The Sufferings and Death of Christ in Types/Part 1

The Sufferings and Death of
Christ in Types

by Dr. Lewis Sperry Chafer
Systematic Theology; Vol.III, Ch.V, Pgs.116-126

Part I

A type is a divinely purposed anticipation which illustrates its antitype. These two parts of one theme are related to each other by the fact that the same truth or principle is embodied in each. It is not the prerogative of the type to establish the truth of a doctrine; it rather enhances the force of the truth as set forth in the antitype. On the other hand, the antitype serves to lift its type out of the commonplace into that which is inexhaustible and to invest it with riches and treasures hitherto unrevealed. The Passover-lamb type floods the redeeming grace of Christ with richness of meaning, while the redemption itself invests the Passover-lamb type with all its marvelous significance. While it is true that the type is not the reality, as is the antitype, the elements found in the type are, in the main, to be observed in the antitype. Thus the type may, and often does, guide specifically in the right understanding and structure of the antitype. Through the recognition of the relation between the type and antitype, like that between prophecy and its fulfillment, the supernatural continuity and plenary inspiration of the whole Bible is established. The field both in typology and prophecy is vast, there being upwards of one hundred legitimate types, fully one-half of which concern the Lord Jesus Christ alone, and there being an even greater field of prophecy wherein there are upwards of three hundred detailed predictions concerning Christ which were fulfilled by His first advent. There are three major factors which serve to exhibit the unity between the two Testaments: type and antitype, prophecy and its fulfillment, and continuity in the progress of narrative and doctrine. These factors, like woven threads running from one testament into the other, bind them not only into one fabric, but serve to trace one design which, by its marvelous character, glorifies the Designer.

In answer to the question how a type can be distinguished from an allegory or analogy, some rules have been advanced. Among these it is declared that nothing is to be deemed typical which is not sustained as such in the New Testament. This statement is subject to two criticisms. (a) In the light of 1 Corinthians 10:11, there is no definiteness to the boundaries of the words, "all these things"; yet, whatever is included there is said to be typical. (b) There are many easily recognized types which are not directly sanctioned as such by any specific New testament Scripture. Like the problem of primary and secondary application of the truth, the recognition of the type must be left, in any case, to the discernment of a Spirit-guided judgment.

It is the prerogative of the science of Systematic Theology to discover, classify, exhibit, and defend the doctrines of the Scripture, and the precise features of typology are yet uncertain largely because of the fact that theologians have given their attention to other things; but who would dare to estimate the restriction imposed on the theological student's own spiritual life and blessing and, through him, upon all to whom he ministers, when the types which are God's great pictures of truth are deleted from every course of study designed to prepare him for a fruitful and worthy ministry of the Word of God! It is not enough to give these themes a passing recognition in the study of evidences; the student should be so saturated with these marvels of God's message that the whole being is set aglow with that spiritual radiance which can never be dimmed.

A true type is a prophecy of its antitype and, being thus designed of God, is not to be rated as so much human speculation, but as a vital part of inspiration itself. Naturally, Christ is the outstanding antitype since the supreme object of both the Old and New Testament is "the testimony of Jesus."

About fifty well-defined types of Christ are to be recognized in the Old Testament and a considered portion of these are types of His sufferings and death. An exhaustible and conservative treatise on the types of the Old Testament has long been a desideratum, but such a work cannot be included here. On the contrary, the briefest survey only of the major types bearing upon Christ's death will be presented.

I. THE GENERAL SACRIFICES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. Abel's Offering (Gen.4:4), which not only merits the favor of Jehovah, but indicates the fact that divine instruction on the importance and value of blood sacrifices had been given to the first of the race as they emerged from the Garden of Eden. By this sacrifice, Abel obtained witness that he was righteous. In this connection, attention should be given to Hebrews 11:4; 9:22b, as well as to all Scripture bearing upon the importance of sacrificial blood. The doctrine is not of human origin and as certainly its fulfillment in the death of Christ is alone the plan and purpose of God.
2. Noah's Altar and Sacrifice (Gen.8:20-22). The necessity of blood sacrifice is the same as in the history of Abel; but the building of an altar is a new responsibility. The altar is one of the most important features of Old Testament doctrine. Man was taught by divine instruction (Ex.20:24-26) that the altar represents no work of his own hands. It is the sacrifice on the altar which is blessed of God to the benefit of his soul. It is most significant that the divine instruction respecting the building of an altar follows immediately upon the giving of the Decalogue. Of the altar and its significance C.H. Mackintosh writes in his Notes on Exodus (3rd ed.):

It is peculiarly interesting to the spiritual mind, after all that has passed before us, to observe the relative position of God and the sinner at the close of this memorable chapter. "And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel.... An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shall sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in all places where I record My name I WILL COME UNTO THEE AND I WILL BLESS THEE. And if thou wilt make Me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone; for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shall thou go up by steps unto Mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon' " (Ex.20:22-26). Here we find man not in the position of a doer, but of a worshiper; and this, too, at the close of Ex. 20. How plainly this teaches us that the atmosphere of Mount Sanai is not that which God would have the sinner breathing, - that it is not the proper meeting-place between God and man! "In all places where I record My name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." How unlike the terrors of the fiery mount is that spot where Jehovah records His name, whither He "comes" to "bless" His worshiping people! But further, God will meet the sinner at an altar without a hewn stone or step - a place of worship which requires no human workmanship to erect, or human effort to approach. The former could only pollute, and the latter could only display human "nakedness." Admirable type of the meeting-place where God meets the sinner now, even the Person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ, where all the claims of law, of justice, and of conscience are perfectly answered! Man has, in every age and in very clime, been prone, in one way or another, to "lift up his tool" in the erection of his altar, or to approach thereto by steps of his own making; but the issue of all such attempts has been "pollution" and "nakedness." "We all do fade as a leaf, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Who will presume to approach God clad in a garment of "filthy rags"? or who will stand to worship with a revealed "nakedness"? What could be more preposterous than to think of approaching God in a way which necessarily involves either pollution or nakedness? And yet thus it is in every case in which human effort is put forth to open the sinner's way to God. Not only is there no need of such effort, but defilement and nakedness are stamped upon it. God has come down so very near to the sinner, even in the very depths of his ruin, that there is no need for his lifting up the tool of legality, or ascending the steps of self-righteousness, - yea, to do so, is but to expose his uncleanness and his nakedness. -Pp. 270-72

Under this general head may be grouped all the sacrifices of the Old Testament, all of which look on to the death of Christ.

II. THE PRESCRIBED SACRIFICES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT

1. The Paschal Lamb. Israel's national and abiding redemption, as well as the safety of the firstborn in each home, was secured by the paschal lamb. So far-reaching is this redemption that Israel was required, in recognition of it, to re-enact the Passover throughout all her generations - not as a renewal of redemption, but as a memorial. The two general aspects of the meaning of the Passover are also well expressed by C.H. Mackintosh:

"And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper door-post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof." We have to contemplate the paschal lamb in two aspects, namely, as the ground of peace, and the centre of unity. The blood of the lintel secured Israel's peace.- "When I see the blood, I will pass over you." There was nothing more required in order to enjoy settled peace, in reference to the destroying angel, than the application of the blood of sprinkling. Death had to do its work in every house throughout the land of Egypt. "It is appointed unto men once to die." Bur God, in His great mercy, found an unblemished substitute for Israel, on which the sentence of death was executed. Thus God;s claims and Israel's need were met by one and the same thing, namely, the blood of the lamb. That blood outside proved that all was perfectly, because divinely, settled; and therefore perfect peace reigned within. A shade of doubt in the bosom of an Israelite would have been a dishonor offered to the divinely appointed ground of peace - the blood of atonement....
We shall now consider the second aspect of the Passover, as the centre round which the assembly was gathered, in peaceful, happy, holy fellowship. Israel saved by the blood was one thing, and Israel feeding on the lamb was quite another. They were saved only by the blood; but the object round which they were gathered was, manifestly, the roasted lamb. This is not, by any means, a distinction without a difference. The blood of the lamb forms the foundation both of our connection with God, and our connection with one another. Apart from the perfect atonement of Christ, there could obviously be no fellowship either with God or His assembly. Still we must remember that it is to a living Christ in heaven that believers are gathered by the Holy Ghost. It is with a living Head we are connected - to "a living stone" we have come. He is our centre. Having found peace through His blood, we own Him as our grand gathering-point and connecting link. - "Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matt.18:20). The Holy Ghost is the only Gatherer; Christ Himself is the only object to which we are gathered; and our assembly, when thus convened, is to be characterized by holiness, so that the Lord our God may dwell among us. The Holy Ghost can only gather to Christ. He cannot gather to a system, a name, a doctrine, or an ordinance. He gathers to a Person, and that Person is a glorified Christ in heaven. This must stamp a peculiar character on God's assembly. Men may associate on any ground, round any centre, or for any object they please; but when the Holy Ghost associates, it is on the ground of accomplished redemption, around the Person of Christ, in order to form a holy dwelling-place for God (1 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:21-22; 1 Pet. 2:4-5). -Ibid., pp. 137-38, 149-50

       The six essential requirements to be found in the paschal lamb were: a lamb without blemish; a lamb that was tested; the lamb slain; the blood to be applied; the blood a perfect propitiation against divine judgment; the lamb partaken of as food. That Christ is the antitype in all this could hardly be doubted.
       2. THE FIVE OFFERINGS (Lev. 1:1-7:38). The five offerings are: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. These are properly classed as sweet savor offerings, which grouping includes the first three, and non-sweet savor offerings, which grouping includes the last two. Reference has been previously made to these five offerings, and it will suffice at this point to restate that the sweet savor offerings represent Christ offering Himself without spot to God (Heb. 9:14), and that this is substitutionary to the extent that, as the sinner is wholly void of merit before God (Rom. 3:9; Gal. 3:22), Christ has released and made available upon grounds of perfect equity His own merit as the basis of the believer's acceptance and standing before God. On the other hand, it should be remembered that the non-sweet savor offerings represent Christ as a sacrifice for sin and as such the Father's face is turned away and the Savior cries, "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (PS. 22:1; Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). The ground of a forgiveness both just and complete in the death of Christ is thus foreshadowed in the non-sweet savor offerings.
       3. THE TWO BIRDS (Lev. 14:1-7). As on the Day of Atonement when two goats were required to fulfill the entire picture of Christ's death, so two birds are required in the cleansing of leprosy - the type of sin. The first bird slain speaks of Christ "delivered for our offences," while the second bird, dipped in the blood of the first bird and released, speaks of Christ "raised again for our justification." (Rom. 4:25).
       4. THE DAY OF ATONEMENT. Again the larger extent and accomplishment of Christ's death is set forth typically in magnificent detail by the events and specific requirements of the Day of Atonement. Of the typical meaning of the offerings prescribed for the Day of Atonement - the bullock for the high priest, and the two goats - Dr. C.I. Scofield states:

The offering of the high priest for himself has no anti-type in Christ (Heb. 7:26, 27). The typical interest centres upon the two goats and the high priest. Typically (1) all is done by the high priest (Heb. 1:3, "by Himself"), the people only bring the sacrifice (Mt. 26:47; 27:24, 25). (2) The goat slain (Jehovah's lot) is that aspect of Christ's death which vindicates the holiness and righteousness of God as expressed in the law (Rom. 3:24-26), and is expiatory. (3) The living goat typifies that aspect of Christ's work which puts away our sins from before God (Heb. 9:26; Rom. 8:33, 34). (4) The high priest entering the holiest, typifies Christ entering "heaven itself" with "His own blood" for us (Heb. 9:11, 12). His blood makes that to be a "throne of grace," and "mercy seat," which else must have been a throne of judgment. (5) For us, the priests of the New Covenant, there is what Israel never had, a rent veil (Mt. 27:51; Heb. 10:19, 20). So that, for worship and blessing, we enter, in virtue of His blood, where He is, in the holiest (Heb. 4: 14-16; 10:19-22). The atonement of Christ, as interpreted by the O.T. sacrificial types, has these necessary elements: (1) It is substitutionary - the offering takes the offerer's place in death. (2) The law is not evaded but honored - every sacrificial death was an execution of the sentence of the law. (3) The sinlessness of Him who bore our sins is expressed in every animal sacrifice - it must be without blemish. (4) The effect of the atoning work of Christ is typified (a) in the promises, "it shall be forgiven him"; and (b) in the peace-offering, the expression of fellowship - the highest privilege of the saint. - The Scofield Reference Bible, pp. 147-48

The specific features thus required are: the bullock for the high priest, the substitution of the animal for the sinful person, the upholding of the law, the perfect character of the sacrifice, the sin covered by the blood of the first goat, and the guilt taken away by the dismissal of the second goat.
5. THE RED HEIFER (Num. 19:1-22). The New Testament doctrine of cleansing for the believer is stated in 1 John 1:7, 9. Defilement is removed by the blood of Christ upon confession. The type of such cleansing, which also served a grand purpose in the economy of the Mosaic system, is seen in the ordinance of the red heifer. Of this J.N. Darby writes:

The Heifer was completely burned without the camp, even its blood, except that which was sprinkled directly before the tabernacle of the congregation, that is, where the people were to meet God. There the blood was sprinkled seven times (because it was there that God met with His people), a perfect testimony in the eyes of God to the atonement made for sin. They had access there according to the value of this blood. the priest threw into the fire cedarwood, hyssop, and scarlet (that is, all that was man, and his human glory in the world). "From the cedar down to the hyssop," is the expression of nature from her highest elevation to her lowest depth. Scarlet is external glory (the world, if you please). The whole was burned in the fire which consumed Christ, the sacrifice for sin. Then, if anybody contracted defilement, though it were merely through neglect, in whatever way it might be, God took account of the defilement. And this is a solemn and important fact: God provides for cleansing, but in no case can tolerate anything in His presence unsuited to it. It might seem hard in an inevitable case, as one dying suddenly in the tent. But it was to shew that for His presence God judges of what is suited to His presence. The man was defiled and could not go into God's tabernacle. To cleanse the defiled person, they took some running water, into which they put the ashes of the heifer, and the man was sprinkled on the third and on the seventh days; then he was clean. - Synopsis of the Books of the Bible, new ed., I, 264-65

The essential features of this ordinance were: an animal without blemish, the slaying of the animal, every part consumed by fire, the retaining of the ashes for cleansing, the mingling of the ashes with water, and the application of the water and ashes for the cleansing of defilement.

(Continue to Part II)