let's table that question for the moment and seek to understand what we mean by a biblical "type." Genesis 22 is such an example. It is an event in history that acts like a prophecy, pointing and hinting toward a future event that will be similar in purpose and action to this one. Thus, in this way, a type can be said to be "fulfilled" just as a verbal prophecy from, say, Isaiah or Micah.


The justification: Romans 5 & 1Corinthians 10

If it were left to examples like Genesis 22 alone, the idea of typology would be shaky. Fortunately, that's not the case. "Type" and "typology" come from the Greek term "tupos" which is used in the New Testament in two distinct ways.

The first means "impression" or "blow" or "mark" or "mold". It can refer to the imprint made by a vase in a lump of clay when someone is trying to create a mold. Thomas uses the term in John 20:25 when he says that he will not believe until he sees and touches the "marks" (tupos) in Jesus' resurrected hands.

The second refers to a biblical "type," an event, person, or thing that is ordained by God to prophesy other events, persons, or things just as a verbal prophecy would. Paul compares Jesus to Adam in Romans 5. But the comparison is not one he's forcing or inventing or a matter of coincidence. Paul believes that God superinteded Adam to foreshadow Jesus and Jesus to parallel Adam. Paul says,

"Nevertheless, death reigned form the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern (tupos) of the one to come." (Romans 5:14)

Adam is seen by Paul as a "type" of Jesus. Adam's actions predicted another One to come, One who would undo and counter the sin he brought into the world. Genesis 3 specifically mentions one who will "crush" the head of the snake; there is more explicit predictive power in this text. Paul apparently saw it. And he saw that Edenic event as a "type" that looked to a future "fulfillment." Adam is one part of that and is the typological predictor of a coming One. Jesus is the typological fulfillment of that anticipation, of that type.

Paul describes the progress of Israel in the wilderness in 1Corinthians 10:1-5. Of these events, he says in v. 6,

"Now these things occurred as examples (tupos) to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as theydid."

Notice how Paul sees certain OT events as "types," events that were meant to have more significance than just back then. They are relevant and real in his present time (and ours). You might think, "Well, v. 6 just seems to be saying that OT events were instructive examples for us, affirming the applicability of Scripture to all times." Where's the sense of "prophecy" here? He specifies it in v. 11:

"These things happened to them as examples (tupos) and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come."

Jesus is the fulfillment of the ages. In him, the OT was fulfilled. Types are not just teaching examples, they are prophetic events that anticipate a "fulfillment." Moses is a "type" of Messiah whose ministry was relevant to its own time AND was prophetic of a coming, superior Messiah: Jesus. Israel is a "type" of God's people who served a purpose in its time AND was prophetic of a coming, superior people of God: the Church.

The tabernacle was a "type" of sanctuary of God that served a purpose in the wilderness AND was prophetic of a coming, superior sanctuary: the Temple. AND the temple itself was prophetic of a coming, superior temple: Christians and the Church. AND the indwelling presence therein is still prophetic of a coming, superior presence, the final one: New Heavens and New Earth.

The worldview

What makes it difficult to process the idea of typology is how different our worldview now is from Israel's of time past. They viewed history as the work of God. God controlled time and space; He wrote history. And He didn't just do so like a sporadic catharsis. Like the most sophisticated storyteller, God wove into the (hi)story of humanity all sorts of plots, subplots, and sub-subplots. There would be twists and turns. Things barely mentioned in the early parts of the story would sudden reappear later in fuller significance and only a look back would bring enlightenment. God wrote many things in this story as obvious markers. Events in one time would repeat later in a different form but with obvious, intended parallels. Some keep on repeating. Patterns are partly how the Israelites knew it was God acting. That was partly why God set up rituals and rites: they were patterns repeatedly enacted to remind themselves of who they were and who God was.

They looked for patterns, expected them. Biblical types are such patterns, patterns in history. They're not attempts to see parallels or invent them where none exist. They're attempting to observe what God has done and to see if there's something about an event that indicates a significance beyond its own time.

Today, we see history in a strictly linear fashion: cause-effect progress. It's a secular concept. So, for us a prophecy is a jump to or a window from one point on that line (say, 500 BC) to another (say, 33 AD). Hence, for many believers, there is ONE fulfillment for every prophecy. After all, there is one event, one point in time, and one prophecy is fulfilled by that one event.

For the Israelites, history was a rich tapesty with interweaving, complex threads all over. Yes, it moved and progressed but it did so with great sophistication, even beauty. God, after all, was the Creator of that history. So for them a specific prophecy was like a thread on that tapestry. It may ultimately lead to a specific endpoint (final fulfillment) but along the way it may intersect with a beautiful image on that tapestry, say, it's thread weaves into that image, integreating with it, then leaving it to go on its merry way maybe even interacting with a few others along the way. Or again, like a well-crafted story, there are elements inserted in the beginning of the plot that reach a certain fulfillment as the story progresses yet still awaiting a final fulfillment in the end. Israel believed in a God who was all intelligent, all sophisticated, and all wise. He had the power to take a single event and repeat that event in various forms and to varying degrees not only all throughout Israel's history (macrocosmic events) but in smaller ways in daily life (microcosmic events).

Think about your own life.

Macroscopically, God has ordained a "type" of Messiah. It began with Noah, the savior of humanity in the ark. It progressed through Abraham, the Father of Nations and to Jacob (Israel). Moses becomes the most visible "savior" figure in all the Old Testament but there are others. The kings like David often "save" their people. Daniel was a savior for Israel in Exile. Jesus, of course, the ultimate savior who saved us from sin in his First advent and will save us finally from sin in his Second advent (Final judgment).

Microscopically, most everyone of us have gone through life and encountered times of trouble. And someone was there to "rescue" or "save" us from that. We've all had "saviors" in our lives. More than just a parallel, common concept, this is a microcosmic reflection of God at work. He intentionally brings "types" of saviors into our lives to remind us of the ultimate Savior, Christ. He brings "types" of saviors on every level, including the political realm. Is God sophisticated and caring enough to work in such a complex way? To not only engineer these macro-events but to repeat them on a micro-level to each one of us? To repeat the biblical concepts in our very lives? That would require faith in a sovereign, sophisticated God. That is precisely the God of the Bible.

Types and typology then are the affirmation of such a God. They are not clever readings of things into texts just to make them fit or to look cool. They are the acknowledgment that God is a God of purpose. He does all things for a reason. Significance of events are not necessarily limited to one place or time. They can transcend their confines and continue to reverberate all through time. It shows us that there is a single Author, one creative Mind at work in history. Our God.