Typology
Typology is the study of "types" or pre-figurements of Christ and other Scriptural persons or things and events that point to the fulfillment of the Old Covenant by Jesus Christ.
See also Salvation History
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“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Mt 5:17-19)
Scripture on Typology
A good place to start one's understanding of biblical typology is in the Holy Scripture itself.
"And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”
Here, Jesus directly states the typology of the serpent mounted on the pole by Moses (Num 21:9)
Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.
1 Peter 3:20-22, in which Peter explicitly states the typology of the Flood as baptism:
who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God* for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him
1 Corinthians 10:1-6: Paul explains the typological connection between Exodus and salvation in Christ -- and also Christ's presence in Exodus ("and the rock was the Christ"):
I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert. These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.
Typology as a tool for understanding the History of Salvation
- typology reveals the parallels between the Old and New Testaments
- which helps us to understand "Salvation History," or "God's Plan for Salvation
- by which Christ redeems mankind from the Fall of Adam and Eve.
Mary and the Ark
Mary the Mother of God parallels to many Old Testament types, but one of the most important is to the Ark of the Covenant.
WIth the Incarnation, we begin the New Covenant, or fulfillment of the Old Covenant.
| Old Testament | Mary | |
|---|---|---|
| The Ark of the Covenant | The Ark moved to >> house for 3 months | Mary visits Elizabeth |
| David dances | John leaps for Joy from the womb | |
| John the Baptist | Elizabeth and Zachariah are a type for the Old Covenant
(faithful to it) |
John marks the New Covenant and serves to announce it literally in his mission |
Biblical parallels (misc)
Two sons
- the Parable of the Prodigal Son starts
A man had two sons... (Lk 15:11)
- unrelated to the parable, but "two sons" or sibling rivalries ocurr across the Bible:
- Cain and Abel
- Ishmael and Isaac
- Jacob and Esau
- Adonijah and Solomon