Types (shadows) of Christ in the Old Testament Part I (1-16)

This study uses the following notation system. Each "Type” discussed will be numbered as follows: (1), (2), (3) etc. A single type may have different specific points that will be denoted as follows: (1-a), (1-b), (1-c) etc. When you see a notation followed by an asterisk, this is to connect what follows it, to the same note previously shown. For instance, (1-a)* means that the information that follows is directly related to (1-a).

Types of Christ in the Old Testament

One of the major questions for people of any religion is; “How do you know that your faith is in the right religion?” And this is a perfectly valid question. No other book in human history has been more scrutinized, more attacked, and more studied than the Judaeo / Christian Bible. The fact that it still has mysteries to unravel, and that it cannot be sufficiently debunked should say something quite special about the Book itself, as well as its Author. It is true that people claim that the Bible has many contradictions and inaccuracies, but this can always be proven to be a simple misunderstanding of the text, or an outright misrepresentation of it.

There are two major ways of using the Scriptures themselves to show the divine nature of the Book (as opposed to examining science and other external sources). One way is to examine the over 300 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. A man once focused on a mere 8 prophecies, and came up with the mathematical statistics of how likely it would be for someone to fulfill JUST THOSE 8. He then came up with a picture to illustrate the odds that the fulfillment of these 8 could occur by chance. This picture says that if you were to fill the entire state of Texas two feet high with silver coins, with a single gold coin mixed in somewhere, and then send a blind man into the state, and allow him to pick up only one coin, the odds of him picking up the gold coin are the same as Jesus fulfilling JUST 8 of the over 300 prophecies that were spoken of the Messiah. If you have not read it, please check out my “Jesus Messiah” flipnote, and Hatena diary entry, which gives the passages for 48 prophecies as well as the fulfillment of them.

Jesus Messiah Flipnote version- http://flipnote.hatena.com/59DA089031CC2822@DSi/movie/CC2822_0B0AEA61BD6A1_013?in=user

Jesus Messiah Hatena Diary version - http://d.hatena.ne.jp/nicholighkun/20111015/1318702463

The other 100% Scriptural argument is in a thing called types or shadows, also called typology. A type is when an Old Testament person, object, law, ceremony, story, etc. very clearly parallels the person of the Messiah. This occurs in all of the OT. Here’s one way to look at it: The New Testament is Christ the man, the Old Testament is His shadow. Colossians 2:17 “Which [laws] are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” I Corinthians 10:11 Paul speaking of the Old Testament patriarchs, “Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” It would require several years of devotion to comprise all of the types in the OT (indeed many exist in the New Testament as well), so, we will only be taking a look at a few examples. It is certainly worth noting that other people and things can be typified as well, such as Israel, the anti-Christ, the Gentile nations, etc. but most types point to Christ. It is also important to note that all types are incomplete. At some point, each and every type will fail to portray the Messiah, since they are not carbon copies; they never complete the picture of the one they typify.

One good reason for focusing on the Torah, and specifically the book of Genesis, is that there is a concentrated attack on the reliability, and scientific credibility of these accounts as they relate to the creation of all things. If Satan can convince people that the creation account is flawed, then all the rest of the Scriptures fall apart, and there is no longer need of things like God given salvation from a fully justified eternal punishment. To the Christian: Jesus Himself in countless passages revealed through quoting Genesis, that He believed that this book is a literal account, and that it is reliable. If the Word of God, Jesus Christ, who made all things (John 1:1-14, Colossians 2:16) also endorses the literal accounts of Genesis (Matthew 24:37, Luke 17:26-32), why shouldn’t we? I have devoted a fair amount of time to scientific research of many of evolutions claims, and I fully intend on comprising the fruits of that labor, but for now, I am speaking to Christians that we should stop allowing the interpretations of scientific evidence, as presented by anti-creationists, to sway our belief in the Son of God. This is the major reason why studying types from Genesis is so important, and I would even say that it is THE book that most studies of typology should be focused on.

My information will be coming largely from a book called Portraits of Christ in Genesis by M.R. De Haan. I will first point out that I have found MANY mistakes in the book, so I actually don’t recommend it for the casual reader, as you may take in bad information as truth. In regards to this study it is imperative that you constantly remind yourself that we are mostly looking at a single book of the OT in Genesis, and of that book, only a select few examples. Also bear in mind that we are looking at what is almost the oldest book of the Bible (next to Job I believe) meaning that these faint shadows of Christ go all the way back to the creation, demonstrating that God has always known the full story. Further remind yourself as we move along, and I cannot stress this enough, the big reveal hinges on this observation; the Bible as a whole is comprised of 66 books, written by almost 40 different authors, over the course of around 1,500 years. So all of these authors, > if they were to have lied in their accounts,< also just happened to perfectly typify the same person that none of them knew personally. Also, in order for Jesus to have faked His identity as the Messiah, He would not only have to be blessed with blind luck in fulfilling almost all of the prophecies concerning The Messiah (minus only the ones yet to be fulfilled (a)*), He would also have to fulfill these types, which literally fill the Old Testament, and were not even thought of as shadows of the Messiah, until AFTER He fulfilled them, AND He and the Holy Spirit began to reveal these types to the Bride of Christ, His Church. In that regard, Types are a more concrete evidence than prophecy is for showing the divinity of the authorship of the Bible, as well as being great evidence to show that Jesus is the prophesied Messiah, because no one expected the Messiah to also be typified in the whole O.T. (a)* Indeed most Jews believed that Christ would come and reign on the earth with only one coming, as many of them were ignorant of, or simple ignored, the prophecies concerning His death and second coming.

Quick note: Many people attack the validity of the Scriptures by saying that the manuscripts were altered in favor of Jesus, after His death. This claim is somewhat easily laid to rest in studying the dating of the Dead Sea scrolls [which is around 100 years before Christ]. Some also like to claim that Jesus never existed, but looking at the number of anti-Christian authors of and around the time of Jesus, that confirmed such things as; He lived; He performed many miracles; His Body went “missing” shortly after His burial, we can find more confirmation for the life of Jesus than for many other historical figures that are not questioned to have lived. There is a very competent short 4 video series on youtube concerning this topic, called “The Evidence for the Existence of Jesus (part 1 of 4)”.

Meat and Potatoes

When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees He said in John 5:45-46 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.” Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, known collectively as the Torah (the book of the Law), or the Pentateuch. Jesus also revealed things concerning himself, found in the OT scriptures, see Luke 24:25-27. Keep in mind, Moses only wrote from the creation story up to the tale of Joseph, and the laws of God, so when did Moses write of Jesus? This is a peculiar statement indeed. The answer lies in the study of the types, or shadows of Christ in the Torah, which is a look at how the stories, people, places and things of the Old Testament very closely parallel the person of Jesus Christ. These are called types. Now let’s begin with type #1.

(1) Christ the Light: Indeed Christ’s shadow can be seen in each day of creation, but the example given in De Haan’s book is that of the first day of creation as recorded in Genesis 1:1-5, the creation of light. In John 9:5 Jesus calls Himself the light of the world, see also John 3:19-21, 8:12 & 12:46. Genesis 1:4 says that God created the light, but the sun wasn’t created until the fourth day, Genesis 1:14-19. Many will mock this and ask where light came from before the sun, well as we have already seen, it came from God, and in New Jerusalem, God will once again be the only source of Light needed, Revelation 22:5.

(2) Adams rib: It cannot be denied that Adam was a type of Christ, since he is one of the specifically named types of Christ in the New Testament, see Romans 5:14. And in I Corinthians 15:45 & 47 Christ is called the “last Adam” and “the second man”, respectively. Did you ever wonder why God had to put Adam to sleep and take from him in order to create Eve? Well it was to typify Christ; Adam, whose bride, Eve, was formed when God put Adam to sleep, and then opened his side; just as the bride of the second Adam was created after He was put to sleep and His side opened John 19:33-34. If the author of Genesis was being creative in concocting this story from thin air, it seems strange that it so perfectly parallels the story of Christ. With each and every example of types in this study, you must remember that point, because the ENTIRE Old Testament is filled with these types, and most all of them are far too similar to Christ to be shrugged off as mere coincidence.

In Genesis 2:23-24 “And Adam said, This is now (2-a) bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. (2-b) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

Ephesians 5:30-32 “(2-a)* For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. (2-b)* For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. “"

Christ’s side was pierced after He died, or “fell asleep” John 19:33-34. In this case Adams sleep was a type of Christ’s death, and this sleep being a prerequisite for the very creation of Adam’s bride shows through typology Christ’s bride being created only after His death. It is also worth noting that Adam was a supernatural birth, by the special creation of God, and so Christ was a supernatural birth by a virgin.

(3) Did Adam sin deliberately? This is a fascinating possibility, but it requires quite a bit of exegesis. First we must note that God told Adam not to eat of the tree, BEFORE Eve was created. Adam heard God say this, but Eve did not hear this directly from God, she apparently only knew what Adam had told her. The serpent then comes along and asks Eve, “Has God really said?” This explains why Eve could be so easily deceived.

Now consider I Timothy 2:13-14 “(13) For Adam was first formed, then Eve. (14) And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression."

Also consider the passage of Genesis 2:24 “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” Who was Adams Father, that he would have left, in order to be with his wife? It was God, Luke 3:38. So did Adam purposely leave his Father [God] by sinning, in order to be with his wife? Of course that logic only goes so far, because Adam had no mother, but remember, types are always incomplete pictures. Nevertheless, it seems that in a very round about way, the Scripture may be showing us that Adam intentionally left his Father by sinning with Eve, in order to be with her, and perhaps in some sense this was an attempt to save her, if not to die with the one that he loved. If this is true (and certainly a stronger case should be made before Adams reason for partaking in Eve’s sin can be considered a certainty), then this is a clear picture of Christ, since He too left His Father’s House, in order to save His bride from her sin by becoming sin for her sake, II Corinthians 5:21.

(4) A servant sacrifices freedom for his bride, his children, for his master: Exodus 21:2-6 “If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. >>> If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly say, >>> I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever."

Here we have a man who demonstrates his undying love for his bride, when he willingly sacrifices his own freedom by submitting to his master for life, and receiving a mark in a prominent part of his body, for all to see as a token of his love for his wife, and for his master. Jesus went to the cross to demonstrate His Love for His bride, the church, though He also did so simply because it was the Fathers Will Galatians 1:4. Here Christ demonstrates His Love for His bride, His children and His Master, by receiving several prominent marks in His skin. The nail prints in his Hands and Feet, the wound in His Side, the scars of the crown of thorns, the lashes on His back, these are tokens, or proof of His Love for His bride and His Master.

In John 1:1-14 we learn that Jesus Christ was in the beginning with God, and that He was God, and that He became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was once a spirit, but had to put on mortality in order to pay the fines of mortal man. He was resurrected in the flesh Luke 24:39, and in flesh and bones He ascended into Heaven. In this flesh body He will remain forever, just as the Hebrew servant must forgo his freedom in order to be with his bride, I Corinthians 15:28 “And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.” The Hebrew servant’s sacrifice of freedom to be with his wife, and to show his love for his master was a type of Christ’s sacrifice for His church. Did the author of Exodus just happen to get this right in pre-figuring Christ, or was it ordained and planned by a loving God in order to show us how to recognize God's Love?

This sacrificing of ones own liberty to be with his bride, harkens again back to Adams reason for eating the fruit, but it doesn’t necessarily prove that Adam ate the fruit for this reason. Do you see how interwoven this typology is? When Jesus said in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” He demonstrated His awareness of these types. Here He implies that all of the Old Testament speaks of Him, not just the prophecies.

Also remember Luke 24:27 “And BEGINING AT MOSES (The Torah) and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in ALL the scriptures the things concerning himself."

And Luke 24:44 “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."

John 5:45-47 “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?"

(5) The seed of the woman: Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee (Satan) and the woman, and between thy seed and HER seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

All throughout Scripture, mankind is referred to as the seed of Adam, or an individual as the seed of a specific tribe, Genesis 3:15 is the ONLY place where anyone is called the seed of the woman. Sin came first through the deception of the woman Eve, and redemption also would eventually come through the seed of the woman. This is a prophetic fulfillment of an age old rule of God, “he who digs a pit, will fall therein” Satan deceived the woman, knowing that she had not heard directly from God; in turn God used the woman to bring into life, the One who would ultimately destroy that very serpent.

The seed of the woman is also prophesied in Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore (5-a) the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (meaning God with us).” Many cast doubt on the meaning of the word “virgin” saying that the Hebrew word used could also be used to mean, a young woman. But would it be considered a (5-a)* sign from God that a young woman would bear a son? See also Luke 1:34 “Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?"

(6) The covering: Genesis 3:21 “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” Three things to note about this passage, (1) God did the work, and God provided the covering. Adam and Eve did nothing to bring the animal into being, they didn’t even slay it, or make coats from it, God did all of it. Lesson: God provides the way out, it is a free gift, it is not the result of man’s work. Incidentally, when God provides a way out in the Old Testament, you should automatically look for a typological Christ figure, that is one of the major signs that you are looking at an example of type. (2) An innocent creature was sacrificed to cover the sins of man. Without this covering, they would have died before the sun set, according to God’s Word’s in Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” It is important to remember this fact, because anti-christians will quickly run to this, and call God’s decree a lie; because they did not die the day they ate the fruit as He said they would. (3) Atonement was by the shedding of blood. The absence of a blood atonement is why God rejected Cain’s offering, Genesis 4:3-5. The blood makes atonement for the soul, Leviticus 17:11.

Cain’s offering, and Adam’s fig leaf covering are examples of the distinction between God’s religion, or message of salvation by blood ALONE, and Satan’s deception for mankind, the false system known as a “works based religion” where you put in the work to be acceptable to God. The latter version flies in the Face of God’s Work, and subtly attempts to deify man.

This is merely the first animal of countless others who lost their lives to cover the sins of mankind. Indeed all sacrifice was pointing to Jesus; their death was only a temporary covering, until the soul sinned again; these were merely a pre-figuring of Christ’s Work, and His destiny.

(7) Abel: I John 3:11-12 “… we should love one another. Not as Cain, who … slew his brother … because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.” In Matthew 27:17-18 we learn that the Jewish leaders delivered Christ up for envy. Since the New Testament reveals the parallel between these two murders, we can be sure that there is a type contained in the Old Testament story, so we should begin looking for the connection. Jesus says in John 15:22 “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.” The religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought that they had salvation by keeping the letter of the law, but when Christ revealed through teaching, that keeping the law was as much a