Types and Shadows 6
The last five weeks I have been discussing different types and shadows in the Bible. According to Easton’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, “The word “type” is generally used to denote a resemblance between something present and something future, which is called the “antitype.” While there are some differences when I use the words “types”, “shadows”, “figure”, or parallels I am basically referring to the same.
Let’s look at the parallels of Elijah and
Jesus. The Old Testament prophet Elijah is introduced to us in 1 Kings
17:1. After having proclaimed a drought
of three years in Israel before King Ahab, God told Elijah to go off by himself
and hide for a while. During this time
the ravens ministered to Elijah’s need of bread and meat. This is much like after Jesus was baptized he
was “led up of the Spirit into the wilderness” (Matthew 4:1) alone. After a while (40 days) the “angels came and
ministered unto him” (Matthew 4:11).
Elijah raised a window’s son to life, in 1 Kings 17:21-23 we read, “And he stretched himself upon the child
three times, and cried unto the LORD,
and said, O LORD my God, I pray
thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. And the LORD
heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and
he revived. And Elijah took the child,
and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto
his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth”. Compare this with the passage in Luke 7:12b-15,“behold, there was a dead man carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was
with her. And when the Lord saw her, he
had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.
And he came and touched the bier: and they that bare him stood
still. And he said, Young
man, I say unto thee, Arise.
And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother”.
Of all the parallels between Elijah and Jesus, perhaps their messages are the
closest. 1 Kings 18:21, “And
Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two
opinions? if the LORD be
God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him”. In Mark 1:14-15 Jesus is, “preaching the
gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel”.
Jesus is still inviting us to
repent and “believe the gospel”, why don’t you do it today?
Elder Tim White
Types and Shadows 6
Ider,
Alabama
