- classic example of something
- original model: something that serves as the model or pattern for other things of the same type
God's Word is so very amazing and one can never stop learning about all that it holds for our spiritual lives. Many people have not gone very deep into their study of His Word to reveal many of things for themselves. Most people just view the bible as a ancient book with two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Even more people would tell you that the Old and the New are very separated and have some things but very little to do with themselves in detail; yet this is just not true. God's Word is His revelation to mankind and if guided by His Holy Spirit; we can unlock ever more and deepening truths that will help us cement our faith in Christ the Redeemer until we are with Him one day. This is still another part of a discerning life and a full and well rounded walk in Him as our God.
Are you aware that held within the pages of the Old Testament writings are many examples of things that show us the Savior who had not yet come? These are called archetypes and God's Word is full of them. Here are just some to deepen your theology and understanding of His truths.
Genesis 3:21
Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
When Adam and Eve sinned; God covered them in skins them by taking a animals life (shedding its blood) and this was a archetype of Jesus Christ who shed His blood to cover our sins.
Genesis 7:23
And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark.
Noah and his family were IN the ark that saved them from the flood that judged the world.
The ark was a archetype of Christ who saves us from our sin if we are IN Him.
Genesis 22:8-13
And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
Abraham was going to sacrifice his own son Isaac but the Lord provided a ram for that offering; just as centuries later God would offered His own Son Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. The ram was the archetype of Christ who was sacrificed for the remission of sin.
Exodus 16:35
And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan.
God provided manna (bread) for them to eat in the wilderness and latter Jesus Christ gave His body for us and we now part take in the bread (His body) of the Lords Supper. The manna was the archetype of the Lord Jesus who now feeds and sustains us through His body broken for us.
Exodus 29;43
And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. God had the Israelites make a tabernacle which was a detailed tent so that God's Spirit could dwell near them. Then later after Christ had finished His redemptive work on the cross; the Holy Spirit came to dwell in His people and we become the Tabernacle/Temple and He dwells within us. The tabernacle was the archetype of the Spirit dwelling in us one day.
Exodus 32:11
And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.
Here we see God ready to judge the nation of Israel as it had sinned against Him and deserved it. But Moses stepped in to intercede on the peoples behalf and God (who is both judgment and mercy) heard Moses and did not destroy them. This is a archetype of the Savior Christ who now intercede for us and keeps God's judgment away form us though we deserve it indeed.
Jonah 1:17
Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
The giant fish that swallowed up Jonah for three days was a archetype of the grave that held Jesus after he was crucified. Jesus even talked about this in the gospel writings when He referred to His own impending death.
These are but a few of the many ancient archetypes that are revealed in the Old Testament that point to the coming promised Messiah. This can only be revealed as we go deeper into the Word through study and seeking Him like gold. It is also why we are to meditate on His word day and night and if we are His true people it will be what we desire most of all. For it is written in the Psalms.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Psalm 1:2-6
Feel free to email us the archetypes you have found or your favorite ones as you find them in His Holy Word.
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