Page 5 - Christology - Student Textbook
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experienced miraculous births. The sacrifice of Isaac is typical of the death of Christ for mankind.
The first born of Abraham was to be offered as a pleasing sacrifice to God. So was Jesus.
Other People Types
Other typical persons include Benjamin (Luke 2:35), David (2 Sam 7:11-16), Joseph (Gen 30:22-24;
Luke 1:35; Acts 15:14; Rom 11:11-12; Eph. 5:25-32), Joshua (John 1:17; Rom 8:2-4; Heb. 7:18-19; Gal
3:23-25), Melchizedek (Gen 4; Ps 110:4; Heb. 5-7), Moses (Deut. 18:15-19; Exod. 3:7-10; Acts 7:25),
and kinsman-redeemer (Lev 25:48-49; Ruth 3:12-13; Heb. 2:14-15). On Kinsman-redeemer,
Walvoord notes that “Christ fulfilled this by becoming Man and by having the sins of the world
imputed to Him. The Old Testament redeemer had to be able to redeem even as Christ did in the
New Testament” (Ruth 4:4-6; John 10:11, 18; 1 Peter 1:18).
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Typical Events
There is a plethora of typical events. The first one is the clothing of Adam and
Eve. By clothing them, God demonstrated to them that He was going to supply
what will cover the shame of their sin [Gen 3:21; Job 29:14; Ps 132:9; Rom
3:22]). Their covering was the representation of the spiritual covering through
their belief in the coming redeemer; Jesus Christ.
The preservation in the Ark represented God’s deliverance of the righteous
from the judgment that relied on Jesus’ sacrificial work [2 Pet 2:5]).
Deliverance from Egypt through Passover represented God’s deliverance of those people who will
place their faith in Jesus Christ from God’s coming wrath [Exod. 12]).
And the entrance into the land which was the land full of milk and honey is representative of the
place that Jesus Christ promised His disciples that He was going to prepare so that they can be with
Him when He comes back to get them.
Typical Things
The Old Testament Sacrifices
Typical things include among others, the Old Testament sacrifices. Most
scholars suggest the book of Leviticus is the explanation of what Jesus
Christ was going to do as the Great High Priest. In Leviticus, we read that
many kinds of sacrifices that were offered for the atonement of people’s
sins (Lev 17:11). Walvoord notes that “The sacrifices of the Old Testament
are clearly intended to be a typical foreshadowing of the sacrifice of
Christ. Almost every aspect of the meaning of the death of Christ is
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anticipated.”
Other Typical Things
John F. Walvoord notes:
Several other typical things in the Old Testament could be mentioned. Aaron’s rod that budded is
typical of Christ’s resurrection (cf. Num. 17; Heb. 9:4). The brazen serpent of Numbers 21:5-9
bears the testimony of Christ Himself that it is an important type (John 3:14-16). The smitten rock
7 Walvoord, Jesus Christ our Lord, 67.
8 Ibid., 71.
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