Old Testament Types

I have often spoken of “the Gospel in Genesis” – it is there. “The Gospel according to Leviticus” is a phrase now commonly employed by the best students of the Book. But the Gospel is in Exodus also – as surely as it is in John. To deny that there is a definite and Divinely appointed relation between these Old Testament types and symbols and the New Testament truths is to destroy the unity of the ages, and divorce to¬day from yesterday. There are people who object to our going back to these ancient types, for the well-sounding reason that the symbol is passed away, and the substance is now ours “in Christ Jesus.” “Why then stop to spend our time upon the outline when we have the finished product; before the imperfect representation – belonging to a past time – when we have a picture up-to-date, one more perfect and pleasing; before the blue-print when the building itself is ours? Such a question is not difficult to answer. A simple illustration will suffice: Once I found my small boys ransacking a dresser drawer in search of old pictures of their father. Some of these were tintypes and presented a youth whose appearance in no respect increased his pride, but they were of deep interest to them because they illustrated the growth of him with whose life their own is so intimately linked. Is not that the reason why every picture of God – the Father; and the Holy Spirit – our Instructor; of Jesus – our Saviour, is of interest to Christians – children of the King. And furthermore, it is a delight to the modern believer to see that God, in His infinite wisdom and great mercy, did not leave the Ancients without a revelation of Himself, a revelation of His Spirit and a revelation of His Son! The symbols by which the Trinity is expressed are not only striking illustrations of the divine character; but also gracious expressions of divine love and care! I have chosen to present these symbols in the order of their appearance in the text, rather than the logical order of Father, Son and Spirit-typified.