(ver 1.1)  I received a very disturbing comment from a potentially confused reader concerning the latest Bible study lesson given to me by the Holy Spirit.  This lesson was regarding the subject of the Rapture that has been hidden by God within O.T. Typology.   While I generally ignore critics, I felt led by the Spirit of God to answer this comment publically in order to potentially help someone else that this person might teach these untruths to.   A few of my critics are some of the unsaved people of the world but the majority of them are very carnal Christians that do not understand the spiritual meat found in the Bible.   Anyone with a growing level of spiritual maturity should be able to see the truths of the deep spiritual knowledge that God is sharing.  I certainly realize that there are still many milk drinking Christians that are not capable of receiving meat.  That is why I try to regress into milk subjects occasionally to help everyone grow.

According to this commenter’s beliefs the use of “Typology” is not an established, valid or sound method of Exegesis or Hermeneutics.   I would have laughed at their comment if it was not so saddening.  There is a major problem occurring within the body of Christ today where people who think more highly of their personal knowledge and abilities come to correct others before attempting to learn what was stated.  This is happening constantly on Facebook and on many other internet websites.  People that come to teach others without asking ANY questions to the teacher is a display of their human pride in their own knowledge and understanding of every verse in the Bible.   People just might discover their ignorance if they would only open up their minds to think and learn to find answers to a few simple questions in order to understand why what was stated was taught.  By the nature of this man’s comment I understood that he was un-teachable and I did not reply to him.  If they read this article that was their response I would be shocked.

I have said this before but it is worthy of repetition.   My favorite non-Bible quote is by Will Rogers when he said “We are all ignorant, just about different things”.   That was so profound and accurate that I cannot say it enough.  I am a Bible teacher not because I know everything or because I agree and teach what you want me to say.  I’m called by God and only accountable to Him and I will be judged for the content of my message according to if I have heard from Him correctly.  Therefore I take this responsibility with great concern and respect.  I do not publish free Advanced Bible lessons because that is what I wanted to do.  If the Spirit of God does not lead me to teach a subject then I am silent on that subject.   Why then does anyone judge me or anyone else to correct us using their own limited knowledge (Romans 14:10-13)?  Have they appointed themselves to be my judge (1 Cor 6:6)?  Of the gifts of the Spirit listed in the New Testament, I do not recall any that are referred as the judge’s anointing.  Don’t you realize that the world is watching your arguments and laughing at them?   Christian arguments are placing stumbling blocks before those that do not believe but still need to be saved.     I personally believe these argument stumbling block people will be judged very severely for not helping others to come into the kingdom.   If you do not like my Bible lessons, just go somewhere else and find someone you like.   I’m not going to argue with you or debate you on any subject!  Let’s let God be true and every man a liar.

Today I am going to teach those that want to know the truth that God believes in O.T. Typology, Types and Shadows and He calls them clear and valid methods for exegesis (aka Bible interpretation).  God also believes in symbolism, symbolic representations, parables and metaphorical interpretation.  God further believes in allegory, spiritual names and the other methods of sound exegesis that have been placed in the Bible by God’s design.  These are just some of the revealed truths found in the New Testament that God used to teach the hidden spiritual message from the Old Testament to Christians in the early church continuing to us today.  These methods were clearly taught to Paul by the Holy Spirit and by Paul to the early church through the direction of the Holy Spirit.  We in the church today can still benefit from this knowledge by learning to observe it in what God wrote through Paul and the other Apostles.  Therefore my commenter must not believe the New Testament since it is founded on these principles.  This Bible study will prove beyond any reasonable doubt that God created the method of Typology and that I have done nothing in my Bible lessons but observe their presence.  After I learned about these truths in the Bible I believe that it would be totally foolish of me to deny they exist just because someone from seminary says they are not valid.  I pray that you will also do the same.  In this Bible lesson we will seek the answers to the following questions from the N.T.:

1. What is Typology?
2. Why is the use of Typology a valid form of correct Bible Interpretation?
3. How did God conceal Typology in the Old Testament?
4. How is Typology revealed by God in the New Testament?
5. Why did God use Typology in the Bible?

I will definitely warn you at the beginning that this Bible lesson will be one of the most advanced complex deep spiritual subjects that is found on my website.  The title on my website is “Advanced Bible Study” and this will be one that qualifies for this category of lessons.   If you are a brand new Christian or not a very mature spiritual Christians then I really do not recommend that you try to study this subject.  I am going to need to go over some very advanced concepts and some very technical definitions.  This is just a word of warning of what will come next.

WHAT IS EXEGESIS AND HERMENEUTICS?

Before I begin today in this Bible lesson to teach that Typology is a divinely created reality found and taught to us by God in the New Testament, I would like to go through some foundational basics on the subject.  I will go into sufficient detail to what the Bible says on this subject of typology but I first want to show everyone an explanation of what Wikipedia says about the word “exegesis” to help establish the correct understanding and definition of what this potentially unknown theological term represents.   This was the complaint of my commenter that typology does not conform to sound exegesis and I believe that there are at least some Christians that actually know very little about what this word means.   Don’t allow an unfamiliar word to sway you to one side of belief or the other until you at least find out what it is defined to be:

• The terms exegesis and hermeneutics have been used interchangeably.  However, hermeneutics is a more widely defined discipline of interpretation theory: hermeneutics includes the entire framework of the interpretive process, encompassing all forms of communication: written, verbal and nonverbal, while exegesis focuses primarily on the written text

As you can read both words exegesis and hermeneutics deal with Bible interpretation methods.   But the most important word in this description that must be observed is the given term “THEORY”.   Does God have any theories?  I do not believe that He does since He knows everything.  Is the Bible a book of theories? Again I do not believe it is simply because the God of infinite knowledge and wisdom is the author.   Therefore, if God is not the source of human theories then we need to ask “Why do humans resort to theories?”  Let me give you a definition of a theory.  A theory should be defined as any subject being discussed which is based entirely upon human ignorance of all of the known true facts of the subject.  In other words if we knew and correctly understood all of the true facts of any given subject we would have no need for any further theories or theoretical discussions.  Do you understand what I am teaching?   A theory is completely derived from the lack of sufficient evidence or proof to support it.   A theory is also totally originated from human speculation, rumor, assumption, conjecture and guesswork.   All of these are synonyms for what a theory represents.   People today often believe theories to be science and that is not accurate.  The theory of evolution lacks any sufficient proof for its existence to be taught but yet is widely accepted by ignorant students to be a fact.   Just because a subject is widely accepted does not make it a truth. This is the same that is true for man’s theories of exegesis.

Human theories are always based upon inadequate fallible human reasoning and thought which attempts to teach or explain something that is not completely known or understood by the speaker.  Therefore according to Wikipedia “exegesis” and “hermeneutics” are both human attempts at theories for interpretation based upon the lack of sufficient known facts to prove or verify their accuracy.   That is the primary purpose of the rest of this Bible lesson today.   I am here to relieve your ignorance and present you with the God given Bible facts on this very important subject of Typology so that you can depart from your exegesis theories and believe the truth of God.   The main point in this part of the lesson is that man’s theories of exegesis are always trumped and overruled by God’s facts every time.  I seriously hope that you believe what God says in His Word and will choose to ignore what ignorant men say in order to not be led astray.

What I have been attempting to introduce you to is the fact that human theories of exegesis are only necessary today because people have not yet discovered or do not completely understand ALL of the true facts for the subject of correct Bible interpretation revealed by God in the Bible.   God gives us an amazing set of lessons in His word concerning correct Bible interpretation.  He defines very specific rules for interpretation.  He defines very sound methods for correct Bible interpretation.  He even gives us many great examples of each type of interpretation for us to learn from and apply to our study.  This will be the focus for the rest of the Bible lesson.  But before we do that let’s talk briefly about hermeneutics.

According to Wikipedia, the subject of hermeneutics is a more inclusive discipline for interpretation including the entire framework of the interpretative process.  I found that statement to be very oxymoronic and contradictory to their previous statement of it being a theory of human work.   This statement of the “entire framework” clearly “assumes” in error that they know and understand the complete process.  To state that a discipline includes everything means that they know and understand it all and that is clearly not the case.   What is being stated here is the fact that they just said it was a theory and then they changed positions attempting to define it to be all-inclusive and all knowing.  There is absolutely no way that is possible.  You need to be careful when you read human explanations for what words mean.  If there are contradictions then there are problems.

But here is another very interesting point to consider about the subject of Hermeneutics.  This word is derived from a pagan Greek name of a mythological god called “Hermes” which was their false messenger god.      It would stand to reason from knowing this fact that anything to do with Hermeneutics is potentially a demonically inspired distraction from obtaining the real truth of God in His Word.  What did I just say?   I said if Hermes was a Satan inspired distraction from the true and living God then “Hermeneutics” could be the same.   What we should observer by the review of Hermeneutics and Exegesis is that they are both man’s attempt at creating rules to define how to understand a God that they clearly do not understand.  This is one of the main reasons that I avoid any manmade rules and theories of Bible interpretation.  I long to only know what God says on the subject of interpretation and I will follow only Him completely and whole heartedly.    I could have talked a lot more about those two words but this was a brief overview and certainly not a detailed book discussion of the subjects.

BUILDING THE TYPOLOGY FOUNDATION

We began by exploring the words of exegesis and hermeneutics in order to establish their origins and definitions.   We clearly saw them to be theoretical works of men that conform to their own incomplete understanding of the subject of Bible interpretation presented to us in the Bible.  Please allow me to do the same type of research for the word “typology” as a comparison.   Is Typology based upon human guesswork, reasoning or speculation?   Is Typology a manmade theory?  We need to answer these in order to see how typology fits into correct Bible study.  I believe you will quickly discover as we research this subject that typology is the opposite from what exegesis was defined to be.  Both exegesis and typology are based upon rules but the origin of these rules will become apparently different.   Let’s start this part of the subject study with a dictionary definition of the word “typology”:

• TYPOLOGY
• 1. The study or systematic classification of types that have characteristics or traits in common.

I thought this was an excellent definition.   Can you see any differences between this and exegesis with your first review of the word typology?  First understand that typology is NOT defined to be a theory.   It is not based upon indeterminate human speculation.  There is no reference to it being a theoretical effort of work like we saw in the definition of exegesis.  Next, I would like to emphasize what this word means.  Begin with the initial part of the definition to see that Typology represents a “STUDY” or a “CLASSIFICATION”.   Right there this teaches us the fact that it is a clear effort of human labor which is predominately based upon observation.  Study implies that someone is attempting to discover, learn and understand the known facts from either God or from any human subject teacher.   Bible Study should be defined as the “acquisition of Bible knowledge” and Bible knowledge should be defined as “any established facts of truth found within the Bible context”.  Therefore we have no theories involved in true Bible study.  Did you understand what I just said?  Typology is not a theory, but rather it is a study method and that is extremely insightful.   If a person studies the subject of how automobile engines work they are seeking to learn the established facts of these machines and there should be no desire to learn from any speculative theories or opinions from people who have never built one, worked on one, repaired one or learned how they work or can even operate one personally from experience.  Did you understand that automotive analogy?   What I was attempting to say is that any serious Bible student should not need to learn from any man that teaches on the basis of theories because the true facts can only found in God’s Word.

Let’s shift into a Biblical spiritual discussion about “study” for a moment.  What does God teach about the subject of “Study” in the Bible?  Are we required to study the Bible?  In other words is it necessary to study the Bible to understand it?  Is typology a part of God’s study method?   If you do not remember the answers to those questions I will show you the key verse that God gives to answer them:

• 2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

According to God “study” is a personal effort of labor.    The Greek word that was translated as “workman” in this verse is G2040 and it literally means “a toiler”, “a worker” and “a laborer”.  This Greek word comes from a root word that means “to work”.  I believe that it is now self-evident that study is a level of extended effort way beyond just reading the text on the pages.   Reading has never been studying, but studying does involve reading.   God very clearly says here in this verse that if we do not study the Bible that we may fall into a negative state of shame someday.   Therefore Bible study is a requirement given from God by N.T. command.    This is very good and important information to consider.

I could spend a lot of time talking about study, how to study and how study works and the application to the spiritual man but that is not my main subject here in this lesson.   I will briefly teach an overview of spiritual study to help you get started.  The human spirit is incapable of any Bible study without the engagement of the human mind’s comprehensive application.  Why is this mind and spirit interaction a necessity?  It is because of the divinely created triune state of a human.  The triune nature of a human is first the visible exterior body layer, the next layer of the human makeup is the invisible interior middle layer called the mind or soul and the final unseen layer is the innermost center of the living being called the spirit or heart.  In Matthew 9:4 Jesus said to the people “Why do you think evil in your hearts”.   The heart of man is the spirit of man and Jesus was connecting the two interior human realms together to teach how they work in unison.   From that statement in Mathew Jesus just revealed that the heart of man can be in one of two states, either evil or good.   All humans by nature are evil from the age of accountability which came from the works of their father Adam being passed down to his every descendant.  How then do we get the evil out and allow the good to enter to replace it?  Romans 12:2 will provide a clue to this answer by God commanding us to “be transformed by the renewing of our minds”.  I personally believe this is like computers and the old computer programmer saying that went “Put Garbage In, Get Garbage Out”.    In other words what you allow to be placed into your heart through your mind’s eye is what will be produced outwardly.    Like I said this is a very deep subject to even try to mention here in a paragraph so please read some of my other lessons or ask questions if you do not understand the nature of a human and how the parts work together.

Now let’s research the term “classification” found within the “typology” definition.  According to the dictionary this word means “the act or process of classifying things based upon common qualities or characteristics”.  Again we are not concerned with any theories simply because classification is only dealing with the observable facts between two or more objects.   What we are witnessing is that classification is a formalized approach to organization.  Did you notice God’s inclusion of classification within the verse we just read in 1Timothy 2:15 about study?  What does it mean to “rightly divide” the Word of Truth?  Rightly dividing is a synonymous work of classification.  God is literally saying that we need to organize the truth into proper like groups in order to understand it and that is called typology whether you believe it or not.  This means when we study a subject in the Bible we may need to correctly observe the facts and then organize these facts in order to understand any of them.  Perhaps, it will help if we first understand the definition for the term “classifying”.   This word means “the systematic arrangement in groups or categories according to fixed established criteria”.   Again this is a form of division and organization.  To organize anything you must divide it up within known like categories.   This is exactly what God was saying in 1Timothy 2:15 when he said to rightly divide the word of truth.   To rightly divide God’s truth it must be classified into like categories.   The antithesis truth to rightly dividing is wrongly dividing and this simply means that people can easily put truths in improper groups or categories of organization.  I really hope that you are grasping these deep complex concepts found in God’s Word.

Organization is just a bad word to many people because it involves work again.  Clearly we learned from God in 1Timothy 2:15 that work is involved in correct Bible study.  This literally teaches us that organization must be a part of the same effort.  Therefore if you are a lazy Christian you will never study the Bible.   What I have observed from my Bible study is the fact that God is a highly organized being.  There is no unorganized chaos found within God or His creation.  Look around you and you will observe order everywhere you look.  Order and organization do not originate from or appear from disordered chaos.   It only stands to reason that if God operates in the realm of order and has created order then His Word must also be organized in some manner that would reflect His own divine qualities.  This is one of the main reasons why I believe in Typology so strongly and we are about to learn many other great reasons soon.

What we are doing here is discovering the basics to what typology represents to God and man.   Placing like items or objects together is the study of the arrangement, classification, grouping or organization of similar forms, kinds, types, etc.  This method of classifying is based upon observing each object’s participation in a well-known and well-defined common set of like features, patterns, characteristics, qualities, abilities, etc.  So far knowing these definitions we can make the claim that typology is the study of the “systematic” classification of types that have the same traits or characteristics.  Wow, that is still a potential mouth full, isn’t it?    Do you really understand what this typology means?  Have you ever worked at filing in the days of the old file cabinets?  Every old office paper filing system was organized by a defined rules based system to enable organized storage and facilitate the fast retrieval of the filed information.  In a large stack of office papers it could take someone days to find the right paper if there was no organization applied to it.  But with proper planned organization it is found in a few minutes.  This old style manual filing organization was normally done by placing documents in alphabetical order based upon the name of a company or an individual’s last name.  A paper filing method was always a “rules based” system of defined storage and retrieval and this is actually directly related to what God has done in the Bible using typology and rightly dividing the Word of Truth.   I guess we need to look up the definition of “systematic” next.  I know we are going through some really basic technical information in this part of the lesson, but I believe this will help you understand why God uses typology:

• Systematic:

Systematic represents anything that is created, performed, established or done according to a defined set of never changing rules, standards and methods.  Systematic also represents a repeatable discovery or process by continuing to follow the same rules.  In other words a systematic discovery is one that is not accidental or unknown to how it was achieved.  Thomas Edison went through a systematic process in discovering the light bulb.   Every time that he discovered a light burning filament process that didn’t work that one was thrown out until the one that did work could be repeated consistently.  The discovery of the defined process for creating light bulbs created a new systematic process that remained for many, many years of reliable service.    If you understand this definition then you need to ask, does God have a plan before He does something?  Does God follow any set methods of design before doing something?   Does God use any set patterns when creating?  Because people are so uninformed, they usually do not know to ask these questions and they certainly do know the answers to these very important questions.     Let me repeat the definition of classification because this is just essential:

• CLASSIFICATION:
• The action or process of classifying something according to shared qualities or characteristics.

Like I have tried to say before,” classification” represents the human work of organizing and grouping like objects together based upon observable common features, characteristics, patterns, or any other standard observable qualities of similarity.  Is classification a good or an evil system or method of work?  Surely you can see that it is all good.   Where did classification originate from man or God?   I am firm believer that if you can see that classification is good and not evil then it had to have originated from God based upon what God said in James 1:17.  Go read that verse and you should see what I mean.

I have talked about this concept of classification in several of my Bible studies on this website.   Classifying like objects together is based upon basic mathematical set rules.   Every object of a like nature can be grouped together in a common set and can be referenced by the superior group label or title.  Each object in the set is unique but they are capable of being organized together because of the common feature being associated together.   For example, the mammal classification or set of created beings will have in common certain observable facts that they are all 1) warm blooded 2) vertebrate 3) animals.  Therefore any animal that fits this rule based description can be included in the set called mammals.  That is what classification represents.   Is this too complicated for a Bible study?

Concluding this part of the technical discussion we have learned that typology is the study of the systematic (rules based unchanging well defined methods) of classifying (organizing and grouping together) like or related individual objects (people, places, events and things) sharing common features or common characteristics.  What this teaches us is that by learning about one object in the defined set we can apply this knowledge to learn about every other object in the set in some limited degree of defined classification.    I might be going over the heads of many of my readers with this technical discussion about how types work but we need to learn this or remain ignorant.   We need to learn these are God given facts and that in order to understand many things found in the New Testament correctly it requires us to obtain correct knowledge of the given Old Testament types.  God’s use of Typology contains very specific classifications of like subjects, actions, individuals, groups, people, created objects, etc. that help us to understand spiritual things that we have never seen before.  Are you beginning to grasp the significance of this subject?   Let’s start an introduction to the subject of types found in the Bible.

BEGINNING TO SEE HEAVENLY TYPES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Let me take you into the classification of created man to help you understand that God declared the existence of types all the way back in Genesis 1.  In Genesis 1:26 God says “Let us make man in our image and after our likeness…”.    Man being the literal image and likeness of Almighty God is a mind blowing concept that is ignored by many Christians.  The angels of God could look at created man and immediately see the features and characteristics of God being demonstrated and repeated.   Man being made in God’s image is the definition of the word found within types and typology.  The created man possessed the common qualities and features of God by God’s design and purpose.  This Bible fact makes created man a literal “type” of the God class of beings using these common observable characteristics.  I know that is not very religious sounding but it is what the Bible says.

By observing the original created design in man we can perceive the unseen qualities of God and learn about Him in so many ways.   I do not have time to go into this subject fully today but I will give a quick overview of it.  For example God is described in the Bible to be a triune being.  Man was also created as a triune being consisting of three distinct and separate parts that comprise the whole as I mentioned earlier in this lesson.  God is described with a mind and man was created with the same likeness of mental capacity with reasoning and thought.  God speaks words audibly and man was created after this same pattern as a speaking individual.  I hope that you will do more research or even ask questions if you do not understand how that God can be observed in a created being called man.   Also do not misunderstand what I was saying about man being in the God class of beings.  I was not declaring man to be equal to God so put down your stones.  What I am beginning to teach is that spiritual things existed before there were any natural things and these naturally created things came from existing spiritual patterns, types and objects that were found present in the spiritual realm.   I could teach this subject for a long time but I will not do a comprehensive inclusion of every characteristic of man as a type of God in the Bible.  The primary point from Genesis 1:26 was that God existed eternally before man existed but yet when God created man He placed Himself as the pattern within the man.  One of the main points from Genesis 1:26 is the fact that anything with like characteristics represents a type and fits within the typology definition.  We will learn a lot more about this from the New Testament as we continue to study so do not yet give up or despair that you are not grasping it fully yet.

I will now go over another O.T. prevalent subject quickly that God revealed to me about the existence of types.  This subject is mentioned in many of my other Bible studies because of the importance of this typology revealed by God.   If you search the Bible for the name of the city called “Jerusalem” you should find that it occurs in over 700 verses directly.  This city is also indirectly labeled and named by many other titles of a symbolic nature and the total verse count is actually much greater than 700.  Are all of these verses about the same city here on the earth?  You may be surprised to discover that they are not.  Have you ever considered that there may have been a heavenly version of this city named Jerusalem before the earthly city was ever conceived by God?  I know that I have, especially after reading what God wrote to us in the New Testament.  If you go and read in Galatians 4:26 you will find where God declared that there exists a city called “Jerusalem Above” which is a totally different city than the one that is now presently here on the earth.   Let me give you two main verses to consider concerning these two different cities both named Jerusalem:

• Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
• Gal 4:26  But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

There are just not very many Christians that understand this truth because it was a new revelation from God sent to Paul for us to learn from in the last days.   This city “Jerusalem Above” is called the spiritual mother of the church and I do not have time to explain that either.  Notice in the verse before that God speaks of the earthly city of Jerusalem as a separate physical entity.   It is very obvious to me that these two cities named Jerusalem are types of each other.  It might not be as obvious to you but I have studied this subject for over 16 years and it becomes very apparent when you dig into it and allow God to open it up to your spiritual understanding.  If you need to learn about this city in more depth, it is covered in several other Bible lessons on my website.  What God has just revealed to you, is called hidden typology within the Bible.   God implies that the earthly city Jerusalem here in the Middle East has been patterned from a city that already existed in the spiritual heaven.  This is called typology where two cities are grouped together based upon common features and characteristics.  God has just demonstrated a superior classification called “Jerusalem” where exists more than one individual types of the city in the set.    Ok, God says for us to let every word be established in the mouth of two or three witnesses and I will give you another N.T. verse about this heavenly spiritual city:

• Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,

This is another extremely important verse to learn.   It directly teaches us that there is another city in heaven named Jerusalem where the angels of God reside.   When were angels created?   That is a very difficult question to answer since we are never directly informed of this event in the Bible that I know of.  There are several verses that indicate to us that angels were created long before man existed.  I do not have time to teach them in this lesson but they are in some of my other Bible lessons on angels and creation.   What we are observing is the realization that spiritual things existed before natural things but they can also both exist concurrently at the same time.   We are also beginning to understand that some of these natural things have been modeled after the original spiritual things and even named the same.   The Jerusalem that is on the earth is certainly not the Jerusalem just mentioned that was found in heaven.   But by God calling them by the same name this teaches us the valid existence of typology.   Also if you go and read back in Galatians 4:24 you will discover that both of these cities represent covenants with God.    That gives them common features causing a likeness that can be grouped or classified together.   Wow, I am hoping that you can understand and apply the typology concepts here to this information given to us by God.

What I am trying to say is that both of these cities belong to the classification called “Jerusalem cities”.  Therefore we can learn about one of them and this knowledge will teach us many things about the other one and vice versa.   If the Jerusalem below had a temple then the city above has the same type of feature.  If the Jerusalem below has a high priest then the city above will contain the same type of feature.   If the Jerusalem below was the home of a nation of God’s people then the city above will have the same characteristics.   We could just go on and on with this subject of Jerusalem for a very long time but that was enough to get you started thinking.  I will end this part of the introduction to this O.T. Bible typology discussion by trying to emphasize again that the naturally created things here on the earth will always point us back to the unseen spiritual things that existed before (Rom 1:20).   This is what God reveals to us in the New Testament and we will now explore more examples of this divine use of typology in the next section.

DISCOVERING MORE OF GOD’S DUPLICATION OF EXISTING HEAVENLY PATTERNS

I have been going through the introduction of two hidden examples of Old Testament natural patterns that were concealed projections of existing heavenly spiritual patterns.  Both the natural and the spiritual shared common features and characteristics allowing them to be legally grouped together within our typology study.  This was the nature of typology by definition.  As we continue to learn more about what has existed in the spiritual heaven has now been repeated by God here on the earth as types of heaven we will be able to learn about spiritual things that were never conceived within our human minds before.  In fact it would be impossible for us to know of the existence of these spiritual things without God giving us the natural things to observe.  We will also learn that these natural types on the earth will return back to the spiritual realm as in a full circle.  All of this was a hidden concept taught by God in the Bible.  Paul obtained the revelation of these truths and God is now making them known to us in the church in these last of the last days.  What I want to do is to help confirm what I just introduced you to by using what God says in the Bible about these subjects.   What will be doing is confirming that these O.T. things came from existing heavenly spiritual objects.   Let’s start with a verse in Acts:

• Act 7:44  Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.

Have you ever considered the information given by God in this verse?  God is informing us that Moses had a spiritual vision of heaven in order to see this preexisting pattern that he was to build.    God was telling Moses to make the articles of the temple on the earth after the pattern design that was found in heaven.  I know this verse can be taken other ways.  For example God could have shown Moses what to build and these could have been completely new designs.  However that interpretation does not match with what else God says in the N.T. and we must take into account every scripture that is given to us about this subject.  If what I said about these earthly temple articles being heavenly patterns is true, this literally teaches us that the design of the temple in heaven was transferred to the earth through Moses and everything that was found here was a man made duplication of the divinely created spiritual realm.   Obviously this means that the natural objects were not spiritual object but the resemblance could be seen if you knew both like the angels of God did.    I will give you another verse that explains this more clearly next:

• Heb 8:5  Who 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.

Please read this verse very carefully.  There are three key Greek words that need to be defined in order to understand that this is God using Typology to teach the people.  The three Greek words are G5262, G4639 and G5179 translated in this verse as “example”, “shadow” and “pattern” respectively.   But before we explore these Greek words let’s observe that this verse in Hebrews is a partial quotation of an Old Testament verse from Exodus and go and read it:

• Exo 25:40  “See that you make them after the pattern for them, which was shown to you on the mountain.

God again tells Moses directly that the objects of the temple will be made after the “pattern” that was given to him on the mountain.   If you do not understand the concept of patterns in creation you will never correctly understand the Bible.  A pattern is a creation technique and/or a device that causes duplicates to occur.  A pattern is used to recreate any original work of creation.   This is used in manufacturing, the garment creation industry, construction, automotive manufacturing and many other human work efforts.   Man did not invent this method of work, God did!   Please take a look at the definition for the Hebrew word H8403 translated as “pattern”.

• H8403
• From H1129; structure; by implication a model, resemblance: – figure, form, likeness, pattern, similitude.

Does any of this definition sound familiar to what we have been covering in this Bible lesson?  Take what I taught first in the previous section about Adam being made in the likeness of God.   That was a different Hebrew word in Genesis 1:26 but the meanings are very synonymous.  Both Hebrew words mean a resemblance or a model from a pattern.    Strong even places the word “pattern” as a legal definition and that is what was translated in KJV Bible.  Let’s go back to Hebrew 8:5 and look up the three Greek words that I was telling you were important to this subject.   The first word is G5262 that was translated as “example”.  What is an example?  According to the dictionary an example is “a thing characteristic of its kind or illustrating a general rule”.   Wow, that is the definition of a type within typology if I ever heard of one.   God is teaching you some very profound truths located in the Bible and I pray that you are not letting them slip away from your mind.   Again in the Strong’s definition we see concretely the words “likeness”, “model”, “resemblance” and “pattern”.  Learn these words and remember them.   See how they apply to Adam and God and then we will continue to learn how they apply to other types to come.

The next Greek word that I would like to point out is G4639 which is translated as “shadow” in this verse of Hebrews.   This Greek word being included within this verse context is one of the main reasons why many teach that “types and shadows” are synonymous terms referring to the same concept within Typology.   What is a shadow?   A shadow is usually a place where the light does not fully reach, right?   This means a shadow is where there is some level of darkness found to be present.  In other words there is something that is blocking the light from being seen directly on that spot.   I find that concept extremely informative to why people do not see or understand typology.   It also implies that God withheld certain levels of detailed information within typology so that he could reveal them later.   When Jesus came into the world in the flesh, He declared himself to be the light of the world (John 9:5).   Jesus literally taught many new things that were hidden from the foundation of the world.  This was Jesus being a light to the world explaining things that were never revealed before to man.  If you have ever seen a television studio you know that it has a lot of lights in it.   Bright lights cause shadows and that is not good for TV so they add more bright lights to eliminate the shadows.  That is exactly what Jesus was doing taking the shadows of the Old Testament and bringing more light to them.   Let’s review the Strong’s definition of this word:

• G4639
• Apparently a primary word; “shade” or a shadow (literally or figuratively [darkness of error or an adumbration]): – shadow.

This Greek word is defined to be a “shade or a shadow” literally or figuratively and in this case in Hebrews 8:5 it is certainly a figurative usage.  The word in this definition that I found the most interesting is probably a word that you have never heard of.  Do you know what an “adumbration” is?   This word means to “give a sketchy outline of something”.   It literally means to provide “a sketchy, imperfect, incomplete or even a faint representation” of something else that is not given directly by reference.  In other words it means that you can only know what is being stated if you understand the complete subject but otherwise you will not have a clue what the vague outline is about.  This is a good description of a shadow on the ground.  Unless you know who or what is casting the shadow the sketchy outline will be useless information to you.  An adumbration also means the “vague foreshadowing” of a plan, event or a person.   All of this information that we have discovered is completely relevant to the subject of Typology and God’s purpose for using it.  Please tell me that you understand these vital concepts?  The last Greek word that must be understood for this subject in Hebrew 8:5 is the Greek word G5179:

• G5179
• From G5180; a die (as struck), that is, (by implication) a stamp or scar; by analogy a shape, that is, a statue, (figuratively) style or resemblance; specifically a sampler (“type”), that is, a model (for imitation) or instance (for warning): – en- (ex-) ample, fashion, figure, form, manner, pattern, print.

This Greek word is also one of the most important found in the verse and is the best description yet of typology.  Please observe the concepts given in the definition.  Do you know what a “die” is?   This device is used in the manufacturing process to create duplicate objects.  It is usually made of metal and hollow on the inside where other metal or plastic can be poured into it to harden and become a new identical piece.   There are other types of these tools that are also used as stamps to leave an impression of an identical image.  This is a common type of tool used in leather work.   The idea that the one tool leaves a repeatable image in something represents another description of what Typology is to God as you can observe by continuing to read the rest of the definition.    The key word in this definition is the word “TYPE”.  It means that you can look at the thing being spoken of as a model of something else that is not normally revealed.   Patterns are also found in this definition.   We now have three different Greek words to search for in our Bible to learn how God uses them.   These are essential elements to understanding Bible Typology.  We have just covered the foundational basics for the subject and will now begin to explore the dynamics of some of the other aspects found within the New Testament.

GOD’S DETAILED USAGE OF O.T. TYPES AND SHADOWS IN THE N.T.

I have presented Biblical evidence that the naturally created things on the earth were patterned after unseen heavenly spiritual realities that pre-existed before the natural.  We are now going to discover that the next step to this designed process is to see exactly how God has placed in the Old Testament very specific natural patterns, types and shadows that point us again to unseen New Testament spiritual types.   God has taken this reality of patterns in a full circle from the spiritual to the natural then back to the spiritual again.  What you will begin to discover are some of the reasons that God did this but probably not in total coverage in this Bible lesson.   There are literally a great number of very specific natural types and shadows found in the O.T and these were designed to teach the church about the coming complex unseen spiritual truths found in the New Covenant.   Without the existence of the natural realm the church would have no comprehension of the spiritual realm.  As I have stated God created the natural world as a hidden reflecting window into the spiritual world.   God very clearly said in Romans 1:20 that “The invisible things of God even His godhead and power are clearly viewed in the things that He has created so that men are without excuse”.   I believe this verse teaches us something so very profound about the existence of typology.  I believe God was saying that which has been in the past is that which is seen now and that which is seen now is that which shall be again in the future.  If that doesn’t sound familiar you need to read Ecclesiastes to discover what God has said to us about this subject:

• Ecc 1:9  The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Hopefully you can read and understand that God says there is NOTHING NEW under the sun.  Nothing is a very comprehensive word and does not omit anything that can be observed in the natural.  What does that teach us?   That literally means everything that we see here right now in this world was modeled after what existed previously in the spiritual world.   I am totally convinced that this is the concept of types and shadows used by God as repetitious patterns.  These patterns found in the Old Testament bring us light to know what is occurring in the spiritual New Covenant.  Let’s explore some more of the specific types revealed by God to us in the New Testament that were hidden by God in the Old Testament.  I’ll begin this section of the lesson with a verse that is found in Romans 5:

• Rom 5:14  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.

This is God’s commentary on the creation of Adam in Genesis 1 and 2.  In this N.T. explanation God very specifically reveals that Adam was a “TYPE” of the coming Lord Jesus.  We can further confirm this truth by observing how God called Jesus the “Last Adam” in 1 Corinthians 15:45.  What we are learning here in these two verses is further confirmation that God can use duplicate names like Adam or Jerusalem to establish a valid type set comparison and relationship.  This concept was exactly what I taught you previously about the name of the city of Jerusalem.  God will often repeat the name of an O.T. reality calling it HEAVENLY, NEW, LAST or by using some other adjective modified form to cause it to be known that it is not the same object as the one mentioned previously but is rather a new type of that one.   If you continue to study this subject of typology you will soon discover that God will use a natural named reality found in the Old Testament to teach us about a spiritual reality again and again.  The Greek word that was translated as “figure” in this verse in Romans is the repeated key word that was covered in the last section concerning the temple that Moses built in Hebrews 8:5.  Do you remember the Greek word G5179 that meant a “die” or a “stamp”?    How can Adam be called a stamped pattern of Jesus?   By not understanding this word and how to apply it to Jesus will cause you to totally miss the very important message being taught by God concerning the legitimacy of typology.   Can we agree to at least try to learn and understand what God wants us to know about this subject?

If you recall from the definition of G5179 it was based upon an engraving process, a printing press process, or even a modern “model” building process.  When I was a kid I use to like to build models.  I would buy them and then put them together trying to follow the instructions with glue and the finished model would “resemble” a real airplane that could be flown in the Air Force.  It was such a great lesson of what is happening in this God example given to us in Romans 5:14.  God is saying Adam is not Jesus but the resemblance and characteristics that he possessed clearly point us to Jesus using typology.   It is exactly the same as the model airplane is not the greater real airplane but it teaches us and points us to what the real airplane looks like.  That is obviously one of the greatest values for the existence of typology in the Bible.  God says by us using typology that we can learn about Jesus from reading about a naturally created man named Adam.   Wow, I wonder, how this Adam truth of Biblical typology fits into your theoretical rules of correct hermeneutics and exegesis.   According to some believers and Bible teachers today God is incorrectly interpreting His own scriptures by using typology.   Who among us believes that God knows what He is doing here?  I choose to believe this very strongly and that is why you cannot talk me out of it with your manmade exegesis rules.

I can still hear many questioning how this reality is possible that Adam was a type of Jesus.   I really do not have time to teach that in depth in this lesson today since that is not the main subject of this study.   I will tell you that if Adam had a wife that came out of his side then Jesus will also have a wife that will come out of His side.  That is one of the most profound hidden truths concerning the Adam typology.  I will tell you that the law of marriage given to natural Israel in Genesis 2:24 is quoted in Ephesians 5 where God is talking about husbands and wives.  In this chapter of Ephesians, God clearly reveals the wife of Christ Jesus to be the church.  If you do not understand how this typology is possible either, ask questions or go read some more Bible lessons where I talk about this very important subject.  I hope that I can challenge you do a study of Adam now with a new set of Jesus spiritual viewers on.   God has just concretely confirmed the existence of O.T. types and shadows.

Jesus revealed in John 5:39 that the natural Jews needed to search their scriptures because these were the words that testified concerning Him.   Jesus was teaching them that He was the predominate subject of their Holy Law.   If they had to search in order to find Him, then He was not found plainly or easily in the surface text of the words written on the pages or scrolls.    It was not until God reveals to us in the New Testament how Jesus could be found there that anyone could possibly know that Adam represented a “TYPE” or “PATTERN” of the coming Jesus.   This single fact alone teaches the validity of using TYPOLOGY in correct Bible interpretation.   Are you receiving this?  I’m not done teaching so that is not all that I have to say on this subject but I have already given you very significant Bible evidence that should help you to begin to learn the truth about Typology.   Let’s examine another type of Jesus found in the New Testament that confirms the reality of Typology:

• Heb 7:15  And it is yet far more evident: for that after the similitude of Melchisedec there ariseth another priest,

Here we have a new and different Greek word but yet it means the exact same things as the ones that we have looked at previously.  All of these Greek words G3665, G5179 and G8403 are very synonymous in their definitions.   Here in Hebrews 7:15 God declares that Jesus is a priest “like” Melchisdec.   The Greek word G3665 that is translated as “similitude” is the key word from this verse that must be understood.   If you read the context of this verse you will discover that God relates the story of Abraham meeting the priest Melchisdec and how he gave to him a tenth of the spoils.  What God is doing in this verse is teaching us that Jesus is again a spiritual type of the natural O.T. high priest Melchisdec.  In doing this Jesus has become our high priest for the people in the church today.  Perhaps we need to review the Strong’s definition for this Greek word in order to comprehend the typology connection completely:

• G3665
• From G3664; resemblance: – like as, similitude.

This Greek word comes from a root word that means “similar in appearance or character”.   Again we see the definition of what typology represents.  This is the exact same concept as I gave you concerning the creation of man in Genesis 1:26.   Man being made in the likeness and image of God is what God is saying about Jesus being made in the likeness and image of Melchisdec.   Do you need me to repeat the definition of typology?   Remember that typology was defined to be the systematic classification of similar objects based upon common characteristics.  There are a lot more types of Jesus found in the Old Testament than these two witnesses that God just gave to you.   What you will discover is that God has left many more types of Jesus for us to discover by teaching us of their existence using the examples of Adam and Melchisdec.   I’ll give you one more N.T. example of typology which is more difficult to find but was written to the Hebrews who clearly knew the Law of Moses:

• Heb 3:1  Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;
• Heb 3:2  Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house.
• Heb 3:3  For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house.
• Heb 3:4  For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God.
• Heb 3:5  And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after;
• Heb 3:6  But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Nowhere in these verses does it say specifically that Moses is a type of Jesus by using the 4 key Greek words that we have already found, but yet the description given to us is exactly within the context of the Typology subject discussion.   Both men are said to be faithful.  Both men are said to be “servants”.  Both men are said to be builders of houses.   Those few characteristics give them commonality that can be classified together.   This is the definition of typology again.  Can you see it?  Of the two being referred to Jesus is clearly called the greater.  This again is the repeated pattern of creation coming full circle.  The greater God created the lesser man named Adam and then the greater God became like a lesser man Adam who died and has now been raised up to life again and exalted back into the realm of greatness.   I am trying to teach the effectiveness and validity of Typology using as many examples as possible in this limited format lesson.  I hope that you can seeing these for what they really are and learn how to apply them to your Bible Study going forward.  Let’s talk about another aspect of Moses being a type of Jesus before we leave this part of the study.

If you recall the story of Moses he was chosen by God and deemed to be the “deliverer” of the natural nation of Israel.  Again these were all types that pointed us to what Jesus did.  Jesus was chosen by God and He was the “deliverer” of the whole world from Satan’s kingdom of darkness.   The whole O.T. story of the deliverance of the people of natural Israel from Egypt is an extremely important lesson using Typology of how God brought the N.T. people out of the realm of control from Satan.  Natural Israel was captive for 430 years in Egypt and the people of the earth were held captive to Satan for 4030 years.   The natural story occurs in Exodus as a type but the greater story of deliverance was given to us by God in the Gospels and then revealed in the letters written to the church.   If you still can’t understand these concepts after all of this I am beginning to think that I can’t help you.   I would suggest that you go to Ephesians 1:16 and pray the prayer that Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus for God to open the eyes of their spiritual understanding to see the wisdom and revelation of Christ Jesus.  If you pray this for yourself I know God will answer it because that is what He did for me.

Always remember that before these N.T. church letters were written there were only the Old Testament scriptures to find Jesus in.  Acts 17:11 teaches us about a part of the church that was found by God to be more noble than others.  These church members were open to what Paul was preaching but then they used their Old Testament scriptures to verify everything that was spoken was actually written in the Holy Book.   The letters written to the church simply taught the people how to find Jesus and explain the many techniques that were used to conceal Him there.  I write about this frequently because this is one of the number one problems that I face on my website.   The only way that I have figured out how to get people to overcome not seeing the truth is by teaching it frequently over and over.  Eventually people will either get tired of me saying the same thing and leave or finally get it into their spirit to believe.

We could talk about typology for a very long time since it is so dominate within the Old Testament.   I will not even attempt to give you every possible type found in the Old Testament but I will quickly provide an overview of some that I found very interesting.  We have already looked at Adam but the first two sons of Adam were Cain and Abel.  Notice the fact that Abel was the younger brother because that will become a pattern within itself in many of the types found in the O.T.   Cain’s offering is rejected by God and Abel’s offering is accepted.  Cain gets angry and kills his younger brother.   Abel is a type of Christ in this story.  Christ came to the earth and was killed by Satan on the cross.   God certainly accepted the Lamb’s sacrifice that was shed on the cross and God had already rejected Satan’s offerings.  The blood of Abel was “like” the blood of Christ.  Perhaps you struggle with my conclusions but what I say is based upon scriptures and not my own reasoning.  Take a look at this verse and see the typology being mentioned between Jesus and Abel:

• Heb 12:24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Why would God even mention Jesus and Abel in the same verse if they were not in some related classification together?  Both were killed and both had their blood poured out on the ground during the commission of the act.  God is giving you a clue about how typology works in this verse.  God does not tell you everything that the type reveals so that you can still go and read it and discover more.  This is called TYPOLOGY people and it is right in front of your face if you will just read it and see what it says.

Let’s consider the O.T. man Isaac next.  This was the promised son that God told Abraham would come.  However Abraham got impatient and listened to his wife and they had an Ishmael through a maid servant.   God specifically told Abraham that this Ishmael was not his heir.   Years later the promised son was given and Isaac was born.  The maidservant and her son were cast out of the family and God reveals in the New Testament that this is an allegory of a far greater spiritual truth.   Remember when I talked about Jerusalem above versus Jerusalem below?   These were revealed using a form of typology called allegory.  Allegory is simply a real natural story that reveals a hidden spiritual story of greater importance.   If you go and read Galatians 4 you will find that Sarah was a type of the city Jerusalem that was above.  Hagar was a type of the Jerusalem that now is here on the earth.   I’m not going to teach this lesson again here so I do not have to explain it over again.   Just try to conceive what God has done in the Bible using typology.  The promised son Isaac is a very specific type of the Lord Jesus Christ the promise made to the whole world.   When Abraham took his son to sacrifice him a ram was conveniently caught by the horns nearby.  The Ram is symbolic of God coming to the earth in the flesh take the place of Isaac.  The typology within this story is rich and very deep with spiritual content.  Every player in the story of Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael and Isaac has a role in the greater spiritual story.  God the father is the type of Abraham.  Isaac was a type of Jesus Christ.  As we have seen the city of Jerusalem in heaven a type of Sarah and the city of Jerusalem in the middle east a type of Hagar.  I’m not here to teach this whole allegory, so we will move on.

The subject of typology is found throughout the New Testament but let’s go back to chapter 7 of the book Acts.  Earlier I gave you one verse from this chapter that was about Moses being given the heavenly patterns from God on the mountain.  The rest of this chapter is also about hidden typologies found within the Old Testament.   The man Stephen is speaking to the leaders of the synagogue and Stephen uses much of their law to try to explain why Jesus had to come to the earth.   These are clearly all typology comparisons that were inspired by the Holy Spirit to teach them they were not seeing their scriptures correctly.   These words are still true today for those that use private exegesis rules that disallow the use of Typology.   If Typology is an invalid interpretation method then chapter 7 of Acts is from the devil.  Please read this chapter carefully and learn what is being stated.   Solomon is being stated by God to be a type of the coming Jesus in verse 47 who builds God a new spiritual house like Solomon did in the Old Testament.   Also King David in the preceding verse is used to represent a type of God the Father in heaven.  I’m just not going to spend the time to go through this whole chapter.  You can do that for yourself.

I hope and pray that you are beginning to understand typology’s significance in the correct interpretation of the Old Testament.   I could have told you about many other types of Jesus found in the Old Testament but I gave you enough to prove the reality that it should make you change your perspective to how you read the Old Testament.   Learn from early church Bible teachers like Peter, Stephen, Paul and John who write and taught initially from only the Old Testament foundational verses about Jesus.   Try to understand how they applied the O.T. scriptures to mean what they were revealed to them by the Spirit of God to mean in the New Testament.   When you read the Old Testament if you are not looking for Jesus primarily then you are probably missing the main reason that the words were written.  Then when you find a type of Jesus if you are not looking at the other named individuals that interact with the type of Jesus then you are missing another of the main reasons that they were also included in the text.   God’s intelligence is way beyond what you can comprehend.   God will take words within natural stories and teach you such profound spiritual knowledge and wisdom that it is staggering to the human mind.   If you learned anything from this lesson I would enjoy hearing about it.  These positive comments will counter the negative comments that will also surely come.   God Bless you and if you keep studying the Bible to find the truth, Jesus said that it will be found (John 8:32).  Thank you!