There are many things in the Bible which are conveyed to our minds, not in didactic language, nor yet in figurative language, properly speaking. They are figures of thought, rather than figures of speech. Indeed, some of the figures of speech might have been presented as figures of thought. This is true of most of the proverbs, and a large part of the poetry of the Scriptures.

      But several features of interpretation remain to be brought out which we can not consistently denominate figures of speech. Hence we have introduced the term that heads this chapter, not knowing what else to say.

      SEC. 77. ANTITHESIS.--This is from the Greek anti, against, and thesis, a setting. Of this word Webster says:

      "An opposition of words or sentiments occurring in the same sentence; contrast; as, 'When our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves we leave them.' 'The prodigal robs his heir, the miser robs himself.' 'Excess of ceremony shows want of breeding.' 'Liberty with laws, and government without oppression.'"

      If we had two pillars of equal dimensions and height, one set opposite the other, with a compass on top, with one leg resting on each pillar, we would have a mechanical antithesis. There would then be no difference between these, except one would be on the north and the [346] other on the south, the right hand or the left, black or white, etc. But the two legs are supposed to be exactly equal, except in that respect in which the author has seen proper to make them to differ. A rhetorical antithesis has the same ground--thought and purpose. Hence, if at any time there shall be one member of the antithesis which we can understand, we can know what is intended by the other, by knowing that it is the opposite of the one we have described. If we know that one is on the right hand, we know just as certainly that the other is on the left hand; if one is North, the other is South-for such opposites inhere in the figure. If, at any time, we should be in doubt about what faith is, we may get its opposite, or its opposites, and understand it by the things which it is supposed to antagonize.

      The question of how faith comes, may be settled in the same way. If we can know all the causes of unbelief, and put them into one pillar, knowing that faith is the opposite, we will know that the causes directly opposite to these of unbelief will be the power, or the powers, that produce faith.

      In the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew we have several uses of the antithesis. Jesus says, "Ye have heard that it was said by them in old time," etc.; "but I say unto you" (vers. 21, 27, 33, 34, 38, 39, 43, 44). In all this, Christ shows that the righteousness which He should require of His followers was higher than that which was demanded by the Pharisees, or even that of the law.

      The duration of the punishment of the wicked can be settled by this law of antithesis (Matt. xxv. 46):

      "And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life." [347]

      The duration which is the measure of the one of these, must of necessity be the measure of the other, unless the author of the antithesis has seen proper to make a difference in that respect. In this case, so far from making any difference, He has used the same word on both sides; if the eternal life of the righteous is life without end, so is the punishment of the wicked. This is absolutely demanded by the law of antithesis.

      In Romans ii. 7-10, there is more of the need of close attention to this law; hence I quote the whole passage:

      "To them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honour and incorruption, eternal life: but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek."

      In this antithetical statement there is glory and honor and peace, put over against wrath and indignation, tribulation and anguish. It is easy to see that these are the opposites; but there is one other word used that is liable to be missed-to those that do well, eternal life shall be the reward. This is, in that place, put as the antithetical thought, but in the rehearsal the other things are mentioned, which might not be eternal; but as we understand that the eternal life means eternal glory, honor and peace, so we are compelled to regard the wrath, indignation, tribulation and anguish as eternal. We have no right to suppose that one leg of the antithesis passes through eternity, and to regard the other as limited to time.

      "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonour; it [348] is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body" (I. Cor. xv. 42-44).

      In the interpretation of this passage, it should be remembered that the only point in the antithesis is between the body as it lived and moved in the world, and what it would be in the resurrection. With that fact clearly in the mind, it will be easy to see the point of comparison. Corruption, dishonor, weakness, animal, are on one side, and incorruption, glory, power, spiritual, are on the other side. The former denotes the body as the man lived in this world, the latter as he may live in the world to come. These expressions mutually explain each other.

      The most perfect antithesis to be found in the whole Bible is to be read in II. Cor. iii. 5-13. As this has been cited already for the teaching contained in the passage, we will not quote it again, but would ask the reader's attention to it as a most instructive lesson on this subject.

      SEC. 78. SYMBOLS. This is from the Greek sumbolon, a sign by which one knows a thing or infers it, from sun, with, and ballein, to throw, to throw with, or throw together. Webster's first definition fairly exhausts its meaning:

      "1. The sign or representation of something moral or intellectual, by the images or properties of natural things; and emblem, a representation; as, the lion is the symbol of courage; the lamb is the symbol of meekness or patience."

      It may be said that types were representatives of thought, but they always represented a thought yet to be, or fact in the scheme of redemption. A symbol may tell the conditions existing at the time, or it may relate [349] to something to occur in the future; in that case they become typological prophecy--they symbolize the events beforehand and in that way foretell them.

      We can better examine the subject under three heads, or classes: The miraculous, the material, and the visional--those seen in visions, or in dreams. Several other subdivisions would be allowable, but for our brief space it is not well to introduce them.

      SEC. 79. THE MIRACULOUS SYMBOLS.--The first we come to is in Gen. iii. 24, and exhibits cherubim and a flaming sword at the East of the garden in Eden. It is emblematic of the fixedness of the word of Jehovah. Whether man had been separated from the tree of life to prevent him from living forever in sin and misery, into which he had then fallen, or for some other reason, the one thought is everywhere to be seen that the heavens and the earth are all put under tribute to keep the commandments of God.

      When Moses saw the burning bush (Ex. iii. 2), God's, glory was made to appear; it was not so much intended to tell of any future fact, as of the present majesty and dignity of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

      So the pillar of a cloud and the pillar of fire that went with the Israelites, (beginning Ex. xiii. 21), was to them a constant symbol of God's presence and watchfulness.

      In Ex. xvi. 10, we are informed of an appearance similar, in the glory of the Lord seen as the people looked towards the wilderness. Just what was then seen, may not be known, but we are certain that God made them to understand His glory by what they saw. This was seen in the display made at the Mount of Commandments, when the Lord appeared on the [350] summit in the smoke and the fire, and all the divine manifestation that accompanied the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai (Ex. xx.). Often during the wandering of Israel the Lord manifested His presence in this symbol of His glory. The acknowledgment of the Son at the time of His baptism, and at the transfiguration (Matt. iii. and xvii.), may be regarded in the list of miraculous symbols. So also was the coming of the Spirit from the heavens on the day of Pentecost (Acts ii.). The apostles had known of its coming, and for it they were waiting. As it had been previously interpreted for them, its meaning was clear. So, when the same symbol was present at the house of Cornelius, Peter was at no loss in understanding it. These divine or miraculous symbols were not prophetic; they did not tell of some future event, but of present truth.

      SEC. 80. MATERIAL SYMBOLS.--In selecting representatives of this kind of divine instruction, it is very difficult to make any clear and satisfactory distinction between symbols and types, and many commentators do not seem to have noted any difference. Like many of the figures of speech between which the distinction is not clear, symbols and types frequently seem to overlap each other. It should be remembered that the symbol is supposed to relate to the present, and only concerns the future as the same things will continue to be true; or that the symbol is employed to represent a thought that shall be true in time that is to come. But this is just where the type begins. It gathers its power of expression from the condition of things at the time, and images beforehand the things that are to come. Many things are clearly symbols, and others are clearly types; while others seem to have the two thoughts and purposes [351] combined. Many of the most beautiful and instructive of types had, at the time they were given, a symbolic truth to present of very great importance. In all the sacrifices by which sin was to be removed, there was the then present truth upon the face of all the services required that man, by his sin, had lost his right to live. There was also the thought of divine mercy in the acceptance of the sacrifice, in the place of man who deserved to die. But these become the most powerful and instructive of types as they tell of the coming of that Saviour that should suffer death for all men. In the same way we might go through the tabernacle and the temple, and find the beauty and force of symbolic truth in everything that the Lord had given them, for they were object-lessons, containing present and valuable truth; but they have an answer still to be made, in the coming of Christ and His grand accomplishments in behalf of the children of men.

      But there are enough left, that are symbols purely, for a careful study. The "testimony," as applied to the tables of the law (Ex. xxv. 16-21; xxxi. 18), and also called the tables of the covenant (Deut. ix. 9), because on the basis of these God made a covenant with Israel (Ex. xxxiv. 27, 28; Deut. iv. 13), served as a symbol as God's judgment against sin. The offering of incense from the golden altar symbolized the thought of worship, or the prayers of God's children. And while the worship of the heart is more prominent now than then, it was true then that God required them to draw near to Him in the loftiest devotion of which they were capable. And while the cherubim, stretching their wings on high, overshadowed the mercy seat, and gazed intently at the same place on the mercy seat below, there was ever presented [352] to the Jewish mind the thought that God and the angels are attentive to their worship. And as the tables of the covenant were in the ark, it was necessary that the mercy seat should overlay the ark, for the race judged by that law would all be lost; but mercy rejoices against judgment.

      In Isa. vii. 4, the prophet calls Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, two tails of smoking firebrands. Of course, in the form in which this comes to us, it is a metaphor; but it should be remembered that a symbol is in action, or being what a metaphor is in speech.

      This is true of the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper (Matt. xxvi. 26-28). "This is my body," "This is my blood," etc., is metaphorical language; but the bread and the wine are symbols of the body and blood of the Saviour.

      The bow that was set in the cloud (Gen. ix. 13), was a token or a symbol of the covenant. When Abraham treated with Abimelech, he told the king of the well his men had taken from them, and then symbolized his innocence in the matter by seven lambs (Gen. xxi. 28-30). Circumcision was a symbol of the lopping off of sin.

      SEC. 81. BUT THE GREAT NUMBER OF SYMBOLS ARE VISIONAL.--They were seen in vision, in dream or in the wakeful hours, but by the power of God. They are employed as object-lessons by which to make the man of God understand some present truth, or some event to come. Jeremiah foretold many things by the use of these forms. He has sometimes been denominated the acting prophet, on that account.

      "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond [353] tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen: for I watch over my word to perform it" (Jer. i. 11, 12).

      The almond tree was the first to blossom--in fact, it seemed never to sleep--and consequently it was regarded as a symbol of wakefulness, or watchfulness.

      Then, in the two following verses, there is a symbol of a prophetic character:

      "And the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying, What seest thou? And I said, I see a seething caldron; and the face thereof is from the north. Then the Lord said unto me, Out of the north evil shall break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land."

      A seething caldron, tilted so much as to enable a man to look into the mouth, would be a symbol of a thorough scalding. And the Lord uses it to show what was about to come upon them. The families of the kingdoms of the North should come and sit on the thrones at Jerusalem, and make war with the cities of Judah.

      In Gen. xl. 1-20, we have the two dreams of the men in prison with Joseph, in Egypt. Each had a dream: the one saw what, in symbol, meant that he should be restored--the three branches of grapes were an omen of good; but the other dreamed of the three baskets of white bread, and of the birds picking the meats from the upper, which meant that within three days his head should be lifted up from off him.

      Two symbols were presented to Pharaoh in a dream, by which he was to know what was in store for them in the days to come. (See chap. xli.) The seven fat kine, and the seven lean, that ate them up, and the seven full ears of corn, and seven thin ones, that devoured them, told of seven years of plenty, and then seven other years in which they should not be able to gather food. In a [354] dream quite similar to this, Nebuchadnezzar was made to know of the four universal monarchies, himself being at the head (Dan. ii. 1-45). In the first chapter of the book of Revelation we have several beautiful symbols. There are seven golden lamp-stands; One, like unto the Son of man, walking in the midst of them, who holds seven stars in His right hand. We learn that the lamp-stands were the seven churches, and that the seven stars were the seven messengers of the seven churches.

      In the tenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we are introduced to a symbol furnished for the education of the apostle Peter. He had gone upon the top of the house to pray, and fell into a trance, and saw a vessel, as it had been a great sheet, knit at the four corners, and full of all kinds of animals. And as he gazed upon the object-lesson, he was told to arise, and kill, and eat. But he said, Not so. He had kept the law as it related to food, and did not know that it was removed. This was the first lesson in the series by which he was to know that the Gentiles were to be fellow-heirs and of the same household with the Jews. At first it seems strange that an apostle has to be taught in this way; and yet, when we come to study the matter, we find that they had to learn very much as the rest of us. While the Lord used their organs of speech for the purpose of presenting truth to the world, they did not always understand it themselves. Peter had said, on the day of Pentecost, that the promise was to them, and to all, even as many as the Lord should call. There was a great truth that would embrace the ends of the earth; but it was several years later before its meaning was clear to him.

      SEC. 82. SPECIAL RULES FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF SYMBOLS.--These rules are few in number, yet we feel [355] that they are needed. So many different things have been made to appear in the unfolding of some of the symbols, that there is certainly no rule in the minds of many interpreters. Each man feels, that he must find something like the symbol, in the interpretation, that will fit the theology which he favors. If he is skillful in cutting and fitting history, he will doubtless succeed.

      Rule 1. Many of the symbols have been interpreted, in whole or in part, by their authors. In such a case, we have nothing to do but to accept the interpretation just as far as it goes.

      Rule 2. Other symbols have been interpreted by other inspired authors. This, again, must stand as the interpretation.

      Rule 3. Sometimes the symbol has been given in a manner that is difficult, but another writer or speaker has used the same illustration in such a way that there is no doubt as to its meaning. In that case, that which is perspicuous must declare the meaning of that which is doubtful.

      Rule 4. The names of symbols are to be understood literally. While they tell us what they saw and heard, we are to understand them as telling these things in the plainest and most direct manner possible. Many times, too, there is peculiar significance to be found in the etymology of the names or words employed. Hence the words used should be subjected to the same rules as if they were found in other composition.

      Rule 5. There must be found a resemblance, more or less clear, between the symbol and the thing signified. If this relation were not intimate, it is probable that the author would have selected some other. [356]

      Rule 6. The condition of those to whom the symbol was given must be known, if possible, for the meaning which they would be most likely to get out of it is the meaning that the author intended to put into it.

      The valley of dry bones (Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14) was to teach the restoration of the Jews from their captivity. The lesson given to Jeremiah (xviii. 1-10) at the potter's by the vessel that became marred in the hands of the potter, meant the house of Israel. And notwithstanding these have been explained by divine authority, they have been as lavishly interpreted as any other symbols; so that almost everything has been made out of them. In Jer. xxiv. we have a symbol of two baskets of figs. After the description of the figs--that one basket was very good, and the other very bad--it is explained to mean that of those who had gone away into captivity those who were true to the Lord, were good figs, and should be brought back again; but the bad people, including Zedekiah, their king, should be too bad for any use, and therefore should be tossed to and fro from Egypt to Babylon, until they should be utterly destroyed. Now, if there was only some particular opinion to assist, this might be paralleled till it would have no meaning whatever. God has interpreted it, but that does not always protect the symbol from abuse.

      In Isa. xxii. 22, there is a prophecy concerning Christ, in which it is said that on Him should be laid the key of the house of David. The word key, of course, means that he should not only be in the line of kings, but that he should sit upon the throne of David, and that he should have the power that would of right belong to Him as David's descendant. The same word, when the Saviour said to Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys [357] of the kingdom," contained the authority to open it, with all its advantages, to the world. Keys are for the purpose of opening, and it was left for men to tell the world what they were to do to be saved.

      When Jacob said, "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah" (Gen. xlix. 10), every one would understand it at once to refer to the symbol of power to rule or control. It is its natural and easy interpretation, and about it there has never been any difficulty. But the point with me is to induce men to use the other symbols in the same way.

      In Zech. iv.-vi., there are several symbols that have had about as many interpretations as there have been interpreters. Every genius has found room for his skill. And yet the interpretations that are given in the text are never followed. This is to suppose that when the Lord tells what He means by the use of object-lessons, His statements are not reliable. That splendid lamp-stand, and the two olive trees that supply with oil, were symbols of the watchfulness and helpfulness of the Lord, which assured Zerubbabel that he should succeed in rebuilding the temple. And so the flying roll was God's condemnation of thieves and false swearers. Now, when the Lord gives the meaning of the symbol, and the purpose of its exhibition, it is a sin to refuse to accept it. Speculations are excusable when the meaning has not been announced.

      In Daniel ii., we have a symbol which is partly interpreted. So there are some things which we know about the dream of the king, and some things that we must interpret by rules. We know that the four several sections in that image were four universal empires; we know that the head was the Babylonian government; we [358] know that the three others followed in the order of the silver, the brass, and the iron; we know that during the time of these kings, the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should never be destroyed. And when we use the divine interpretation as far as it goes, the meaning of the rest is easy to be found.

      The whole of the book of Revelation, or nearly the whole of it, is presented by the use of symbol. Prophets have gone to that book to prophesy, and then compel the apostle John to sanction their imaginations. Every man succeeds. Not wishing to enter this field, I have only to say that we must take every statement of meaning and purpose found in the book for its face. After that, we must remember where and when the symbols have been used, beforetime; for if they may be found in any clearer light, that usage may help in the interpretation. We must remember to whom these symbols were shown, and therefore what he would likely get out of them. We must be careful not to demand too many points of analogy, lest we shall have eisegesis, and not exegesis.

      SEC. 83. TYPOLOGY.--Of course, we mean by this a discourse about types. But then comes the question, What is a type? It is from the Greek tupos, from tuptein, to strike. Hence Webster's first definition. His first, second and fourth definitions relate to religious truth, and we quote them:

      "1. The mark or impression of something; stamp; impressed sign; emblem.

      "2. Impressed form; stamp; kind; sort.

      "4. A figure or representation of something to come; a token; a sign; a symbol; correlative to antitype.

      "'A type is no longer a type, when the thing typified comes to be actually exhibited.'--SOUTH." [359]

      It is necessary to remark, concerning types--

      (1.) That the original meaning of the word is not that which is generally found in the Scriptures.--It does not generally mean to strike, nor yet the result of striking. We say that we have seen a horse's foot in the clay, when we have only seen the impression of his foot, which would be the type. But when we take the track of the foot for the foot, we really have just the opposite of the foot. So if a man should strike his fist into a ball of putty, he would leave there, not his fist, but the type of it. Though this is not the meaning it generally has in the Bible, yet to remember this original import will be of service in the interpretation of types.

      (2.) We must never expect the type and the antitype to be the same, for that would not be type and antitype, but identity. We shall find, therefore, that it is utterly impossible to find something in the antitype that is analogous to every feature of the type, or that the type has perfectly prefigured the antitype.

      (3.) Let us remember that for one purpose generally the type has been selected, and, finding that purpose, the application will be easy.

      (4.) It must foretell something.--When it is a representation of a present truth or duty, it is a symbol, and not a type.

      (5.) It must not simply happen to represent something in the future and therefore do as an illustration--it must have been intended to represent that thought or fact when it was given. It must be as old in design as the antitype it presents.

      (6.) The Scriptures should be made to interpret them, as far as possible; and with such definition we must be content. [360]

      (7.) While we are always safe in calling anything a type that is so denominated in the word of God, it is not necessary to suppose that we are limited to these statements. It would not be reasonable that they should have gone through the whole Bible, and descanted upon every type.

      (8.) As in the interpretation of symbols the similarity between type and the antitype will lead, in most cases to the true meaning.

      (9.) Any thing, to be a type, must have been a real person, thing, event, or office.--Not so with the symbols. All the visional symbols were unreal--they were seen by assisted or superhuman sight--they were not present, though they appeared to be. But the type is real. Adam was a type of Christ; so were the sacrifices from the foundation of the world; the kings, priests, and prophets, in that they were anointed; the serpent in the wilderness, Solomon, and Joshua, etc. These were as real as the Saviour.

      (10.) The antitype is always superior to the type.--If this were not the case, there would be no reason in the type. The type is always visible at the time it is given, because it is material; but the antitype contains divine or spiritual thought. However, many times there are two or more of them in one line, and one seems to look to another as its fulfillment; yet they are all looking to the final object for their meaning.

      (11.) Sometimes figurative, language is employed in giving a typical event.--The figure should be treated as it would be if given under any other circumstances.

      (12.) The rules for the interpretation of symbols apply as well to types.--They have several features in common. In so far as the type becomes a prophecy, history should [361] be carefully examined, that we may have all the facts on both sides.

      SEC. 84. THE SEVERAL KINDS OF TYPE.--We do not mean, by this heading, that there are differences in the construction of types, or in the rules by which they shall be interpreted, but the different sources from which instruction is drawn.

      (1.) Typical persons.--No person, as such, can be regarded as a type. It must be because of some relation, office, or characteristic, that typology is possible. Adam is generally regarded as a type, in that he is the several head of the race (Rom. v. 12-19; I. Cor. xv. 22, 45). But the features of typology, as they are mentioned by the apostle, are opposites. He represents the Christ by presenting just the antithesis of what Christ was and did. He was at the beginning, and Christ at the ending of sin; he was disobedient, Christ was obedient; he brought death, Christ brought life from the dead; he made many sinners, Christ makes many righteous; he was natural, Christ was spiritual; he was from the earth earthy, Christ was the Lord from heaven. All this, however, is according to the original intent of the word.

      Moses was a type of Christ, in that he was a leader and mediator between God and the people (Deut. xviii. 15-18).

      But this language looks to Joshua for its first and partial fulfillment. Joshua was like Moses, in that he led the people. But its meaning is not satisfied till the Saviour has come (Acts iii. 22-24). It is safe to say, then, that both Moses and Joshua were types of the Messiah. Moses prefigured Him, in that he was a leader, a lawgiver, a prophet, and a mediator. Joshua was a type, in that he led the people--in that he took them across [362] the Jordan into Canaan, which in itself was a type of entering into heaven.

      Melchisedec was a type of Christ. (Gen. xiv. 18-20; Ps. cx. 4; Heb. v. 5-10, vi. 20, vii. 1-17). He prefigured Christ in his priesthood, in his excellent character, and in that he was king and priest at the same time.

      David was a type of Christ (Acts xiii. 33-35; Isa. ix. 6). He was not only a king, but was a model for his people, and, in that respect, about as complete a type as could be found.

      Solomon was a type of the Messiah though a more feeble one (II. Sam. vii. 13-15; I. Kings viii. 18-20; Rom. i. 1-4). When God promised to establish the house of David, it looked directly to Solomon, but eventually to Christ, as the greater Son of David.

      Zerubbabel was a type of Christ (Hag. i. 1-12; Zech. iv. 1-10; vi. 12, 14). He was not only a deliverer of the people, but he built the temple of the Lord, and returned the people to the pure worship of the Father.

      Cyrus, king of Persia, was a type of Christ (Isa. xliv. 27, 28; xlv. 1-4). He was the anointed of the Lord. He was not intended as a representative of the Saviour's character, and yet in that respect he would do as well as many others; but he was a deliverer. He gave the people liberty, and even helped them to return to Jerusalem.

      Ahithophel was a type of Judas (II. Sam, xv. 30-35; Psa. xli. 9; II. Sam. xvii. 23; Psa. lv. 12, 13, 20; Acts i. 16-20) Here is the intimacy of friendship, the heartlessness of greed, followed with suicide.

      Elijah was a type of John the Baptist (Mal. iii. 1, iv. 5, 6; Isa. xl. 3, 4; Matt. iii. 1-3; Luke i. 17; Matt. xvii. 10-13). [363]

      The similarity between these men was known beforehand, and stated by the prophets. Indeed, John is called "Elijah, which was to come."

      (2.) Typical things.--Things, as well as persons, have represented the coming of the Saviour and the work which he has accomplished for men. They are not types on their own account, but because divinely appointed to represent the Deliverer to come.

      The serpent in the wilderness (John iii. 14; Num. xxi. 9). It was not because of the material out of which--it was constructed, but because it was to remove the sting of the serpent, and that for that purpose it was lifted up.

      In this way the lambs slain from the foundation of the world represented the Saviour--"the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world." The altar in front of the tabernacle, represents the beginning services in becoming Christians, and the laver stands for baptism (Titus iii. 5-7; Heb. x. 22). So is there a symbolico-typical import in the animals seen in Dan. vii. They were not only symbols of certain characteristics, but they represented those men and traits that were yet to be manifested. They not only looked to the future, but they were so intended. They are not fairly types, for they were not really present, and were only seen in visions.

      (3.) Typical institutions. The sacrifices in the time of the patriarchal times, and in the times of the law, all looked either to the atonement of the Saviour, or to that spiritual worship which Christians should render the Father. The tenth day of the seventh month, which was the day of atonement, with all its services, was typical of that sorrowful night before the crucifixion, and the atonement that followed. The Sabbath was a type [364] of the Christian's rest in Christ, and of the eternal rest in heaven (Heb. iv. 1-10). The cities of refuge appointed for the man-slayer (Num. xxxv. 9-34), were a type of Him to whom we may flee for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope that is set before us (Heb. vi. 18-20). The feast of the Passover is full of the thought that we are spared from death by the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who is our paschal sacrifice (Ex. xii.; I. Cor. v. 7).

      So were the other annual feasts of the Jews--the Pentecost (Lev. xxiii. 15, 16), and the feast of the tabernacles--in the divine economy, representatives of coming thought in the scheme of salvation. The law was probably sent forth on the fiftieth day after leaving Egypt; and as it always occurred on the first day of the week, it seems to typify the great Pentecost, at which the perfect law was first announced to the world, and the purer and higher worship of the Father, through the Lord Jesus (Acts ii. 1-38). The feast of tabernacles had in view the greater joy of the Church of Christ (Zech. xiv. 16).

      The Jubilee called for the great deliverance from debt and bondage, and represented the Saviour's work (Luke iv. 16-21). Indeed, the whole of the tabernacle services were regarded by Paul as being representative of the worship in the New Covenant (Heb. ix. 9, 10). They were a shadow, type, or parable (New Version) figure.

      (4.) Typical offices.--We have already seen that men do not, of themselves, serve as types, but because of some position they occupy, or work they may perform. In this way we have found that Moses and Joshua, and others, have been types. We have called them personal, because they were represented by peculiar persons [365] pointed out as such. But we now come to notice that office answers to office. Every prophet, priest and king of the Old Testament served a purpose that answered to some particular work to be accomplished by the Saviour. These services grew out of the wants of the race. The first want is that of knowledge, and it was supplied by the man of God called a prophet, because he was to be God's man in speaking to men. Our next want was the removal of sin, and this was accomplished by the offering made by the priest. In the third place, we are in need of government and protection. This want was met by a king. Each one of these not only performed an office that was a part, though an imperfect part, of the Master's work, but they came to their position by being anointed of the Lord. The word in the Hebrew is messiah; in the Greek it is christos; in the English it is anointed. Every prophet, priest and king of ancient times was anointed or christed. Before he performed the duties of his office he became a Christ, or a christed one. Jesus was the Christ--a name above every name that had been named (Phil. ii. 9, 10)--for he represented in Himself all the qualities of these dignitaries; being to us a prophet, priest and king, by being the Christ. Those men were anointed with oil, but He with the Holy Spirit (Luke iii. 21, 22-iv. 18; Acts x. 38; Ps. ii. 6; Heb. iv. 14-16, ix. 12, v. 4).

      (5.) Typical conduct.--This, in a general way, partakes largely of the nature of symbol, and yet when it clearly related to the future, and that by divine purpose, the action becomes a type. In this sense Abraham is a type of all believers, and in that he offered up his only son, he signified the gift of God's only Son for the sins of the world (Heb. xi. 17-19). When Isaiah walked [366] naked and barefooted (xx. 2-4), he not only symbolized conditions of the people, but he foretold a future event. It seems, therefore, to have the double import. So it was with Jeremiah, when he took his girdle and went and hid it in a rock on the Euphrates, and afterwards found it rotten; that was symbolic and prophetical (Jer. xiii. 1-11). While the action of Jonah lad nothing in it but an unwillingness to do the thing that God ordered, yet it was probably the means of getting a hearing at Nineveh. It symbolized nothing at that time that we know of, but it did point to the Son of man going into the heart of the earth (Matt. xii. 39). When Jeremiah (xviii. 1-10) went to the potter's house to see a work wrought on the wheel, and when the vessel became marred in the hand of the workman, there was a symbol of the then present condition of the nation of Israel, but it was employed as the means of a teaching respecting the future. His wearing a yoke for the nations (xxvii. 1-14) is sometimes interpreted as a type, but it is better to regard it as a prophecy in action.

      (6.) Typical events.--From I. Cor. x. 1-10, we have the fact that the passage through the Red Sea was a type of Christian baptism; that the escape they thereby accomplished from their former oppressors was typical of the escape of the sinner in being baptized unto Christ; and that the rock from which water was supplied, represents Christ. From John vi. 36, we are assured that the manna that fell in tie wilderness could only faintly represent the true bread of life. In Heb. iii., iv., we are made to understand that the passage of Israel through the wilderness was typical of our journey through the world; that the good news that was presented to them of entering a land of their own did not profit them being [367] not mixed with faith in them that heard it, and so there may be in us an evil heart of disobedience in departing from the living God. He therefore warns us that we also may fall after the same example of unbelief. The whole journey through the wilderness is full of typical instruction, even to crossing the Jordan, leaving twelve stones piled up in the midst of the river, and taking twelve other stones and heaping them up at Gilgal, seems to have something to do with the witnesses of the resurrection. Peter held the view that in the ark of Noah we have a type of the sinner's salvation in baptism (I. Pet. iii. 18-22).

      (7.) Typical places.--In the shadowy representation of divine things found in the tabernacle, the outer court stands for the world, the first veil for the church on the earth, and the holiest of holies for heaven itself (Heb. ix.). Egypt is made to typify bondage in sin, since fleeing from there represents deliverance from sin. The wilderness of wandering becomes the journey of life; the Jordan represents death; and the land of Canaan tells of heaven, the final and perfect rest of all who look for the glorious appearing of our Saviour. Egypt, Sodom and Babylon typify a fallen church, with all the iniquity that comes as the result (Hos. vii. 11; viii. 13; ix. 3, 6; Zech. x. 10; Rev. xi. 8; xiv. 8; xvi. 19; xvii. 5; xviii. 2, 10, 21). This seems appropriate. After the salvation which God provided for His people in saving them out of the land of Egypt, they went away backward, and kept not the covenant of the Lord, and were sold into Babylon, hence no other word seemed to be quite so appropriate to indicate the condition of the people who had been saved in the Christ, and then had gone away from that service which He had directed, as to [368] speak of them as having gone into Babylon. And when it was seen that this delusion should be finally lifted from the hearts of the people, and that it would lose its power, it was proper to announce the event by saying that "Babylon is fallen."

      In this brief outline of types we have aimed at nothing more than a beginning for the student of the Bible. We have not thought of being exhaustive in their treatment. This would not have been possible. But having these outlines and the rules fairly well in our minds, there will be but little difficulty in dealing with any type that may appear in the investigation of any Scripture. And I conclude this section by renewing the request that all exegetes be careful to not make types of the mere circumstances of human history. And also that when we are certain that we have typical language, we guard against demanding too many points of analogy. Remember that the type has been selected for one point, or, at most, for but a very few features of similarity. [369]

[HATB 346-369]