“Typology” is a study we need to become familiar with if we are going to see Jesus in the Old Testament. “A type is something emblematic or symbolic, used to express, embody, represent or forecast, some person, truth or event. It is an image or similitude of something else, sustaining to doctrinal teaching some such relation as a picture does to a precept or promise, representing to the eye or imagination a concept addressed to the ear or understanding" (Pink, 267).
Typology is difficult to explain to someone who is just learning about it, so allow my to illustrate it in this way: my brother is a missionary in the jungles of Indonesia. He and his wife translate the Bible into the language of the tribe they serve, and then teach it. Much of the Bible is built around imagery that doesn’t translate into their culture, such as a lamb being a sacrifice and representing Jesus as our sacrificial lamb (typology). How do you learn about a sheep you can’t see? When my kids were young, we taught them animal noises. We showed them pictures of animals and even purchased a little book that allowed them to touch and feel different textures that were meant to feel like animal skins and fur. The first time one of my children saw a sheep for the first time at a farm, they knew it was a sheep having never seen a live sheep before. They had learned through “typology” what a sheep was, and didn’t miss the reality the signs had pointed to. The Old Testament does this very thing in pointing forward to the Lamb of God, sent to pay for the sins of the world.
Goldsworthy mentions the importance of seeing Old Testament concepts in the New Testament. “Our interest in the Old Testament as relevant Christian Scripture is created by our growing knowledge of who and what Jesus is. Put simply: the New Testament declares Jesus to be the fulfillment of the Old Testament. Jesus and the apostles proclaimed Jesus to be the Christ of the Old Testament, and they do this using Old Testament terms" (Goldsworthy, 37). My son commented one day to me that the picture of Isaac was an easter egg. I asked him what he meant, and he said “You know how you hunt for easter eggs? When you look for Jesus, you can find him just like easter eggs, and since Easter is really about Jesus anyway, you can find easter eggs in the Old Testament!” My 10 year-old son understood what we all need to understand: if you look for Jesus in the Old Testament, you will discover He is there to be found in many places. Typology helps us to have eyes to see Jesus in the prophetic voices and moments of the Old Testament.
Jesus Christ is our mediator to help reconcile us to God. Jesus does this difficult work in three ways: He represents God to us (as a Prophet) , He represents us to God (as a Priest), and He reigns over the church on behalf of the Father (as our King).
1 Timothy 2:3–6 say,
"This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time."
These three roles of Christ as mediator all find their introduction and foundation in the Old Testament, so as we read the Old Testament we must look for these three roles not only in the political structures introduced to us, but also as important typology that points forward to the need for Jesus Christ in fulfilling these roles completely.
Typology helps us to have eyes to see Jesus in the prophetic voices and moments of the Old Testament.
Christ Our Priest
What do we need to understand about the role of a priest? A priest was a man who stood before God representing the people. They were of the tribe of Levi and set apart from the rest of the tribes in that they didn’t have a land inheritance because God’s presence was there inheritance. A.A. Hodge said, “The priest’s grand distinction was, that he had a right to draw near to God. Hence the common designation of priests was ‘those who draw near to Jehovah’ (Ex. 19:22; Num. 16:5; Ezek. 42:13; 44:13). The distinctive priestly act which marked his great function was to bring near (hiqrib), translated habitually to offer (Lev. 16:6, 11, 20, etc.)" (Hodge, 990).
Aaron, Moses’ assistant, was anointed as the first and original priest. Aaron’s job as the original priest was actually to “minister to God”, or serve God (Ex. 28:1; Heb. 5:1). This was a priest’s primary task. Priests also fulfilled a teaching aspect and worship aspect, but for the nation of Israel they were important because they were tasked with making intercession for the nation before God. Christ’s ministry was modeled after the priesthood of Aaron in that he was a sacrifice for the people who also made intercession for the people. The Westminster Shorter Catechism (Q. 25) says, “Christ executeth the office of a priest, in his once offering up of himself a sacrifice to satisfy divine justice (Heb. 9:14, 28), and reconcile us to God (Heb. 2:17); and in making continual intercession for us (Heb. 7:24-25)” (Reformed Confessions, 4:356).
We learn in Hebrews 6 that Christ was actually a priest after the order of Melchizideck. Verses 19-20 say,
"We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."
Melchizedek is sort of a pass-through character in the Old Testament that bears almost no significance without Christ. He was the king of Salem who honored Abraham with gifts after Abraham was victorious in several battles (Gen. 14:18-20). Genesis tells us that Melchizedek was more than a king, but also a priest of the most high God, or a king who ministered to God. He was not an ordinary king, and he was a special kind of priest. The first time we see Melchizedek mentioned in connection to the Christ was by Jesus’ great ancestor, King David, in Psalm 110 verse 4:
"The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, 'You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek'.”
This was a prophetic psalm in which David sees his future heir, a king, being much more than a king, but also a priest. The author of Hebrews dedicated an entire chapter to the importance of this king/priest concept. The importance rests in what Jesus was able to accomplish for us as the Kingly High Priest.
Hebrews 6:22-25 continues:
"This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."
The Tasks of Our Priest
The priests could only help those who could bring a sacrifice to the temple, but our High Priest, Jesus, can reach and save anyone, anywhere at any time! Just as verses 26-28 say:
"For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever."
Because of what Jesus did for us in His atoning sacrifice, all of the tasks of a priest are fulfilled in Him for us, for all eternity:
Propitiation
“The root word of “propitiate” had the common meaning in Greek of appeasing anger and was often used of appeasing angry gods" (Morris, 145). Paul reminds us in Romans 3 that Christ’s sacrifice was our propitiation for the great sin debt we owe to God. His blood was shed for us, and without the shedding of blood there is no payment or propitiation for sins (Heb. 9:22).
Redemption
Christ’s active and passive obedience unto death was the “redemption price” to bring us back to God. This was a necessary price because our sin has separated us from God. This began with Adam in the garden, and we will discuss the significance of that moment in weeks to come. “Redemption aims at liberating those who have brought themselves into loss, enslavement, or death due to their financial debts or criminal activities. Glorious types of Christ’s redemption appear in the Lord’s deliverance of the people of Israel from their slavery in Egypt and from their later exile in Babylon. Redemption involves an exercise of power to save from oppressors. Our “redemption” in Christ means that God “delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son (Col. 1:13-14)" (Beeke and Smalley, 998).
Reconciliation
To reconcile means to be brought back into a right or close relationship with someone. By dying our death, Jesus removed the dividing wall between us and God. This division began with Adam in the Garden and was symbolized on the curtain of the Holy of Holies with two Cherubim. Consequently, when Jesus died, that curtain was torn from the top to the bottom (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38; Luke 23:45).
Our High Priest, Jesus, can reach and save anyone, anywhere, at any time!
Stitching Curtains
What curtains have you stitched together in your life that make you feel separated from your savior? We tend to see our secret sin as our biggest separating struggle, but John Brown of Haddington said it was more likely our secret self-righteousness, because it resists Christ’s role as a priest in our hearts (Brown, 79). Curtains between us and God can sound like, “I’ve been better than so and so, I deserve better than so and so.” Curtains that need to be torn are self-righteous attitudes. Moral self-righteousness says, “I look or act better than others”. Spiritual self-righteousness says, “I think better and more effective spiritually than others”. Theological self-righteousness says, “I know better than others”. Characteristics of self-righteousness look like intolerance, resistance to change, judgmentalism, critical speech, impatience, anger against opposition and searching for sins in others. These are the characteristics of the priests of Israel that Jesus called “white-washed tombs”! My job in modeling Christ’s priestly role is to live in such a way that I usher people into a desire to know, love and worship God! This means emulating Christ’s humility, kindness and care for others as the greatest priest who ever walked this earth.
References
Arther W. Pink. The Atonement. (Reiner Pub. Swengel, PA. 1971)
Beeke and Smalley, 998.
Brown, Questions and Answers on the Shorter Catechism, 79.
Graeme Goldsworthy, The Son of God. (Crossway. Wheaton, Ill. 2015).
Hodge, The Atonement, 152-53. Sourced from Beeke and Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology Vol. 2. (Crossway. Wheaton, 2020) 990. (italics original)
Leon Morris, The Apostolic Preaching of the Cross, 145. Sourced from Beeke and Smalley, 995.
Reformed Confessions, 4:356.
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