INTRODUCTION

At times, we can think that some word or prophecy from the Bible may be coming to pass, when in reality it is not. What I’ve learned from my many years of study of the Bible is that it contains events and things that are Types and Shadows of things to come. You can see this on numerous occasions in the Old Testament. The Types and Shadows shown in the Old Testament foreshadowed the actual thing that would come to pass in the New Testament. Let us examine a few of these.

ABRAHAM’S WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE HIS SON – GOD THE FATHER’S WILLINGNESS TO SACRIFICE HIS SON

The first instance we will examine is when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on an altar. This story can be found in Genesis 22 and reads:

“Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” 

And he said, “Here I am.”

² Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”

³ So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. ⁴ Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. ⁵ And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

⁶ So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. ⁷ But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”

And he said, “Here I am, my son.”

Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”

⁸ And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together.

⁹ Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. ¹⁰ And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

¹¹ But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”

So he said, “Here I am.”

¹² And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

¹³ Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

¹⁵ Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, ¹⁶ and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son— ¹⁷ blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸ In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” ¹⁹ So Abraham returned to his young men, and they rose and went together to Beersheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba.” (Genesis 22:1-19, NKJV)

From this passage of scripture, we can see that Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son was a foreshadowing of God the Father sacrificing his son Jesus on the cross. This foreshadowing is especially highlighted in verses 13-14. As we know from the New Testament, Jesus was the “…The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29, NKJV)

THE SERPENT ON THE POLE – JESUS ON THE CROSS

This next Type and Shadow can be found in Numbers 21, which reads:

⁵ “And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” ⁶ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.

⁷ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” ⁹ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:5-9)

In this passage of scripture, we can see that the serpent on the pole is a foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross. Those who looked to the cross and accepted him as their Lord and Savior were cleansed of their sin by His blood that was shed on the cross and were healed of all of their sicknesses and diseases for “…by His stripes we were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

JONAH IN THE BELLY OF THE WHALE – JESUS IN THE BELLY OF THE EARTH

This next Type and Shadow can be found in Jonah, which reads:

¹⁷ “Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights." (Jonah 1:17, NKJV)

Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly. ² And he said:

“I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction,
And He answered me.

“Out of the belly of Sheol I cried,
And You heard my voice.
³ For You cast me into the deep,
Into the heart of the seas,
And the floods surrounded me;
All Your billows and Your waves passed over me.
⁴ Then I said, ‘I have been cast out of Your sight;
Yet I will look again toward Your holy temple.’
⁵ The waters surrounded me, even to my soul;
The deep closed around me;
Weeds were wrapped around my head.
⁶ I went down to the ^[a]moorings of the mountains;
The earth with its bars closed behind me forever;
Yet You have brought up my life from the pit,
O Lord, my God.

⁷ “When my soul fainted within me,
I remembered the Lord;
And my prayer went up to You,
Into Your holy temple.

⁸ “Those who regard worthless idols
Forsake their own ^[b]Mercy.
⁹ But I will sacrifice to You
With the voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord.”

¹⁰ So the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.” (Jonah 2:1-10, NKJV)

Jesus Himself referenced this passage of scripture when he said:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew  12:40, NKJV)

Jesus Himself is telling us that Jonah being in the belly f the fish was a foreshadowing of his own time in the heart of the earth that would come after his death and burial.

THE END TIMES OF REVELATION – THE CURRENT TIMES

It is this Type and Shadow that is tripping up a lot of Christians today. Many see the evils of this current world and the enemy’s agenda as shown in the Book of Revelation seemingly coming to pass on a daily basis and believe we are just around the corner from the Rapture. What people don’t realize is that Types and Shadows must come to pass before the actual event(s) come to pass. We are NOT currently in the events of the Book of Revelation, but in the Type and Shadow of it! The COVID-19 vaccines were a type and shadow of the Mark of the Beast. The Deep State is a type and shadow of The One World Government that will eventually be run by the Antichrist. The forthcoming Great Restoration will be a type and shadow of the Millennial Reign of Christ.

In the prophetic word entitled “The Great Restoration”, God Himself tells us in the fourth paragraph:

"I will restore Truth, Integrity and Righteousness to My Church. Do not be deceived by types and shadows. Put away your Rapture Rugs for the time is not yet, says the Lord Jesus. I have much work for you to do until I come again. I will restore health to your bodies that you may fulfill what I have called you to do. The enemy has caused much havoc in the Earth and there is much work to be done to repair this damage. A great harvest of souls is also awaiting your action."

Notice the text in bold. Jesus Himself tells us to not be deceived by types and shadows. But some may counter and say, “Doesn’t the scripture say that 'of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only?' If that is so, how can Jesus know?” It is true that Jesus said, “of the day and hour” but He never said anything about the month or year. While He may have not known this information during His earthly ministry, Jesus Himself declared in Revelation that he knew the end from the beginning. He revealed that he was eternal. Let me try to explain it from a scientific point of view. You must realize that God exists outside of space-time. He exists outside of the linear timeline that the physical universe exits in. He can insert himself into any point within that timeline as he pleases. He can also pluck someone out at a particular point in time and reinsert them into another point of along the timeline. I believe that this is what God did to Moses and Elijah when He had them minister to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. I also believe that is what happened to the Apostle John when he saw the events of the Book of Revelation.