Learning From Types and Shadows in the Bible - Sermon Notes

We are in Genesis chapter 14
Abram has just returned from defeating a massive army from the area of Babylon, bringing his nephew Lot back from captivity
“-16 And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people” - Genesis 14:14

A. All the kings that Abram freed tried to pay him back - he refused payment from them

“And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale” - Genesis 14:17
…
“-23 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:” - Genesis 14:21

B. Abram meets and honours a very interesting man named Melchisedek

“-20 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all” - Genesis 14:18

C. There is so much to learn from Melchizedek

Melchizedek is the first priest in the Bible

He is not a Catholic priest
He is not even a Jewish priest
He was a Messianic Priest
The high priest of Almighty God 400 years before the founding of the Jewish nation

And he is a pattern, an example, a “form” that Jesus fulfils 2,000 years later

As OUR high priest, and mediator
As Someone who is eternal, and enough to bring all sinful men and women to God

They are all in this Book
They are very important to learn about!
Every person, every name, every place is real on every page of your Bible
Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel
Noah, Shem, Ham, Japeth
Nimrod, Babel, Egypt, Caanan
Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob
They all lived and died - but they were part of something bigger than themselves
They all pointed to ONE life - the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and how much the human race needs Him!
Even the Law of Moses
Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Have you ever wondered why Christians no longer offer animal sacrifices, worship through Jewish priests, follow Old Testament dietary laws, or practise many of the ceremonial laws and regulations found in Moses’ law?
It is because God step by step, progressively revealed His Son through all those shadows, across generations until He came and gave Himself for us!
But almost NO ONE enjoys the Bible these days simply because you have never seen the events as shadow of something more wonderful!
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ” - Colossians 2:16,17
The Old Testament is not outdated or unnecessary. Far from it.
It is essential because it lays the FOUNDATION for understanding:
The holiness of God - it is the very foundation of a sane Christian life
Sin - the seriousness of it
The value of Sacrifices - the loss of things we value, because God is worth it
Covenants and promises of God
Prophecy or promises of God
Redemption of sinful men and women from the punishment of their sin
The coming Saviour
The New Testament does not cancel the Old Testament.
It fulfils and completes it through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I am just going to give you 8 examples of shadows of Jesus in the Old Testament
Melchizedek
He is a pattern, a shadow, an example for the Messiah to follow when He would come 2,000 years later!
“For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils” - Hebrews 7:1-4
Melchizedek was how people would know that Jesus is the Messiah

As our high priest between us and God
As the receiver of our giving
As King of righteousness
And King of peace - Jerusalem
No real beginning, and no end of life
Abiding as a priest continually
Greater than Abraham! WOW!

Melchizedek was only a SHADOW of the real person JESUS!

D. The Brass Serpent on a Pole

“And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived” - Numbers 21:4-9
What is the big deal?

Once again, All of Israel was complaining and hating God’s will for them
And God was fed up with it - peopple are wicked, lazy, rebellious
And they started dying as snakes (fiery serpents) came at them and bit them, poisoned them
And God told Moses to forge a BRASS image (the cause of their death) placed on a pole
And then to have a man run through the crowd of hundreds of thousands of people crying out LOOK AT THIS! JUDGMENT HAS FALLEN ON THIS SERPENT! BELIEVE IT AND LIVE!
Sound really weird until Jesus explains it in John 3…

“Jesus answered and said unto him [NICODEMAS], Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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” - John 3:10-16
None of that makes ANY sense without the Old Testament laying the foundation of what JESUS was for US

HE was judged
HE was placed on a pole - a tree - a cross
HE DIED in the place of those dying
HE saves if only would would look to Him and trust Him as enough!

E. Moses

“This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush. He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years. This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: To whom our fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned back again into Egypt, Saying unto Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. And they made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands” - Acts 7:35-41
The Messiah needed to match the life of Moses and be better - be a better Law Giver, and Law Keeper (Moses failed several times)

The Messiah had to be a leader of Israel
A Prophet that spoke the word of God
The head of the church of God
Able to do miracles
Rejected by Israel
Able to save Israel
All of those things Jesus did!

And Stephen preached that Israel had resisted everything about Moses and now about Jesus - because their rejection of Moses showed how they would react to their Messiah
Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

F. The Old Testament Sacrifices

Lambs, bulls, goats, turtle doves

For centuries, animal sacrifices were offered according to God’s command.
Why?
Because those sacrifices pointed prophetically toward Jesus Christ.
The lambs were God’s choice of how to describe His only begotten Son’s life and death as a substitute for sinful men and women!

“Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” - Hebrews 9:6-14
The blood of bulls and goats could never fully remove sin.
They were shadows preparing the way for the true Lamb of God.
Then Christ came!
Jesus became the final and perfect sacrifice once for all.
The shadow gave way to fulfilment.

G. Young Joseph

The greatest type and example of Jesus Christ in the entire Bible
How he was hated and mistreated by his own brothers - effectively put to death by his own brethren when he was sold and abandoned to Egypt
And then when he turned 30, he was raised up out of prison and made Ruler of Egypt - a picture of Christ’s resurrection
And he marries a Gentile bride - like the New Testament Church
And he humbles his own brothers
And then saves them from the famine

H. The Sabbath

“Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it” - Exodus 20:9-11
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden [WORDS RELATING TO WORK], and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” - Matthew 11:28-30
“At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat. But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day” - Matthew 12:1-8
A sabbath is a good idea to have every week
But, No one needs to keep the Sabbath anymore to be holy or right with God
Jesus is the fulfilment of all Sabbath Days!
HE is our rest!

I. The Tabernacle and Temple

“Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” - Hebrews 8:1,2

Moses made a Tabernacle (a big tent) - pitched it - set it up
Solomon made a massive beautiful gold covered temple 450 years later
But they were nothing
They were only shadows of a heavenly temple

“For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” - Hebrews 8:3-6
So there is more than one temple to learn about

Jesus’ body was a temple (John 2:18-21) Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body.
The Christian’s body is a temple - where the Holy Spirit of God dwells, and where worship takes place (1Corinthians 6:19-20) 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? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
The Local Church is a temple
There will be a future temple - not the one the Jews are trying to build right now - but one called the Millennial Temple in Ezekiel, when Jesus returns!
They all are shadows of the presence of God in heaven!

J. Moses leading the nation of Israel through the Red Sea all the way to the Promised Land

“Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” - 1Corinthians 10:1-4
Did you notice?

Their passing through the Red Sea was a type, an example of believer’s baptism.
Then escaping Egypt was a type of salvation from Satan’s power
The Manna (unknown bread on the ground every day) was a type of Jesus
That Rock was a type of Jesus Christ - The Rock that Moses struck/beat/broke open to produce water was a type of Jesus Christ being beaten and broken so that we could have the water of LIFE - eternal life!
The Promised Land is the perfect will of God for every believer!

None are just stories - they really happened, and are a warning to learn from

“-11 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. [RUINED] Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” - 1Corinthians 10:5
WOW!
NONE of the events or people in the Old Testament are unnecessary - they ALL are vital to read about and ponder and learn from, and take warning from!
These symbols show the unity of the Bible, pointing to a single, consistent redemptive story. They demonstrate God’s providence and meticulous planning of human history. The New Testament indicates that while the Old Testament law is a shadow, the true substance belongs to Christ.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen” - Romans 11:33-36

K. The Bible is full of Pictures of God’s Son!

The Passover (Exodus 12)
Abraham offering Isaac
Joshua entering Promised Land
David being made king
250 more!

L. What’s the point?

The entire Bible, from start to finish is about Jesus
I love the New Testament, from Matthew to Revelation, but the New Testament has no meaning, no depth, no seriousness without all the patterns and shadows and ceremonies of the Old Testament!

M. What to do?

Read your Bible to get to know JESUS
Not to be a Bible scholar, but to know Jesus the Messiah and Saviour of Men
“-27 Then he [JESUS[ said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses [GENESIS] and ALL the prophets, he [JESUS] expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” - Luke 24:25

N. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to know enough to be born again

This Book was written by God - it is God’s word - better than anything ever written!
You and I will never understand it all
But anyone who wants to hear its words can believe…

They are sinful, law-breakers, rebellious, away from God
They can never do enough to make up for all their wrongs
There is only one Saviour who has done everything needed to wash away all our sins
His name is Jesus

And if you would believe on Him, trust Him, call upon Him to save a wretch like you, He will - He promises He will!