Detour, Part 6 - Types and Antitypes

When Eve tempted Adam to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he discovered their nakedness-- and please note that Eve was seemingly unaware of her nakedness until Adam ate of the fruit --their date with death was set. They were already dead spiritually, but physical death would be centuries in the making down a long and dusty road.

God, aware of what had happened, called out to Adam asking where he was. Of course God knew where Adam was, but it was necessary that Adam acknowledge and confess to God of where he was, and why he was hiding. Adam says, "I was naked, and hid myself."

"Who told thee that thou wast naked?" God asked. "Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?"

The answer of course was yes. Adam had failed God's test, even as God knew he would. It was all part of the plan.

Hal Lindsey in his 1972 book "Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth" posited the following theory...

Being an angelic being... the "anointed cherub that covereth..," Satan can neither repent, nor be forgiven. Neither will the third of the angelic host who went to Lucifer's side be forgiven. Perhaps to the remaining two-thirds who kept their place this seemed entirely unjust of a God who claimed He was both loving and merciful. Lindsey postulates that God said something like, "I will prove to you how loving and merciful I am," then proceeded to create man in His own image, knowing full well that man would sin. Knowing full well that it would take the blood of God Himself to redeem fallen man. The angels no more knew the exact details of God's plan in regard to mankind than do we, though it is certainly fair to say they do know more, for the Bible says they watch and study the goings-on of men. This is how He proves He is a loving and merciful God.

But back to the Garden. The first thing God does is hand out judgements-- First the serpent, then Eve, Adam, and finally the Earth. And to the woman He pronounces the very first prophetic statement... "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

God then preceeds to reveal the method by which Adam and his descendants must obtain forgiveness of sin. But it is an imperfect method, for the blood of lambs and bulls only covers sin, it does not take them away-- This is done to show fallen man the magnitude of his affront to God's law.

God then fashions coverings made from the skins of animals. Does Adam and Eve watch as God kills the animals? Are they taken aback by the spectacle of death and blood? Do they now recognize the gravity of their sin?

This is what is commonly referred to as a Type. It is an act that foreshadows a corresponding act sometime in the distant future... An Antitype.

The knowledge that an innocent animal must lose its life to cover their sin debt must have been a real shocker to Adam and Eve. Corn, Grains, Fruit... these are not sufficient to cover sin, as Cain soon discovers. Innocent blood must be shed to satisfy the requirement set by God.

But one day, as He promised Eve, one would come who would take away their sin.

Now let's leap ahead almost two-thousand years, to Abraham. God made Abraham a promise, that Abraham would be the father of a great and numerous nation. In order for this to happen Abraham would need to get Sarah with child, and as Sarah was an old woman, Abraham felt his prospects were not particularly good; hence the whole Hagar, and Ishmael episode. But in time God proved His faithfulness and Sarah gave birth to Isaac.

Thanks to films and children's picture books most people see Isaac as a small boy on the day God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son. But nowhere in the Genesis story is a small boy depicted. The King James uses the word "lad" which can mean anything between 6-16. This alone isn't enough to place Isaacs exact age-- we'll never know that this side of Heaven --but Isaac's questions reveal much about his age...

"Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"

This alone says Isaac was in possession of enough age and reason to recognize and ask questions about the ceremony of animal sacrifice. The fact that Isaac was made to carry the wood for the burnt offing shows he wasn't a small child, incapable of anything other than a small burden.

So what is Abraham's response? Again in the King James...

"My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering."

Now, some will accuse me of reading into the text what I want it to read, but that doesn't change what's there... that God will provide HIMSELF as lamb. How could God possibly provide Himself-- His own physical presense --as a sacrifice?

Herein is another Type. One that has it's fulfillment many hundreds of years into the future. One that all the prophets looked forward to... the Messiah. Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ in the Greek language.

Let's compare:

[Gen 22:2]

"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."

It's interesting to note that the mountains of Moriah is where Jerusalem would later stand. And where the Temple of God would be built and animal sacrifice would be performed.

To: [John 3:16]

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Consider also: [1 Tim 3:16]

"And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh..."

God came to earth in mortal flesh for the purpose of sacrificing Himself for all of mankind.

[Gen 22:6] to [John 19:17]

"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son..."

"And [Jesus] bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha..."

The point is this... As Issac carried the wood for his sacrifice, Jesus carried the the wood of His sacrifice, the cross. As Isaac consented to being bound for sacrifice, and being laid upon the altar, Jesus also went consenting to the altar of His sacrifice. As the rams horns were caught in a thicket, Jesus head was wreathed in thorns.

God doesn't do anything capriciously, without reason, or without purpose. All these things were done so as to provide an example, a glimpse into the ultimate sacrifice of God... His blood... for men.

Let's compare Joseph to Jesus... As Joseph was sold by his brethren for 20 pieces of silver, Jesus was sold by His brethren for 30. Though Joseph's brothers meant evil to their brother by selling Joseph and telling their father he was killed, their evil eventually saved them all from the famine that covered the known world. So in like manner the pharisees and the mobs that cried out for Barabbas rather than Jesus, though they meant their actions for evil, by the death of Jesus all men might now be saved from the penalty of their sin.

Here's a rather lengthy illustration of the similarities between Joseph and Jesus.

There are Types throughout the Old Testament that point to New Testament Anti-Types. The entire Bible is suffused with them, you can hardly read a chapter in the Old that doesn't relate to the New is some way, and vice versa.

Can the same be said for the Qur'an?




Next:
Detour, Part 7 - Isaiah 1:18 and the Introduction of Logic

Previously:
Detour, Part 5 - Jesus of Nazareth and Statistical Improbabilities
In Preparation for Detour, Part 5 - Exhibit B
In Preparation for Detour, Part 5 - Exhibit A
Detour, Part 4 - Comparing Translations to Established Christian Doctrines
Interlude No.1
Detour, Part 3 - Manuscripts, Translations, and "Why the KJV?"
Detour, Part 2 - The Nature and Limits of God... and why this is important
Detour, Parenthetical - "What Will Shortly Follow"
Detour, Part 1 - "Preamble"
Warning: Detour Ahead