The Bible is a book with many stories. All of these stories are connected. The Bible is one continuous story about Jesus Christ. God.
The Old Testament prepares and foretells the story of Christ. The New Testament announces and fulfills what was promised in the Old Testament.
There are patterns in the Bible that help us connect the Bible together. If you pay attention, you can notice the patterns or connections by focusing on each story separately.
Learning how these stories are connected will help your understanding of the Bible. The Old Testament and the New Testament are tied together.
Learning about types is one way to understand the Bible’s patterns.
What is a type?
“There is a formal definition: a biblical type is a person, office, place institution, event or thing in salvation history that anticipates, shares correspondences with, escalates toward, and resolves in its antitype.” (Chase, 2020)
“Here is another definition by David Murray: a type is a real person, place, object or event that God ordained to act as a predictive pattern or resemblance of Jesus’ person and work or opposition to both.” (2013)
The Bible proclaims Christ throughout its pages. From Genesis to Revelation, He is there.
Identifying types helps us see Him in the text.
“A type is a real person place, object or event: it is true, real and factual – not a made up allegory. That God ordained: it resembled Jesus’ person or work not by mere coincidence but by divine plan. To act as a predictive pattern or resemblance: the same truth is found in the Old Testament picture and the New Testament fulfillment. Of Jesus person and work: the truth in the picture is enlarged, heightened and clarified in the fulfillment. Or of opposition to both: God also gave prophetic pictures of Jesus’ enemies.” (Murray, 2013)
Sometimes, types can be referred to as shadows or copies. For example, as a representative man, Adam is a type of Jesus Christ. Adam is a type foreshadowing Christ. Paul talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”
What is an antitype?
An antitype is a person or thing foreshadowed by the type, or an antitype is what corresponds to the earlier type. It’s the fulfillment or completion of the type. When you see anti, you think against, but anti can also mean opposite, which is how anti is used regarding antitype.
Here is an example of the type and antitype in the Bible with the theme of the two Adams.
“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:22 ESV
Christ is the antitype, and Adam is the type. The first Adam is the type fulfilled by the second Adam, Jesus.
You have the type then antitype. The type points to the antitype. Hopefully, that’s clear.
As you read and study the Bible, not every person, place, event, or object will be a type.
You have to consider the original audience. Would the audience of the passage have understood the type? Is there a correlation found in the New Testament that shed light on the type? Is it fulfilled?
Often, scripture can be abused or misinterpreted if we try too hard to make connections that the text is not making.
To know about types and antitypes, look at the references for further study.
I love the quote by Saint Augustine “The Old (Testament) is in the New (Testament) revealed, the New is in the Old concealed.” Types can be one of those ways that we can see a those connections.
References
40 Questions About Typology and Allegory by Mitchell Chase
Jesus on every page 10 Simple ways to seek and find Christ in the Old Testament by David Murray
Typology-Understanding the Bible’s Promise-Shaped Patterns: How Old Testament Expectations are Fulfilled in Christ by James M. Hamilton Jr.
PODCAST David Murray on Typology
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/help-me-teach-the-bible/david-murray-on-typology/
