The Study of a Type

1. REASONS FOR STUDYING TYPES
1. God the Father’s Care for Typology
1. When God gave the details of the law, He was not only giving details of the law, but also of Christ (Hebrews 10:1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
   See All...).
2. When God gave the details of the tabernacle, He was also giving details of a heavenly temple (Hebrews 8:5Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.
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2. God the Son’s Care for Typology
1. On the road to Emmaus, the Lord began at Moses and expounded unto the disciples those things concerning Himself (Luke 24:27And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
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2. The Lord Jesus often uses typology when describing Himself.
1. Christ as a physician (Matthew 9:12But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.
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2. Christ as a bridegroom (Matthew 25:6And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
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3. Christ compared to the serpent on a pole (John 3:14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
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4. Christ as bread (John 6:50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
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5. Christ as a door (John 10:9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
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6. Christ as a shepherd (John 10:11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
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7. Christ as a vine (John 15:1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
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8. Christ as a mediator (1 Timothy 2:5For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
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9. Christ as a testator (Hebrews 9:16For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
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3. The Typology Speaks of Christ.
1. Love breeds a desire to know all that you can know about a person.  In their absence, it would well please the one who loves to study a picture in great detail just to learn more about the beloved.
2. The types or pictures in scripture often point to Christ.  The type may demonstrate His work, His person, or both; yet it will ultimately yield some great truth concerning our Saviour.
2. A TYPE DEFINED
1. Properly Defined
1. Definition: a type is a divinely designed object lesson or picture that anticipates a later truth known as the antitype.
2. A type will in some, but not all, characteristics picture another person or thing.
3. A type will almost always, if not always, fall short of the person/thing it pictures.
4. God Himself points out some of the typology in scripture (John 3:14-15 [14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: [15] That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
   See All...; Romans 5:14-19 [14] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. [15] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. [16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. [17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) [18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. [19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
   See All...; Hebrews 9:8-12 [8] The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: [9] Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; [10] Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. [11] But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; [12] Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
   See All...; Hebrews 10:1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
   See All...).
2. Improperly Defined
1. A type is never to be considered to be the ultimate literal interpretation unless directly led by the scripture.
2. A type is not to be used to teach some doctrine that is not otherwise taught in scripture.
3. Types point to something in the future. However, they are not strictly prophecy. Prophecy clearly predicts future events. Types picture them in such a way that the design can be seen only after the fulfillment (the antitype) occurs.
4. Bible students disagree on how far to develop types. Some only use types that are identified as such in scripture. Others find typology in every detail of an Old Testament passage. Some of this typology can become quite speculative. One way to help in safely identifying types is to classify types according to clarity. Though Bible students will still disagree on how to classify the various types, the very act of classifying will help us put varying weights to different interpretations.
3. Classes of Types
1. People (Adam, Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, etc.)
2. Events (deliverance of Noah in the ark, redemption from Egypt, passing through the Red Sea)
3. Things (tabernacle, laver, lamb, oil, Jordan River, city of refuge)
4. Institutions (priesthood, kingdom, the sabbath)
3. WHERE TO BEGIN
1. Finding a Type
1. Declared by direct statement – Look for places in scripture where the Bible boldly states that one thing is a picture of another (Hebrews 10:1For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
   See All...).
2. Declared by comparative terminology – Look for comparison and contrast in the scripture that might denote one person/thing as a type of another person/thing.  Look for the words like or as.
3. Not declared – There are some great types in scripture that are never declared to be types, yet the overwhelming evidence is that one person/thing is a picture of another person/thing.
2. Listing the Details
1. List all of the details of the original person or thing that you are studying.
1. Thing
1. Does it have dimensions given?
2. Does it have color?
3. What parts make up the whole?
4. What purpose did this thing have?
5. Did the instructions for its construction come directly from God?
6. Describe in detail the object.
7. What actions are done with or against this object?
2. Person
1. What is the name of the person?
2. What are the traits of the person?
3. What are the physical characteristics of the person?
4. Who were the parents?
5. In what great events was the person involved?
6. What is the connotation of the person in scripture?
2. List details of the person/thing being pictured that coincide with the original person/thing.
4. DELVING INTO THE TYPE
1. Comparable Types
1. When studying a type the student must find all of the details that are alike between the type and the person/thing that is being pictured.
2. List these things side by side with verse references to prove the connection.
2. Contrasted Types
1. When studying a type or picture within the scripture, it will almost always, if not always, be the case that some part of the type does not match what it is representing.
2. List the parts that do not match and make notations as to why they do not match.  Many times this failure on the part of the type further magnifies that to which it is trying to point.