Thursday, June 21, 2012

Typology and foreshadows

Types and foreshadows in the old testament of Jesus.
What is being suggested here is not simply that; Jesus is the promised messiah to the old testament prophets, and that each story in some way is a foreshadow of his coming. What is being suggested is that he is the fulfillment of the entire old testament Jewish faith . In other words it's not as simple as seeing the story Moses , and concluding that Moses is a type or foreshadow of Jesus. The suggestion is, that every single thing God did in the old testament was related directly to Jesus. Every feast in the old has major relevance to what Jesus came to do. From Noah's flood being a symbol of baptism, to the first Pentecost being where God scrambles their languages to cause confusion , to the new Pentecost being the untwisting of that confusion and reuniting those languages.
Each gospel writer is trying to get old testament typology across to us. Take Matthew for example. He is clearly trying to show us the similarities between Jesus and Moses. Both Jesus and Moses come into the world when a decree is put out to kill infant boys. When the time is right, Moses takes the Israelites through the Jordan as a foreshadow of baptism and into the desert to fast for 40 days. During that fast the israelites make the golden calf. When the time is right Jesus too goes to the Jordan to be baptized and into the desert for 40 days , only Jesus doesn't fail as the Israelites did. The verses Jesus uses to respond to the devil are straight from Deuteronomy. After that Moses goes to mount Sinai, and receives the 10 commandments of the old covenant. Jesus gives the sermon on the mount to give the law of the new covenant. In the old covenant, the people were rebellious, so curses were given. In the new, Jesus knows he's giving us the holy spirit, so the beautitudes are given with blessings that are promised along with the holy spirit. Moses went up with his 3 closest companions, Aaron , Joshua , and Herr. When he comes down from the mountain his face is shining brilliantly. Also known as the transfiguration. Jesus too goes up the mountain with his 3 closest companions, Peter , James, and John. Then has the transfiguration with Elijah and Moses. Moses chooses leaders for the 12 tribes, Jesus chooses 12 leaders also. Moses couldnt govern the 12 tribes with only the 12 princes, so he appoints 70 more. In Luke 12 Jesus appoints 70 more. Moses gives us the Passover. Jesus is the reason for the Passover being given to Moses. The first plague Moses brings on pharaoh is turning water into blood. Jesus's first miracle is turning water into wine. And later wine into blood. Moses builds the ark of the covenant, in it he puts the 10 commandments (the word of God) , the manna (bread from heaven) and staff of Aaron (to signify authority) Jesus is the new covenant, the incarnate word, the true bread from heaven, and has the authority of God himself. This is typology in the old testament. Everything written in the old testament was written for a reason. Augustin said that the old testament is concealed in the new, and the new is revealed in the old. The treasures in this book are too deep to comprehend.
Thank you for reading.

No comments:

Post a Comment