Welcome to Part 3 of our November Series: Seeing Jesus in the Old Testament!

This series is an introduction to seeing Jesus in the Old Testament and covers four key ways we can find Him in the text (if you missed our previous parts, click below to catch up!):

1. Part 1: Christ in Old Testament Promises & Prophecy
2. Part 2: Christ in Christophanies (pre-incarnate appearances)
3. Part 3: Christ in Typology (Old Testament people and things that foreshadow Christ)
4. Part 4: Christ in Patterns (Old Testament events that predict and foreshadow Christ)

Learning to see Jesus in all of Scripture is a beautiful way to learn more about Him and to see the cohesive unity of the Bible on display. 

The Old Testament is not simply the history of Israel, it is the unfolding revelation of God’s work in this world to redeem mankind. Therefore, it all points to Jesus. He is the eternal second person of the Trinity and present (in one way or another) throughout the whole Old Testament. 

This week we will begin our look at Old Testament typology. From Adam to the tabernacle, there are many people and things that foreshadow Jesus in the Old Testament (next week we’ll cover events that foreshadow Christ). Seeing these connections makes the Old Testament come alive. Let’s look at some examples as well as some guardrails, so we don’t go too far.

Part 3: Christ in Old Testament Typology

Our English word “type” comes from the Greek word typos which can mean a “stamp” or “shape”. Just like a typewriter leaves a shape or impression of the letter on the paper, Old Testament people and things can show us the shape of Christ’s work or kingdom in some way. Thus, they are called “types” and their counterpart or “antitype” is found in Jesus. 

Types are not given so we look for secret codes or develop some weird Bible reading strategy, but to serve as signs that point us to Jesus. To identify legitimate types of Christ, the context is key. And Andrew Naselli has a helpful list that identifies four elements that every true type possesses:

1. Analogy- the type and antitype are analogous
2. Historicity- the type and antitype occur in real history
3. Foreshadowing- God sovereignly designed the type to foreshadow the antitype (it’s not man’s invention)
4. Escalation- the antitype escalates the type from shadow to reality by climaxing in Jesus (DeRouchie, 97).

As redemptive history unfolds in the Old Testament, we can see that God sovereignly orchestrates certain people, events, and things to anticipate Christ and His Work–and they meet all the above criteria.

As we look first at Old Testament characters and then at things that foreshadow Christ in some way, I have worked off DeRouchie’s list from his book (and added some) because these people and things are specifically cited in the New Testament as a type of Christ (i.e. they don’t just look and sound like Jesus, the New Testament authors said they foreshadow Him).

Here are some people in the Old Testament WHO are a type of Christ:

1. Adam was a type of Christ serving as the representative human (Rom 5:12-21; 1 Cor 15:45-49)
2. The obscure Old Testament character Melchizedek is recognized as a type of Christ’s eternal priesthood (Heb 5-7).
3. Moses was a type of Christ’s prophetic role, especially in his faithfulness and giving of the Law (Matt 5:1; Acts 3:19-26; Heb 3:1-6)
4. David was a type of Christ as God’s chosen son and king (2 Samuel 7:13-16; Ps 2:7; Matt 21:9)
5. Jesus recognized Jonah’s experience with the whale as a type of his death, burial, and resurrection (Matt 12:40)
6. Israel was a type of Christ–Christ succeeded in his wilderness test (Matt 4:1-4) and as a faithful servant (Matt 12:15-21)

This list is not comprehensive, but you might be wondering about Joseph, Noah, or even Enoch. There are some Old Testament characters who are not recognized as a type in the New Testament, but nevertheless bear close similarity to Christ in some way. I would argue that these people can serve as examples or illustrations of Jesus in the Old Testament but are not necessarily true types. For instance:

1. Noah–he was a righteous man who saved his family from judgement (although we’ll talk about the event of the flood as being a type next week)
2. Joseph-he was loved by his father, saved his people, and forgave his brothers, and he went from humiliation to exaltation

Let’s move on to look at various things in the Old Testament that are a type of Christ: 

1. The tabernacle (John 1:14; Heb 8:5) and the temple (John 2:19-21)–both symbolized God’s presence with His people and their structure and materials all related to Christ’s work in various ways
2. The priesthood (Heb 2:17; 9:24-28; 10:11-12)-foreshadowed Christ’s work as our High Priest 
3. The passover lamb (John 1:29)-pointed to Christ’s perfection and substitutionary death
4. The sacrifices (Heb 10:1-4)-pointed to our need for forgiveness through Christ’s shed blood and substitutionary death 
5. The Sabbath rest (Heb 4:1-11)–pointed to the ultimate rest that Christ provides
6. The bronze serpent that was lifted for salvation–Jesus recognized that He would be lifted up in a similar way (John 3:14)

You might be thinking of other people or things in the Old Testament that you think should definitely be categorized as true types. I would encourage you to investigate using the criteria above. Even Godly scholars come to different conclusions about the “official” list of types and you’ll see longer and shorter lists as you research. Personally, I think it’s always wise to let the New Testament guide us. Here’s a short video if you want to explore this more.

Again, these lists are not comprehensive, but they do give us a wonderful taste of how Jesus permeates the Old Testament. Don’t get too hung up on making a “definitive” list of types, but instead celebrate what Scripture makes clear and give praise that we have been given the “substance of all earlier shadows” by knowing our Lord Jesus Christ (DeRouchie, 99).

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14