SOME TYPOLOGY
OF THE SPRING
FESTIVALS
COMPILED BY
Keith Hunt
I have in my library about 8 books(not booklets) I have
collected over the years on the Festivals of God. One of those
books, written and published in 1975 is called THE FEASTS OF THE
LORD and the author is Robert Thompson. It is a fine book over
330 pages. For those interested it is published by Omega
Publication, P.O. Box 4130 Medford, Oregon 97501, USA. I cannot
tell you if it is still in print.
Robert Thompson has some very interesting Typology studies
throughout his book. The ones I present here are concerning God's
SPRING festivals, of Passover, Unleavened Bread feast, and
Firstfruit.
The quotes are taken from pages 71 to 80. All emphasis is
mine throughout.
Quote:
FOUR MAJOR TYPES
OF REDEMPTION
It appears that there are least four major types of
redemption outlined in the Bible.
The four types are as follows: (1) the seven days of creation;
(2) the journey of Israel from Egypt to Canaan; (3) the
Tabernacle of the Congregation; (4) the seven Levitical
convocations.
By the term redemption we are referring to God's plan in
Christ for the bringing of human beings from their miserable
state of sins, degradation, and death, all the way to the throne
of Glory. To redeem a thing or person is to restore it or him to
the rightful and lawful owner..........In order for redemption to
take place someone must come up with the price of redemption. The
mortgage must be paid............
There are many similarities among the four major types of
redemption, and when they are combined we have available a very
helpful and enlightening picture of God's plan of redemption in
Christ Jesus.
To begin with, let us take each of the four and enumerate
the seven aspects contained in it.........and gain some
understanding of God's working in the past, present, and future.
The seven aspects of the seven days of creation can be found
in the first chapter of Genesis: (1) the dividing of the light
from the darkness; (2) the dividing of the waters by means of the
firmament of heaven; (3) the gathering together of the waters
under the firmament, the appearing of the land and the creation
of the vegetation; (4) the creating of the sun, moon, and the
stars in the firmament; (5) the creation of the fish and
birds; (6) the creation of animals, and of mankind is God's
image; (7) God rested from all His works.
The seven aspect of the journey from Egypt to Canaan are as
follows:
(1) judgment upon the Egyptians, the Passover, and the Exodus;
(2) going across the Red Sea; (3) beginning of the pilgrimage
through the wilderness; (4) the Ten Commandments, the statutes
and the ordinances, the Tabernacle and the priesthood; (5)
organization of Israel into an army; (6) crossing of Jordan and
the attack upon Canaan; (7) rest in the land of promise.
The seven aspects of the Tabernacle are summarized in the
seven holy furnishings; (1) the bronze altar of burnt offering;
(2) the bronze laver (3) table of showbread; (4) the lampstand;
(5) altar of incense; (6) Ark of the Covenant; (7) mercy
seat(Propitiatory Cover).
The seven aspects of the Levitical convocations are the
feasts: (1) Passover; (2) Unleavened Bread; (3) Firstfruits; (4)
Pentecost; (5) Trumpets; (6) Day of Atonement; (7) Tabernacles.
No doubt, if you have some understanding of the Bible and of
God's salvation in Christ, you have noticed already what a
remarkable set TYPES we have in these four portrayals of
redemption.
THE FIRST ASPECT OF REDEMPTION
Now, let us put these together. The first phase of these
seven areas is shown in the DIVIDING OF LIGHT FROM THE DARKNESS;
JUDGMENT UPON THE EGYPTIANS, the Passover and the exodus; the
BRONZE ALTAR OF BURNT OFFERING; and the FEAST OF PASSOVER.
Can you see in these four types the first step in God's
salvation?
When we come to Christ we repent of our past life of sin;
this is the DIVISION between LIGHT AND DARKNESS..........Our
conscience had been a light trying to shine in the darkness of
our sin, and now God has separated that light from the darkness
which is in us, so that we can begin to distinguish between RIGHT
and WRONG.......
When we accept the crucifixion of Christ as our personal
atonement, the Spirit of God BRINGS US OUT OF EGYPT. The legal
hold of Satan upon us is destroyed. Our spirit is raised up to
sit in heavenly places in Christ. The blood of the Lamb covers us
and our household so that the judgment of God passes over us when
God executes His wrath upon the iniquity of the earth.
The BRONZE ALTAR of BURNT OFFERING portrays Christ upon the
cross. The bonze altar, by its size, odor, location, and
accompanying activity, dominates the OUTER appearance of the
Tabernacle of the Congregation. So it is that the crucified
Christ DOMINATES the Kingdom of God. God meets man at the DOOR of
the Tabernacle, at the altar of burnt offering........
The FEAST OF PASSOVER brings to our mind that we must first
sprinkle the BLOOD of God's LAMB upon our own life.......then we
must EAT His body and DRINK His precious blood. The communion
service dramatizes our partaking of the body and blood, although
our actual receiving of the body and blood of Christ occurs in
the spiritual realm as we keep ourselves in the place where
Christ can commune with us..........
If we take the first aspect of each of the four major types
of redemption, we gain insight into the first facet of salvation.
We say facet, rather than step, because salvation has many faces,
like a diamond........The first aspect of each of the four types
is as follows: dividing of light from darkness; the exodus;
the altar of burnt offering; and the feast of Passover.
Taken together they form one complete type of the beginning
of our salvation.
THE SECOND ASPECT OF REDEMPTION
The second aspect of each of the four types are these: the
DIVIDING of the WATERS by means of the firmament of heaven;
going ACROSS the Red Sea; the BRONZE LAVER; the week of
FIRSTFRUITS.
Isn't it interesting that THREE of the four involve WATER?
The NT counterpart of these four types is WATER
BAPTISM.......Since FIRSTFRUITS speak of the putting away
of the FILTH(leaven) of the world and the flesh, we get the
general idea that God intends to WASH us from our SINS and
INIQUITIES in this second phase of redemption........
All water is divided into two parts: that which is under
the firmament, that is, water WITHIN the earth and water ON THE
SURFACE of the earth; and water which is BEYOND .......which is
the water ABOVE the firmament........
The entire Bible account, from Genesis to Revelation, is one
great canvas which portrays the redemption which is in Christ
Jesus.......The spiritual application of the dividing of the
waters is as follows:
When the plan of redemption begins its work in us, the
waters of our life, which are both NATURAL and SPIRITUAL, are all
MIXED together, just as the darkness and light in us are all
mixed together before we receive Christ. After we become willing
to receive God's atonement for our sin, the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ, then God puts the FIRMAMENT OF HEAVEN WITHIN IN, so
to speak. He SEPARATES our NATURAL life from our SPIRITUAL life.
Our soulish natural life is assigned to the cross of Christ, and
our SPIRITUAL NATURE is RAISED UP in Christ into NEWNESS of life.
Before this separation occurs we are a whole person, although
lost in sin and death. After this separation occurs we begin to
experience a sense of DIVISION.
Our SPIRITUAL NATURE longs after the WILL of God while our
FLESHLY NATURE attempts to pull us back down to serve the lusts
of the flesh. The battle is joined! Isn't it so in your life?
Before the exodus was complete, Israel had to go across the
Red Sea. WATER stood between the Israelites and their FREEDOM.
EGYPT and the LAND OF PROMISE are DIVIDED by TWO GREAT
BODIES OF WATER, the Red Sea and the River Jordan; both have to
be crossed.
God divided the waters, and Israel went across without harm.
But the Egyptians could not go through.
When we go down into WATER BAPTISM we go down into the DEATH
of the cross. Satan follows us down; the world presses hard on
our heels. But praise God! Satan and the world cannot come up
on the OTHER SIDE. The enemy cannot stand on RESURRECTION
ground.......The WATER seals off Egypt at our back. BEFORE us is
the WILDERNESS, the school of the HOLY SPIRIT. At the end of the
trail is a river, and then the LAND OF PROMISE. Are you game to
go on?
The bronze laver of the Tabernacle speaks to us of the
WASHING OF THE WATER BY THE WORD OF GOD. God's Word teaches us
concerning RIGHTEOUSNESS and HOLINESS.......If we will listen to
God's Word, and do what it says, we will 'do justly, love mercy,
and walk humbly with our God.' We must WASH CONSTANTLY, through
the power of the blood of the cross and through the enabling of
the Holy Spirit, keeping ourselves CLEAN from the defilement of
Satan, the spirit of this age, and the filthiness of our own
flesh.
The week of Firstfruits teaches us to PUT AWAY the LEAVEN of
the world, of sin, of malice, of wickedness. We put away sin
with FERVOR, with diligence, even with violence at times. We
learn to LOVE righteousness and HATE iniquity; that is to say, we
get determined about what we are doing in the area of HOLINESS
and RIGHTEOUSNESS. It is a determination to please God and to
ESCAPE clean away from SIN and everything that looks like sin.
It is not just a LUKEWARM, mental assent to Christianity. We
need to get EXCITED about our religion!..........
THE THIRD ASPECT OF REDEMPTION
The third dimension of the seven dimensions of redemption is
portrayed by the third aspect of the four types: the gathering
together of the waters under the firmament(the appearing of the
land, and the creation of vegetation); the beginning of the
pilgrimage through the wilderness; the table of showbread; and
the convocation of Firstfruits.
Do you notice that in three of these four we have the
thought of the BEGINNING of something? So it is that the third
dimension is.....the beginning of the LIFE of Christ IN US.
Whereas the first two phases had to do with judgment, protection,
sin, and washing, this third phase has to do with the beginning
of life - the POSITIVE SIDE of redemption.
The waters of our soulish life, now having been separated
from our spiritual nature......that Christ......is being formed
in us. The dry land BEGINS to appear, the RESURRECTION power
helps us to choose to become the servants of RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The FRUIT of the Holy Spirit, love, joy, peace, and so
forth, BEGINS to show, as typified by the creation of vegetation.
We stand now on the east shore of the Red Sea, ready to
BEGIN our pilgrimage TOWARDS the land of PROMISE. We are ON
RESURRECTION GROUND. Egypt is walled off behind us by the Red
Sea, a portrayal of our death to the world.......we move
ahead......and begin to sea the miraculous provisions of
God.......
The table of showbread of the Tabernacle of the Congregation
represents the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ........The
only life in the world is in the body and blood of God's
Son.......We are born(begotten - KH) of the water of baptism in
the sense that we escape the authority of Satan and enter into
the authority of Christ and into His Kingdom. We are
born(begotten - KH) of the Holy Spirit in that the Holy Spirit
renews our contact with the Father; we are cut off no longer from
the life that is in Him.......Christ is the living Word, and the
Word of God grows WITHIN us. The life of Christ Jesus is in His
body and His precious blood. As we eat His body and drink His
blood, we have life in us. That life is His life, and if we
partake of Him we will live by Him as He lives by the
Father........
The Levitical convocation of Firstfruits adds to our
understanding of the third aspect of redemption by reminding us
that.....our spirit, is RAISED UP in Christ. There is still a
great deal of our personality yet to harvest. But the REAPING
HAS COMMENCED, and now the FIRSTFRUITS has been WAVED BEFORE GOD
in joy and thanksgiving........The blessing upon the FIRSTFRUITS
falls upon the whole harvest, of which the FIRSTFRUITS(Christ
Jesus, 1 Cor.15:20-23, KH) is a representation......
The first THREE PHASES of redemption......constitute what we
generally refer to as 'getting saved.' They are the salvation
experience.
The first three Levitical convocations were GROUPED TOGETHER
IN ONE WEEK, showing we are to consider them AS BELONGING
TOGETHER.
The first two are in the courtyard of the Tabernacle, and
the third BRINGS US IN THE HOLY PLACE.
' He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ' (Mark
16:16).
This is the first of the THREE GREAT AREAS of redemption.
END QUOTE.
The other two great areas of redemption that Mr.Thompson
goes on to expound are the PENTECOST and FALL FESTIVAL times in
God's personal salvation plan for you and for me.
We shall give you those in later articles.
What wonderful TYPOLOGY in the Word of the Lord we have. I
think for most of us there are many aspects of the typology that
Robert Thompson has brought out, that will be new to our minds. I
really like the way he ties in the Genesis creation account, and
the physical Tabernacle, with the annual Festivals of the Lord.
Most of us from the background we have had in the Church of
God are quite familiar with the typology of the Feasts of God, in
relation to the plan of salvation as viewed from the calling and
choosing that the Lord has for all and everyone that has ever
lived on this good green earth. Mr. Thompson does not approach
his presentation of typology on the Feasts from that perspective,
but from the personal and individual typology of redemption and
salvation for each of us, as we proceed from God's call to
repentance from sin, until we reach the inheritance of the
promised land of the Kingdom of God.
It all makes the truth of God so wonderful and inspiring and
so vast and new all the time, no matter how long one has been a
Christian. Truly the word of the Eternal is like a flowing river,
ever new, ever re-newing us as we continue year after year to
grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.
..............
Written and compiled during the Feast of Unleavened Bread,
1997.
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