Types and Shadows

People talk about Jesus never changing. But is that true? When He created everything in the beginning, He was a spirit. He then became flesh and dwelt among us. He then received a glorified body and went back to Heaven. Looks to me like he changed.

The purpose and nature of God do not change. But the things He does changes. He does the things necessary to carry out His eternal plans.

This article will show many things changed: circumcision, sacrifices, the sabbath, food laws, and even the use of law itself.

Many things were used by God as types and shadows to point to the true things that were coming. When the real thing got here, the shadow was no longer of value and passed away. Some things still were used at times like circumcision and the sabbath but they were no longer used as law but as custom and tradition. Let’s go to the Scriptures.

Col 2:16-17, "So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. {17} For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself."

Heb 8:4-13, "If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law of Moses. {5} They serve in a place of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to the design I have shown you here on the mountain." {6} But our High Priest has been given a ministry that is far superior to the ministry of those who serve under the old laws, for he is the one who guarantees for us a better covenant with God, based on better promises. {7} If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. {8} But God himself found fault with the old one when he said: "The day will come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. {9} This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. {10} But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds so they will understand them, and I will write them on their hearts so they will obey them. I will be their God, and they will be my people. {11} And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me. {12} And I will forgive their wrongdoings, and I will never again remember their sins." {13} When God speaks of a new covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and ready to be put aside."

Heb 9:11-12, "So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world. {12} Once for all time he took blood into that Most Holy Place, but not the blood of goats and calves. He took his own blood, and with it he secured our salvation forever."

Heb 10:1-18, "The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the things to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. {2} If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. {3} But just the opposite happened. Those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their sins year after year. {4} For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. {5} That is why Christ, when he came into the world, said, "You did not want animal sacrifices and grain offerings. But you have given me a body so that I may obey you. {6} No, you were not pleased with animals burned on the altar or with other offerings for sin. {7} Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—just as it is written about me in the Scriptures.’" {8} Christ said, "You did not want animal sacrifices or grain offerings or animals burned on the altar or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them" (though they are required by the law of Moses). {9} Then he added, "Look, I have come to do your will." He cancels the first covenant in order to establish the second. {10} And what God wants is for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. {11} Under the old covenant, the priest stands before the altar day after day, offering sacrifices that can never take away sins. {12} But our High Priest offered himself to God as one sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down at the place of highest honor at God’s right hand. {13} There he waits until his enemies are humbled as a footstool under his feet. {14} For by that one offering he perfected forever all those whom he is making holy. {15} And the Holy Spirit also testifies that this is so. First he says, {16} "This is the new covenant I will make with my people on that day, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts so they will understand them, and I will write them on their minds so they will obey them." {17} Then he adds, "I will never again remember their sins and lawless deeds." {18} Now when sins have been forgiven, there is no need to offer any more sacrifices."

Shadow	Reality	Changed
Circumcision	Circumcision of Heart	Command to Circumcise
High Priest	Jesus High Priest	Priesthood law
Animal Sacrifices	Jesus’ Sacrifice	Law of Clean & Unclean
Food Laws	Command to eat of Jesus	Food Law
Sabbath Rest	Jesus’ Rest	Sabbath Law
Salvation by Law	Salvation by Grace	Law

Controversy arose in the early church about whether Gentile converts needed be circumcised. Paul taught circumcision was not essential to Christian faith and fellowship. Circumcision of the heart via repentance and faith were the only requirements.

Rom 4:9-12, "Now then, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it for Gentiles, too? Well, what about Abraham? We have been saying he was declared righteous by God because of his faith. {10} But how did his faith help him? Was he declared righteous only after he had been circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? The answer is that God accepted him first, and then he was circumcised later! {11} The circumcision ceremony was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are made right with God by faith. {12} And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised."

Gal 2:15-21, "You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. {16} And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ—and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law." {17} But what if we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then find out that we are still sinners? Has Christ led us into sin? Of course not! {18} Rather, I make myself guilty if I rebuild the old system I already tore down. {19} For when I tried to keep the law, I realized I could never earn God’s approval. So I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. {20} I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. {21} I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die."

Rom 2:29, "No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not a cutting of the body but a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. Whoever has that kind of change seeks praise from God, not from people."

The priesthood laws showed that a High Priest should be one that understands the temptations we go through in life.

HEB 2:17-18, "Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted."

HEB 4:14-15, "Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

HEB 5:1-4, "For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was."

Even though these laws pointed to Jesus as the High Priest, He could not have been a priest under them, because He was not of the tribe of Levi. He was to become a High Priest according to an eternal order, instead of a temporary one.

HEB 6:20, "where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

HEB 8:4-7, "Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, 'See,' He says,' that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.' But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second."

So the law which served as a "type and shadow" to point to Jesus, had to be changed in order for Him to become the great High Priest.

This is an exact parallel to the law of clean and unclean. Although that law pointed to Jesus as the ultimate perfect sacrifice, He could not have became a sacrifice under that law. He was spoken of as the "lamb slain from the foundation," but He was a man and human flesh could not be sacrificed according to the law of clean and unclean. So this law too had to be changed in order for Jesus to become the true sacrifice and the bread of life.

Mark 7:18-19, "And He said to them, "Are you so lacking in understanding also? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him; {19} because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and is eliminated?" (Thus He declared all foods clean.)"

In OT times, a wall of separation existed between Jew and Gentile. The law of clean and unclean symbolized this too. Jesus died to break down this wall of separation and even in the discussion of the bread of communion it was stressed that there was one bread and one body. The cleansing of all meat symbolized this too.

Eph 2:11-16, Therefore remember, that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called "Uncircumcision" by the so-called "Circumcision," which is performed in the flesh by human hands-- {12} remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. {13} But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. {14} For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, {15} by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, {16} and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.

1 Cor 10:17 "Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread."

After the fall of man in the garden, the world and mankind were under curses. Due to the curse placed on the earth, man's toil for his daily existence would be endless. Each person is also under a personal curse due to his own sin. His toil to earn God's approval by his good works is also endless. However, God provided an end to man's struggle. He gave the Sabbath as a temporary end to man's toil for survival. The rest of the seventh day was a temporary redemption from the previous six days of labor, and it pointed to the ultimate redemption from our attempts to earn God's approval by our good works. This use of the sabbath to point to redemption is shown in:

DEU 5:12-15: "Observe the sabbath day to keep it holy, as the LORD your God commanded you. 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God. . .And you shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you to observe the sabbath day."

In other words, the Sabbath pointed to Jesus, our Redeemer. Let's examine the scripture, as Jesus points to the 'rest' He offers and contrasts it to the 'rest' of the Sabbath. The Bible teaches the Sabbath 'rest' was not the ultimate 'rest', but pointed to it. Jesus spoke of His 'rest' in:

MAT 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My load is light."

The arrival of the new 'rest' from Jesus demanded an end to the Sabbath 'rest' as a commandment. The sabbath was a 'type and shadow' pointing to the 'rest' Jesus would give. When the real thing had arrived, the sign was no longer necessary.

COL 2:16-17, "Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a {mere} shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ."

This new 'rest' demanded new attitudes. A person's life was not to be centered around an obedience to laws, but around a love of, and service to, God and man. The commandment Jesus gave was to "love one another." He even said if we do not obey this command to love one another, we don't love Him.

JOHN 15:12-14, "This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends, if you do what I command you."

Hebrews points out the coming 'rest' that Jesus would give. It shows the Jews did not accept it in Joshua's day, and warned people against rejecting it as they did.

HEB 3:10-12,"Therefore I was angry with this generation, And said, 'They always go astray in their heart; And they did not know My ways'; As I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest.' Take care, brethren, lest there should be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God."

HEB 4:1-3, "Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, 'As I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter My rest,' although His works were finished from the foundation of the world."

Why was faith necessary? It is not necessary to have faith in order to rest on the Sabbath. But we receive the redemption and 'rest' from Jesus by "grace through faith."

EPH 2:8-10, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, {it is} the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

The sabbath 'rest' pointed to the 'rest' given by Jesus. It ended when the real 'rest' came. It was not changed to another day. It would be even worse to change a sign than it would be to use it after the object of the sign had come. The day used for worship was to be dictated not by law, but by the circumstances. It was to be chosen by the same method Paul used when he taught that even though he was not under the law, he controlled his actions in such a way as to win people.

1 COR 9:20-23,"And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. And I do all things for the sake of the gospel, that I may become a fellow partaker of it."

ROM 14:1-4, "Now accept the one who is weak in faith, {but} not for {the purpose of} passing judgment on his opinions....Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand."

ROMANS 14:5-6, "One man regards one day above another, another regards every day {alike.} Let each man be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God."

Signposts which point forward to something, serve no purpose and are misleading if they are still used after the event has occurred. The things used as 'types and shadows' to point to the coming of Jesus are misleading if they are used for any other purpose. When the real article has come, we no longer should be holding only a shadow. When we continue to hold to instructions God once gave after He has changed them, they become the commandments of men.

Types, Shadows and Reality