Biblical Typology: Basic
Principles of Interpretation
Richard M. Davidson, Ph.D.
Common reactions to typology
• 1. “Oh no!” -- Skepticism
• 2. “Give me more! – Enthusiasm
• 3. “What’s that?” -- Uncertainty
Importance of biblical typology
• Leonard Goppelt: typology “is the central
and distinctive NT way of understanding
the Gospel. . .it is the decisive interpretation
of Jesus, the Gospel, and the Church. . . .
According to its NT core typology is
theologically constitutive for an
understanding of the Gospel.” (TDNT
8:255).
Importance of biblical typology
• Robert M. Grant (church historian): “the
New Testament method of interpreting the
OT is generally that of typology.”
• E. Earle Ellis: “typological interpretation
expresses most clearly the basic attitude of
primitive Christianity toward the OT.”
Nature of biblical typology
• Mark W. Karlberg: “resolution of lingering
differences of interpretation among
evangelicals depends, to a large extent, on a
proper assessment of the nature and
function of Old Testament typology.”
Nature of biblical typology
Traditional Understanding: Typology is
the study of persons, events, or institutions
which God has divinely designed to
prefigure (point forward to) the
eschatological (end time) fulfillment in
Christ or the Gospel realities brought about
by Christ.
Nature of biblical typology
• Post-critical Understanding: Typology is
the retrospective recognition of parallel
situations between OT and NT, based upon
common human way of analogical thinking
or the consistent activity of God in history,
with little or no predictive element
• E.g.: Napoleon’s Battle of Waterloo
Nature of biblical typology
• How does one determine which view is
correct?
– Without imposing one’s definition upon the
Biblical text
– Allowing the definition to emerge from the text
– Personal experience
Nature of biblical typology
• Key term: typos = English term “type”
• Typos appears 20 times in the NT
• Typos used in five NT passages where the
NT writer is interpreting the OT, and labels
his interpretation as typos (or antitypos)
• Here we can be sure typology exists,
because the NT writer identifies it as such
Nature of biblical typology
5 passages about – typos!
1. Romans 5:14
• Typos – The typos of Christ was Adam.
Nature of biblical typology
• 5 passages about – typos!
• 2. 1 Cor. 10:6, 11
• Typoi – Exodus events are “types” of the
church.
Nature of biblical typology
• 5 passages about – typos!
• 3. 1 Pet. 3:21
• Antitypos – antitype (anti in Greek can
also mean “corresponding to” –
Therefore it is “corresponding to the
type.”) Baptism is corresponding to the
flood.
Nature of biblical typology
• 5 passages about – typos!
• 4. Heb. 8:5
• Typos – referring to the earthly/heavenly
sanctuary relationship.
Nature of biblical typology
• 5 passages about – typos!
• 5. Heb. 9:24
• Antitypos - referring to the
earthly/heavenly sanctuary relationship.
• The antitype is the fulfillment of the type.
Characteristics of Biblical Typology
• 1. Historical element
– Historical realities: persons (Adam), events
(Flood, Exodus), institutions (sanctuary)
– Historical correspondence of basic contours
between type and antitype
– Intensification between type and antitype
Characteristics of Biblical Typology
• 2. Prophetic Element
– Advance presentation or prefiguration
– Divine design
– “Must-needs-be” aspect (Greek dei and anagkē)
Characteristics of Biblical Typology
• 3. Christological/soteriological element
– Not just bare historical realities, but salvific
realities
– Fulfilled in Christ or salvation realities brought
about by Christ
– Christ is the ultimate orientation point of types
and their antitypical fulfillment
Characteristics of Biblical Typology
• 4. Ecclesiological element
– Individual worshipers
– Corporate community
– Sacraments (Lord’s Supper or Baptism)
Characteristics of Biblical Typology
• 5. Eschatological element
– Inaugurated (Christ’s First Advent)
– Appropriated (era of the Church)
– Consummated (“not yet”--Apocalyptic end
time)
The Basic Elements of Biblical
Typology: Illustrated by “Mr. Typos”
1. Typos and antitypos are historical realities.
2. The typos (hollow mold) isn’t the original, but based upon a previous design. Divine design.
3. The function of the typos is to be a mold that shapes the “end” product. Predictive element.
4. The basic contours of the typos and antitypos correspond. Can argue from type to antitype.
5. The antitypos (“end” product) transcends and is always greater than the typos. Intensification.
Definition of Biblical Typology
Typology is the study of salvation historical
realities (persons, events, or institutions)
which God has divinely designed to
prefigure (point forward to) the
eschatological (“end product”) fulfillment
in Christ or the Gospel realities brought
about by Christ.
Hermeneutical Controls for Biblical
Typology--1 • Identifying the types: the prophetic
control
• If the type is truly predictive (points
forward) then one should recognize before
the fulfillment that this is a type.
• E.g.: Moses – Deut. 18:18: God says: “I will
raise up a Prophet like you [Moses].”
Case Study: Sanctuary Typology
The Heavenly Sanctuary Before Sin
• Jeremiah 17:12— “from the beginning”
• Ezekiel 28:14— “covering cherub on the
holy mountain of God”
• Isaiah 14:13— “mount of the assembly”
The linkage between the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary
• Exodus 25:9
"According to all that I
show you, that is, the
pattern of the
tabernacle and the
pattern of all its
furnishings, just so
you shall make it.
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary
• tynIb.T; tabnit: the pattern
• God says that He will show Moses on the
mountain the tabnit for the sanctuary.
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary
• “And see to it that you make them
according to the pattern (tabnit ) which
was shown you on the mountain.” Exodus 25:40
• The LXX translates tabnit here as typos
which means “type” in our language.
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary
• tynIb.t; tabnit: the “pattern”
• It is a copy of the original that
serves as a model for another copy.
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary • Illustration: 2 Kings 16:10-11, the story of Ahaz.
• “Now King Ahaz went to Damascus to meet
Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria, and saw an altar
that was at Damascus; and King Ahaz sent to
Urijah the priest the design of the altar and its
pattern [tabnit], according to all its workmanship.
Then Urijah the priest built an altar according to
all that King Ahaz had sent from Damascus.”
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary
• This tabnit was a miniature model. It was
used to make a copy of it in Jerusalem.
This is the word that is used in Exodus 25:9,
40. Moses was told to make everything
according to the tabnit.
• He saw on the mountain a miniature model
of the heavenly sanctuary!
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary • God presented Moses with a miniature model.
• “He presented before Moses a miniature model of
the heavenly sanctuary, and commanded him to
make all things according to the pattern showed
him in the mount. Moses wrote all the directions
in a book, and read them to the most influential of
the people.” (Spiritual Gifts Volume 4, page 5 )
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary
• Moses also saw the original heavenly
sanctuary:
• PP 343 – “God presented before Moses in
the mount a view of the heavenly sanctuary.”
The linkage between the earthly and
the heavenly sanctuary • Exodus 24:10
• “and they [Moses and the 70 elders] saw the God
of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a
paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the
very heavens in its clarity.”
• Moses saw as much of the vastness and glory of
the heavenly sanctuary as it was possible for him
to grasp
The linkage between the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary
• Ezekiel 1:26 and 10:1 indicates that God’s throne was made out of sapphire.
• Ezekiel 28:14 refers to the “stones of fire” in the heavenly sanctuary, one of which was no doubt sapphire (see v. 13).
• Maybe Moses on the mountain (Exod 24:10) is seeing one of the pavement stones in the heavenly temple.
Hermeneutical Controls for Biblical
Typology--2
Extent of typological correspondence:
Focus on the basic contours, not every
minute detail of the type.
• How does one apply this to the sanctuary
typology?
The “basic contours” of Sanctuary
Typology
• Those features that
are consistent with
the different earthly
sanctuaries are the
“basic contours”
that parallel the
heavenly sanctuary
“Basic Contours” of Sanctuary
typology
• Four main earthly OT sanctuaries/temples:
• 1. Mosaic tabernacle
• 2. Temple of Solomon
• 3. Second temple (built by Zerubbabel)
• 4. Ezekiel’s temple (described in Eze 40-48
but never built)
The “basic contours” of sanctuary
typology • All OT sanctuaries
had:
1. Three spheres of holy
space – courtyard,
holy place, most holy
place
The “basic contours” of sanctuary
typology
2. Same proportions (not dimensions),
with cube-shaped Most Holy Place.
The “basic contours” of sanctuary typology
3. Same kinds (not number) of articles of furniture
The “basic contours” of sanctuary typology
• 4. Same order of
priests.
The “basic contours” of sanctuary typology
• 5. Same
kinds of
sacrifices
The “basic contours” of sanctuary typology
• Hebrews 9:2-4 2 For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the Holy Place; 3 and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, 4 which had the altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
• Heb 8:1-5: priests and sacrifices
Hermeneutical Controls for Biblical
Typology--3
The three-phase NT fulfillment of
the OT types
• The basic ground-plan of NT eschatology :
• 1) Hebrews 1:1, 2 says that the “last days” started
(the eschatological fulfillment began) at Jesus’ first
advent. He was “the already”, the inaugurated
eschatology.
• This is “D-Day.”
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
The basic ground-plan of NT eschatology :
2) The Second Advent is the “not yet”, the
consummated eschatology, the “end” (1 Pet
4:7; 1 Cor 15:24)
• This is V-E Day.
The basic groundwork of NT eschatology :
• 3) The time of “tension” between the
“already” and the “not yet.” It is the time of
appropriated eschatology in which we
appropriate to ourselves what He has worked
out by Him.
• This is the time of the church, where we live
today.
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
Sanctuary Typology:
1. Inauguration— Jesus is the antitypical
temple (Matt 12:6; John 2:21).
2. Appropriation--the church is the temple of
God (1 Cor 3:16, 17; 2 Cor 6:16).
3. Consummation—the heavenly
temple/tabernacle is with men (Rev 21:3)
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
• All sanctuary typology has its basic fulfillment in Christ. Our evangelical scholars usually stop at this foundational point. But it is also true that what happened in Jesus is to be fulfilled spiritually in us. We are the body of Christ, our bodies are the temples of God, we are to be His priests, we are to be the light of the world, etc.
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
• Some non-SDA Christians understand appropriated sanctuary typology but almost all fail to take the third step—consummated sanctuary typology.
• . In Heaven there is a real heavenly sanctuary, which overarches all sanctuary typology. Sanctuary typology has a vertical dimension that has been there all along.
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
At the end of time, there will be the apocalyptic fulfillment of the sanctuary typology.
The “tension” between earth and heaven, between the “already” and the “not yet,” will be resolved.
• We will enter God’s temple forever!
The three-phase NT
fulfillment of the OT types
• The modality of these phases of NT
fulfillment, based on the presence of
Jesus:
• Inaugurated: literal and local
• Appropriated: spiritual and universal
• Consummated: glorious, final, universal,
literal
Conclusion
• SDAs have the privilege to preach with
joy the full orb of sanctuary typology. It
is not only dealing with the “already” but
it focuses on the appropriated (the time of
the church now) and the “not yet” (God’s
people united with Jesus in the heavenly
sanctuary at the Second Advent and
beyond).