When people go to Bible college or seminary, they learn the meaning of words that the general public often doesn’t know. When taking Biblical Greek, my classmates and I commented that we learned English grammar while we were learning Greek grammar.
The word type is well-known to theologians. Merriam-Webster says that one meaning of type is “a person or thing (as in the Old Testament) believed to foreshadow another (as in the New Testament).” These are actual historical events that have dual significance. They are recorded in the Old Testament for valid reasons apart from the type. However, the literal events had added significance because God intended them to foreshadow something else (often having to do with Jesus Christ).
A word of caution is in order. People are creative. We can come up with types that God never intended. Here are a few examples from Esther: Haman is a type of Satan, Mordecai is a type of Christ, and Esther is a type of the Church (see this article).
We know that someone or something is a type if 1) other Scripture says it is a type or 2) other Scripture strongly implies that it is a type.i
In this blog, I present four major Biblical types, along with the Scriptures that prove they are indeed types.
Jonah as a type of Christ’s resurrection. Jesus said, “For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matt 12:40). This is one reason that we can’t say Jonah was a parable. The Lord Jesus ties His resurrection to the historicity of Jonah and the great fish.
Manna as a type of Christ, the Bread of Life. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven…I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:32-35).
The uplifted bronze serpent as a type of Christ on the cross. Jesus said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).
The Passover lamb as a type of Christ, the Lamb of God. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us” (1 Cor 5:7). See also John 1:29 and 1:36.
See this article for more about Biblical types.
It should be noted that there is a difference between a type and someone or something with many similarities to Christ. See this article at gotquestions.org entitled “In what ways was Moses like Jesus?” There can be similarities without a type being intended.
__________
i This point is subjective. Possibly, we should reject it and call something a type only if Scripture does. For example, one of my seminary professors was convinced that the book of Joshua is a type of the Christian life, as shown by Eph 6:10-17. He could be right. I’m unconvinced that Paul thought of the conquest when he wrote that. But I’m open.
