Introduction To Typology by Pastor Dolapo Lawal: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we thank you for the entrance of your word giving us light. Lord, we ask that Jesus is glorified, that we are edified, that we see him and we see us as he sees us in him. We thank you for oneness. We thank you for family. We thank you for bringing us together from different backgrounds and countries, but one in you, with a connection stronger than biology, united by your eternal blood that was shed for us. Lord Jesus, we honor your sacrifice and we say thank you. Lord, have your way. Unto you shall the gathering of your people be — in Jesus' mighty name. Amen.

What Is Typology?

Typology, simply put, is when something in Scripture is pointing to Christ. There is a thing, but that thing is not the meaning in itself — the understanding is supposed to be derivative from the real thing, and the real thing we are referring to is Christ.

Colossians 2:16–17

Hebrews 10:1

The shadow points forward. The substance is always Christ.

Examples of Types and Shadows in Scripture

The book of Esther contains no mention of God — making it a book that operates entirely through types and shadows. Working through its characters reveals the pattern:

• The King — a type of God
• Mordecai — a type of the Holy Spirit, present with the people
• Haman — a type of the devil, the accuser of the brethren
• Vashti — a type of Israel, who did not respond to the king
• Esther — a type of the church, chosen to provoke Israel to jealousy

Because Vashti did not respond to the king, he went and chose Esther — just as because Israel did not respond to God, he came to the church, to provoke them to jealousy.

Other clear types of Christ found throughout Scripture:

• Abel — a keeper of sheep who offered a sacrifice, typifying the sacrifice of Jesus; first blood spilled, pointing forward
• Adam — the first Adam through whom sin entered; Christ is the last Adam, as 1 Corinthians 15 declares. Just as the devil tempted Adam in the garden, so he came for the last Adam (Matthew 4)
• Abraham and Isaac — the offering of Isaac on the mountain typifies the Father offering the Son (Genesis 22)

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• The Passover Lamb — God placed Israel in Egypt for 400 years specifically to create the context for this type. It was not about ethnicity — if an Egyptian put the blood on their doorpost, they would have been exempted. The setting was designed to typify that it is not by people, it is by blood
• The Brazen Serpent — as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so Christ was lifted up. He said: "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself"
• Jonah — Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish. Jesus expressly stated that as Jonah was three days in the belly of the great fish, so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth
• The Rock — 1 Corinthians 10 states that Christ is the rock. This is why God was displeased when Moses struck the rock — salvation is received by speaking, not by works
• David — his rejection, his psalms, the tabernacle of David, and the seed of David all carry typological weight
• Noah's Ark — a type of salvation and preservation through judgment

Rules and Guidelines for Christocentric Typological Interpretation

To read types and shadows correctly, there are principles that prevent the interpreter from forcing connections that are not there.

Rule 1: Christ Is the Central Fulfillment of Scripture

The movement is always from answer to question — not from question to answer. The reader knows what Christ did first, and then investigates the prophetic utterances and shadows that foreshadowed it.

It is not a typology if Moses is typifying David. It is not a typology if David is typifying Elijah. It only qualifies as typology when it is foreshadowing Christ.

Luke 24:27

Luke 24:44

John 5:39

Rule 2: Typology Must Arise from the Biblical Text, Not Imagination

1 Corinthians 10:11

Romans 15:4

Typologies must be seen in the Bible — they cannot be invented. There is a difference between inferring from context (which is valid) and importing ideas that are not in the text (which is error). Using the surrounding context of a passage to fill a gap is acceptable. Borrowing ideas from outside the text to manufacture a typology is not.

Rule 3: A Type Must Have a Real Historic Basis

Romans 5:14

Hebrews 8:5

Adam was a real person. A type must have a real historical basis — it cannot be built on a myth or an abstraction. Before something can be made after a pattern, there must be a real thing that was seen first.

A sign that an interpretation is heading toward error: when the reader finds texts that negate what they are building, yet has more texts supporting their position — and continues anyway. Scripture does not contradict itself. If a genuine typology is present, the texts will come together. When they resist, the interpretation should be dropped.

God reveals Christ. People discover letters. A revelation is a function of positioning — it is shown to you. An interpretation that requires forcing was never shown.

Rule 4: The Antitype in Christ Is Greater Than the Type

The type is always lesser than Christ. Jesus is everything that is good in the Old Testament, and better than everything that they were not.

• He is not Solomon's womanizing — he is Solomon's wisdom
• He is not David's poor leadership choices — he is David's heart of worship

Hebrews 3:3

Hebrews 10:1

No matter the type and shadow seen in Scripture, Jesus is always greater.

Rule 5: Typology Must Agree with the Doctrine of the Gospel

The gospel is defined in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4. Typology must agree with this doctrine. A typology cannot conclude that people work hard to be accepted by God. The new covenant declares that we come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and help in time of need.

It is worth noting that the new covenant did not originate in the New Testament — God prophesied it in the book of Ezekiel. There is nothing innovative about the New Testament. It is an explanation of Old Testament writings.

Galatians 1:8

The word accursed here means anathema — let them be banished, not given room to speak. This is not a personal curse in the New Testament sense; it is a call to refuse platform to corrupted teaching.

1 Timothy 1:3

The presentation may be updated. The message is never updated.

Rule 6: New Testament Confirmation Strengthens Legitimate Typology

New Testament here refers not simply to a set of books, but to the new order — the approach toward God by the finished works of Christ. Legitimate typology must be confirmed and strengthened by this new covenant framework. A typology cannot support the idea that effort earns acceptance with God.

Hebrews 9:8–9

Colossians 2:17

In the first covenant, even after offering the sacrifice, the conscience remained aware that nothing had truly changed inside. The new order, revealed in Hebrews 10, is that Christ went in once and for all.

Rule 7: Typology Should Reveal Redemptive Themes Fulfilled in Christ

A typology must show something connected to the redemptive work — such as:

• Atonement
• Substitution
• Reconciliation
• Forgiveness of sins

Typology is not a vehicle for material promises. When Abraham said "God will provide" on the mountain in Genesis 22, the fulfillment is not a present-tense financial transaction — it is the declaration that God has provided. Abraham went to the mountain to give, not to receive. The context matters deeply.

John 1:29

Hebrews 7:11–17

Mishandling this principle results in a teaching that sounds exciting but produces shipwrecked faith in the hearers. When people build their expectation on a typology that is not about Christ, real life will challenge that expectation — and they will not conclude the teacher was wrong. They will conclude that God's word is not true.

2 Timothy 2:16–17

A message that spreads rapidly is not necessarily a correct message. When a teaching makes the doctrine of the Trinity sound fully logical and easy to grasp, something has been lost — because God, by nature, exceeds comprehension. The moment a doctrine about God feels fully resolved by human reasoning, it deserves suspicion.

Rule 8: Typologies Are Shadows Pointing Forward

The type is always in the past. What it typifies is present or forward. The New Testament cannot be used to typify the Old Testament — the direction is always forward.

Hebrews 10:1

Colossians 2:17

The question is in the Old Testament. The answer is in the New Testament. This holds whether the classification is by dispensation — the law dispensation (approach toward God by efforts) versus the new covenant (approach toward God by the finished works of Christ) — or by books, from Genesis to Malachi and Matthew to Revelation.

David: A Man Ahead of His Generation

David's psalms reveal a startling depth of New Covenant insight, centuries before the cross.

Psalm 40:6–8

Burnt offerings and sacrifices were the Old Testament method for the forgiveness of sins. A human being writing that God took no pleasure in them — before Moses' system had passed — was seeing something that Moses saw but could not yet declare openly. The phrase "in the volume of the book" — the word for book here shares the same root as covenant, will, testament. David was saying: I have come to establish this new testament.

David then established the tabernacle of David — 24/7 worship, after the pattern of heaven. John in the book of Revelation described worship going on continuously in heaven. David, 3,000 years before John, structured earthly worship after the same pattern.

A person can be 3,000 years ahead of their generation. Do not profile by outward appearance — to do so is to risk missing your visitation.

Father, in the name of Jesus, Lord, we thank you for this time in your word. We thank you for friends all around the world joining in. Lord, we ask that the things heard — committed among many witnesses — the same may be committed to faithful men, that they may be able to teach others also. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen.