Types in the Bible

If I put a cowboy hat on you, a badge that said “Sheriff”, and a belt and six shooter, what would you be a type of then? A western sheriff, perhaps? But, would you really be a sheriff? No, you wouldn’t. But, if I went looking for a western cowboy sheriff I would now have an idea what I was looking for would look like.

There are types in the Bible. In fact, there are two main types in the Bible. One is a type of Christ and the other is a type of Satan and his anti-Christ. These are the two main types in the Bible. You are a type. Are you a type of a faithful follower of Christ or are you a type of a carnal, flesh motivated Christian who isn’t worth the shot and powder it would take to blow them into the lake of fire? Whichever it is, you are a type of something, just as your life is a parable, as was Job’s, which tells a story beyond itself.

In both Job 27:1 and Job 29:1 the Bible records, “ Moreover Job continued his parable, and said,” and then he continues his lamentation.

What story does your life tell? Is it one of faith and trust in Christ or do you spend a lot of time trying to justify yourself as Job did?

But, back to types. A type of God the Father would be Abraham when he took his son, Isaac, a type of Christ, to sacrifice, knowing that God could raise him from the dead.

Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, 18 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: 19 Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.

“In a figure” is the Bible way of talking about a type. Abraham did receive Isaac back from the dead in type, or “in a figure”.

Again,

1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. 21 ¶ The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

So, Baptism is salvation in type. It’s similar to the ark as a figure of us being saved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are, in type, buried with Him and raised up with Him.

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

The early Christians offered their Baptism up as their public profession of faith in Christ but, unfortunately, the harlot, pagan church at Rome eventually confused it so badly that it became necessary for salvation and in fact, they believed mistakenly that it was baptism that saved you.

Notice that when the Bible says “as” how often a type is about to be revealed.

Job 11:12 For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass’s colt.

Now, you can understand that this is a type, as you have never seen a baby be born braying like a donkey, neither do babies have heels with which to kick like a colt.

Now, let’s try a little challenge. Can you tell me how Joseph is a type of Christ?

Joseph, like Christ, was beloved of his father.

Genesis 37:3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.

And Christ.

Matthew 3:17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Joseph was not believed in or by his brethren.

Genesis 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words. 9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold, I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me. 10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?

And Christ.

John 7:5 For neither did his brethren believe in him.

Joseph was hated of his brethren.

Genesis 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

And Christ.

John 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Do you see how it works? You can go through the story of Joseph and make many, many comparisons between him and Jesus Christ. Not that he WAS Jesus or that he was sinless but that he was like Christ, in type.

As you look at TYPES of Christ, notice Adam who was willing to die for his bride as Christ died for His.

Genesis 3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

Notice, that in contrast to most major Bible commentators that the Bible says that Adam was WITH HER. If you don’t think he was, argue with God, not me.

And then;

1Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Now, I am bringing this TYPOLOGY up to show you the limits of TYPING. Adam sinned. Christ did not. Adam caused the death of the race, while Christ caused it to have a chance at life eternal. Be careful of how far you take types.

Now, for another thing about types. One individual can be a TYPE of both Christ and the Beast of Revelation, whom we refer to as the anti-Christ although that term doesn’t exist in the book of Revelation.

Here, is the mention of the number of the beast in Revelation.

Revelation 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

Now, notice this about Solomon.

2Chronicles 9:13 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred and threescore and six talents of gold;

Gold can be a symbol of divinity and the number here matches. It is the number of a man. Notice Solomon’s behavior after this verse mentions 666 as you read the Bible.

Now, see how Solomon is like Christ in building a house of God, the temple.

1Kings 5:5 And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name.

Now, can you see how the Son of God, Jesus Christ, has built a house, a temple, in God’s name?

1Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

Once again, you can do this over and over for every Biblical personage to permit God to teach you about the Saviour and our enemy, the Devil.

The prince of Tyrus, historical Tyre, is a type of Satan. The Bible shows you how deliberate this typing is. God uses types often in this way and He moves in and out of the typology forcing you to pay close attention. You learn about Satan’s past and who he was in this. When is He talking about Satan and when about this wicked, earthly king? Think on this.

Ezekiel 28:1 ¶ The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God: 3 Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide from thee: 4 With thy wisdom and with thine understanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten gold and silver into thy treasures: 5 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: 6 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God; 7 Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. 8 They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas. 9 Wilt thou yet say before him that slayeth thee, I am God? but thou shalt be a man, and no God, in the hand of him that slayeth thee. 10 Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
11 ¶ Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.


If you read the Bible through once per year as the Pastor has mapped out and if you want to obey the Pastor and you should, you need to be reading just as he said, then you can take a time or two and read it looking for types of Christ and then another time for types of Satan. It’s a lot of fun and very interesting.

Now, think on this. Who is Pharaoh a type of in this passage? When do you see the type in print? What verse? By the way, this Pharaoh is obviously a foreign Pharaoh, installed by Assyria.

Ezekiel 31:1 ¶ And it came to pass in the eleventh year, in the third month, in the first day of the month, that the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, and to his multitude; Whom art thou like in thy greatness?
3 Behold, the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs.
4 The waters made him great, the deep set him up on high with her rivers running round about his plants, and sent out her little rivers unto all the trees of the field. 5 Therefore his height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot forth.
6 All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. 7 Thus was he fair in his greatness, in the length of his branches: for his root was by great waters. 8 The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. 9 I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. 10 ¶ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast lifted up thyself in height, and he hath shot up his top among the thick boughs, and his heart is lifted up in his height; 11 I have therefore delivered him into the hand of the mighty one of the heathen; he shall surely deal with him: I have driven him out for his wickedness.
12 And strangers, the terrible of the nations, have cut him off, and have left him: upon the mountains and in all the valleys his branches are fallen, and his boughs are broken by all the rivers of the land; and all the people of the earth are gone down from his shadow, and have left him. 13 Upon his ruin shall all the fowls of the heaven remain, and all the beasts of the field shall be upon his branches: 14 To the end that none of all the trees by the waters exalt themselves for their height, neither shoot up their top among the thick boughs, neither their trees stand up in their height, all that drink water: for they are all delivered unto death, to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the children of men, with them that go down to the pit.
15 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when he went down to the grave I caused a mourning: I covered the deep for him, and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters were stayed: and I caused Lebanon to mourn for him, and all the trees of the field fainted for him. 16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down to hell with them that descend into the pit: and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.
17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen.
18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden unto the nether parts of the earth: thou shalt lie in the midst of the uncircumcised with them that be slain by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord GOD.

Now, who is Solomon a type of and who is his bride a type of in the Song of Solomon? Remember, they don’t have to match exactly, detail by detail to be a type.

Who is the king of Babylon likened to here and what do we learn about the individual he is a type of?

First, a word about the king of Babylon’s thought processes.

Daniel 4:30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

Now, here are the verses I wanted to show you. Tell me who he is likened to in type and what you learn about that individual.

Isaiah 14: 4 ¶ That thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased! 5 The LORD hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the sceptre of the rulers. 6 He who smote the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he that ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted, and none hindereth. 7 The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they break forth into singing.
8 Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. 9 Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming: it stirreth up the dead for thee, even all the chief ones of the earth; it hath raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. 10 All they shall speak and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee. 12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners? 18 All the kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory, every one in his own house. 19 But thou art cast out of thy grave like an abominable branch, and as the raiment of those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the stones of the pit; as a carcase trodden under feet. 20 Thou shalt not be joined with them in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people: the seed of evildoers shall never be renowned.
21 Prepare slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers; that they do not rise, nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 22 For I will rise up against them, saith the LORD of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name, and remnant, and son, and nephew, saith the LORD.

With typology you can get an idea of when Satan and the devils, the gods of history were created. In type you can learn a lot about the character of the main person of the Bible and what happens to them. In type, you can learn about who you are. In many ways the Bible can be a mirror of your own character and Christian walk. But, these are things for another time.