Index to this page.
FS1: The Last Generation.
FS2: What is Biblical ‘Type’ and ‘Antitype’?
FS3: New truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it!
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Further Study 1
The Last Generation.
“In the Scriptures are presented truths that relate especially to our own time. To the
period just prior to the appearing of the Son of man, the prophecies of Scripture point, and here their warnings and threatenings pre-eminently apply.
The prophetic periods of Daniel, extending to the very eve of the great consummation, throw a flood of light upon events then to transpire. The book of Revelation is also replete with warning and instruction for
the last generation. The beloved John, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, portrays the fearful and thrilling scenes connected with the close of earth’s history, and presents the duties and dangers of God’s people.
None need remain in ignorance, none need be unprepared for the coming of the day of God.”
{RH, September 25, 1883 par. 6}
“The antediluvian world rejected the warning words of him who walked with God. So will
the last generation make light of the warnings of the Lord’s messengers.”
{Patriarchs and Prophets by Ellen G. White, pg 86.3}
“The Bible has accumulated and bound up together its treasures for
this last generation. All the great events and solemn transactions of Old Testament history have been, and are, repeating themselves in the church in these last days. . . The prophets are still testifying of the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should follow. There the whole accumulated truths are presented in force to us that we may profit by their teachings. We are under the influence of the whole.
What manner of persons ought we to be to whom all this rich light of inheritance has been given. Concentrating all the influence of the past with new and increased light of the present, accrued power is given to all who will follow the light.
Their faith will increase, and be brought into exercise at the present time,
awakening an energy and an intensely increased earnestness,
and through dependence upon God for His power to replenish the world and send the light of the Sun of Righteousness to the ends of the earth.”
{Slected Messages by Ellen G. White, vol. 3, pg 339.1}
“Jesus, looking down to the last generation, saw the world involved in a deception similar to that which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world would be their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah would be despised and set at nought. Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of Satan, doomed to suffer the second death, would refuse to listen to the words of truth in their day of visitation.
Terrible blindness! Strange infatuation!” {Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, pg 22.2}
Further Study 2
What is Biblical ‘Type’ and ‘Antitype’?
‘Type’
A
type is a person, object, event, or institution
in the redemptive history of the Old Testament that
prefigures and points to a corresponding but
greater reality in the New Testament. A
type is thus a symbol, a pattern, or a model that
signifies an even greater reality —
it is prophetic in nature and foretells its fulfillment and reality as a future event.
Types of the O.T. and N.T. foretell the blessings of Redemption’s fulfillments. A Biblical
type is a pledge which is given life from God to become reality. (A
type is a copy, a plan, a representation, a form, a reflection, an example, an object lesson, a rough draft, a sketch of things to come:-)
Biblical
typology is
firmly rooted in historical fact and always involves historical study, comparing Scripture with Scripture, for understanding.
“For the law [is] a shadow of good things to come.”
Heb 10:1-2
‘Antitype’
The
greater reality to which a
type points and in which it finds its
prophetic fulfillment is referred to as an
antitype. The earlier
type is a rough draft, or sketch, of the fulfilling
antitype. The Old Testament sanctuary is full of
types,
illustrations which ultimately point to Christ as the Redeemer of fallen man —in His life, death, and resurrection. There are many other
types which also point to Christ, such as Adam, Abraham/Isaac, and Jonah. The
ordinances of the Old Covenant were
types, and the provisions of the New Covenant are their
antitypes. The whole purpose of the Old Testament is viewed as merely the provision of
types which represent Christ,
the antitype and fulfillment of the New Testament.
Antichrist: Some get confused when they see the word
antichrist,
thinking that its meaning is the same as antitype.
They are not the same! The definition of
antichrist is different; —“an adversary, antagonist, opponent, or opposer of Christ, Satan” and as the
antichrist,
Satan’s goal is to deceive the world one final time before Christ’s Second Coming.
While the institution of the Passover was
pointing backward to the miraculous deliverance of the Hebrews from Egypt, it likewise
pointed forward showing the death of the Son of God before it transpired. It is also important to realize that
antitypes themselves may also function as types of future realities. The Last Supper with the disciples served as the
antitype of the Passover meal, yet through the corresponding
communion service which Jesus instituted in memory of His death, the
ultimate fulfillment points to a future event, when Jesus as the great Passover Lamb is gathered with all the redeemed in the Heavenly Temple on Mount Zion for the more complete fulfillment of “they which are called unto
the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
Rev 19:9. “I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” Luke 22:15-18. Jesus gave the disciples
an altered type that recognized Himself as the Lamb and would
continue until the antitype came and He would again eat with them in Heaven at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Thus, the Last Supper with the disciples was
not really the Last Supper! We should be encouraged that there is
a greater Passover meal coming with
our Savior and Passover Lamb! A celebration of
our great Passover!
Type and Antitype Work Together in the Fulfillment of the Gospel.
There is a most perfect harmony between Biblical
type and antitype. As the
type gives us understanding of the
antitype, so the
antitype gives a better explanation of the
type. New light is not independent of the old, but a development of it!
FS As the sun rises into the morning sky giving greater light with every passing hour, so
Biblical types improve with understanding
until the antitype is revealed in the fullness of Light. The study of
Biblical types leads the searcher into every book of the Bible and a thorough study of what may seem to be
a simple type may lead to
a great revelation of the character of God. This is the law of Bible Study, that more study leads to better understanding.
Type in the Old Testament and its fulfillment as the
antitype in the New Testament is what binds the Old and the New together. The prophetic predictions of the
sanctuary types shown in the Old Testament are fulfilled —and still being fulfilled (in these last days)— in the New Testament.
Examples of O.T. Types and their Antitype fulfillments.
The sinners lamb was a type —Christ is the Antitype.
Lev 5:6; John 1:29; Rev 1:5; 5:5
The golden candlesticks are a type of the church —the Antitype.
Lev 24:4; Rev 1:13, 20
The light of the candlesticks is a type for the Light Jesus gives —the Antitype.
Ex 40:4; John 1:8, 9; Rev 4:5
The shew bread is a type of Christ’s life-giving power —the Antitype.
Ex 25:30; John 6:35, 48; Rev 10:8-10
The altar of incense is a type for the prayers of the saints
before the throne, —the Antitype.
Lev 16:13; Rev 8:3
Old Testament types will fully meet their antitype when
all the sins of the righteous are placed on Satan, the scapegoat,
and burned in the lake of fire, and nothing remains but ashes.
Lev 16:10; Rev 20:10
The entire O.T. sanctuary, all of its furnishings and the yearly Feasts,
are types explaining the Plan of Redemption!
Past — Present — Future!
Ex 15:17; 25:8; Heb 8:1, 2; Rev 4
The study of types and antitypes of Christ and His redemption always brings more blessings than the searcher first expected!!!
“
Every type used in the entire sacrificial system was designed by God to bear resemblance to some spiritual truth. The value of these
types consisted in the fact that they were chosen by God Himself
to shadow forth the different phases of the complete plan of redemption, made possible by the death of Christ.
The likeness between type and antitype is never accidental, but is simply a fulfillment of the great plan of God.”
“Through the
figures and symbols used in the ministration in the earthly sanctuary, the author has made the closing work of Christ in the heavenly Sanctuary very clear.
The similarity and connection between type and antitype have been made so plain that no one can fail to comprehend the great central truths of the plan of salvation as unfolded in the service and ministration of the earthly sanctuary.”
{The Cross and its Shadow by S. N. Haskell, pgs 6.2; 9.2}
“Let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”
Ex 25:8, 9.
“It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself (the reality), now to appear (as antitype) in the presence of God for us.”
Heb 9:23-24.
“
Types and symbols had represented Him, and
in Him type met antitype.
In the life, mission, and death of Jesus every specification was fulfilled.”
{Lift Him Up by Ellen G. White, pg 197.3}
“‘In the
midst of the week (the
seventieth week) He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.’
Dan 9:27 In
A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that
system of offerings which for four
thousand years had pointed forward to the
Lamb of God.
Type had met antitype, and all the
sacrifices and oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease.
{Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, pg 327.3}
“Type was to reach antitype in Jesus Christ. His whole life was a preface to His death on the cross. His character was a life of obedience to all God’s commandments, and was to be a sample for all men upon the earth. His life was the living of the law in humanity. That law Adam transgressed. But
Christ, by His perfect obedience to the law redeemed Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall.”
{Fundamentals of Christian Education by Ellen G. White, pg 382.1}
“Christ arose from the dead as the
first fruits of those that slept. He was the
antitype of the
wave sheaf, and His resurrection took place on the very day when the
wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this
symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain were gathered, and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the
Passover, the
sheaf of first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So
Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the
type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. ‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.’”
1Thess 4:14. {Desire of Ages by Ellen G. White, pg 785.4}
Prophetic Antitypes for the Last Generation.
A great deal has been written about
typology. So many books and so much on the internet, —
yet few receive the blessings which come from
the study of
types! Christ Himself was the originator of the Jewish system of worship, in which, by
types and symbols, were
shadowed forth spiritual and heavenly things. Today we are living in the time when the
Fall Feast types will soon meet their antitype last day fulfillment. We are living in the day of increased light, and yet how few are benefited with the grand and all-important truth that Christ has made an ample sacrifice for all!
It is
exceedingly unfortunate that the
modern church has succeeded in almost eliminating the investigation and teaching of
typology as a valid interpretive necessity.
So much has been lost of the richness and practical illustrative value which God intends we should have through an understanding of
types.
Typology is a bad word in many theological circles, but it is not difficult to see that God has a use for
prophetic type and antitype, even if we do not.
There are still many of the Old Testament types that are yet to be fulfilled! The last events of earth’s history will test every soul and the knowledge of
types and their
antitype fulfillments in the last days will show where the Mighty Angel is leading! Knowing
type and antitype fulfillments for the last generation is
as important to us as the disciples knowing their
type fulfillments taught to them about Christ. We should remember, —the disciples
misunderstood their types which gave them the wrong understanding of their coming Redeemer. Surely, we of the last generation
would learn from the disciples’ mistake and
not repeat history.
Dan 9:24-27; 11:32, 33; Matt 25:8, 9.
The Mighty Angel asks something special of the last generation! Jesus has given the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation (and many other prophecies of the Bible) so that they were
fulfilled through the centuries; i.e. Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, etc.
(A good example is Daniel 2.) We look back on the fulfillment of these prophecies as the
fulfillment of ‘prophetic history’ —the TYPE. (Both in event and time. –FS) What has taken hundreds of years to
fulfill in type will be repeated as the ANTITYPE in a short period of time as seven thundering last-day events!
(Both in event and time. –FS) John, the
type of the last generation, is told by the Mighty Angel to take the book of seven thunders —the book of Daniel— and
eat the book so that it becomes a part of his/our life.
Daniel is unsealed in the Revelation by Jesus! See Dan 8:17, 19, 26; 9:24; 12:4, 9, 13; Compare to– Rev 5:1-7; 6:1, 3, 5, etc.; 10:1-3, 4; 10:11 and 11:1.
Not only is the last generation to know and understand the Old Testament
types —and their antitypes, but they are also expected to
know a special kind of type and antitype for the last days, —
an antitype which can only be fulfilled by the last generation.
Matt 24:33. 34 The Mighty Angel of
Revelation 10 shows that the
prophetic history of Daniel is a type and that the seven thunders, which come from the same open book of Daniel, are
repeated prophetic history which will be
fulfilled during the last days of earth’s history.
And the Mighty Angel said unto the last generation,
“Thou must prophesy again!”
Rev 10:11
“Had ye believed Moses,” Christ said,
“ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me.”
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?
John 5:46
One final thought concerning last-day antitypes.
Leviticus 23 types teaches us that ONLY the Spring Feasts have been FULFILLED!!! The great deception of the last days
concerns God’s law. Most Christians today believe that the
Feasts of the Lord have been
DONE AWAY! —BUT that is FALSE, and many of the last generation will NOT be prepared for the coming of the
Mighty Angel in judgment.
Rev 10:7; Dan 8:14; 11:1, 18, 19; 14:7. The Feasts of the Lord explained in
Leviticus chapters 23-
24-
25 are
prophetic types and antitypes which are very important to us as the last generation. We have learned
the timing of Christ’s crucifixion by the study of
types in the
Spring Feasts; –Passover, –Unleavened Bread, –First Fruits, –Pentecost. Jesus fulfilled the Spring Feasts in His life, death, and resurrection to the very day, even to the very hour! Unfortunately, there is a false, but popular belief that Christ
DID AWAY with the
Feasts of the Lord at the time of His death,
when in fact what He did was FULFILL THEM. This false belief will keep many from understanding that the
Fall Feasts have NOT YET BEEN FULFILLED. What are they?
The Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles. These
Fall Feasts will have a specific timing fulfillment, and their fulfillment will also be,
as it was with the Spring Feasts,
in real time of 24 hour days. Great Light is shining from the
open little book of Daniel —the book of judgment. It is Christ, the Mighty Angel, who continues to teach us the
finishing work of the plan of Redemption.
Are we following Jesus? YES! If we understand that the
little book which the
Mighty Angel reads as the
seven thunders —is the testimony of Jesus! Rev 12:17.
The Fall Feasts will be fulfilled as to time and event.
—by Ellen G. White
“
The slaying of the Passover lamb was a shadow of the death of Christ. Says Paul:
“Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”
1Cor 5:7. The
sheaf of first fruits, which
at the time of the Passover was waved before the Lord, was
typical of the resurrection of Christ. Paul says, in speaking of the resurrection of the Lord and of all His people:
“Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.”
1Cor 15:23. Like the
wave sheaf, which was the first ripe grain gathered before the harvest,
Christ is the first fruits of that immortal harvest of redeemed ones that at the future resurrection shall be gathered into the garner of God.
{Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, pg 399.2}
“These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but as to the time. On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on which for fifteen long centuries the
Passover lamb had been slain,
Christ, having eaten the Passover with His disciples,
instituted that feast which was to commemorate His own death as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” That same night He was taken by wicked hands to be crucified and slain. And as the
antitype of the wave sheaf our Lord was raised from the dead on the third day, “the
first fruits of them that slept,” a sample of all the resurrected just, whose “vile body” shall be changed, and “fashioned like unto His glorious body.”
1Cor 15:20; Phil 3:21. {Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, pg 399.3}
“In like manner the types which relate to the second advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. Under the Mosaic system the
cleansing of the sanctuary, or
the great Day of Atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month
(Lev 16:29-34), when the high priest, having made an atonement for all Israel,
and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people.”
{Great Controversy by Ellen G. White, pg 399.4}
There is
one specific event foretold in both Daniel and Revelation which is of
vital importance to the last generation. In both books this event is at the
end of prophetic time. In Daniel it is
“then shall the sanctuary be cleansed” and in the Revelation it is
“the mystery of God should be finished.” Dan 8:14; Rev 10:7. And thus it is concluded to be the
last thundering event. This
event is crucial to the
finishing of salvation’s alloted time. Its
type is explained in
Lev 23:23-44 and the event is
the great Day of Atonement as foretold in the
Fall Feasts. The timing of the
type was yearly. The timing of the
antitype is at the end of days.
Dan 8:19, 26. “And when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”
Dan 12:7, 13.
Has this single event, the
Day of Atonement, had its
complete antitype fulfillment? NO!!! NOT YET has there been a
judgment of the living,
NOT YET has there been a
close of probation (Rev 22:11), and
NOT YET have the sins of the righteous been placed on
the scapegoat, Satan (which also takes place on the
Day of Atonement), and
led out into the wilderness by the Mighty Strong Man!
Rev 20:1-3,
7,
10.
The Passover
type was accomplished
yearly in one literal day! The Passover
antitype that was accomplished once-and-for-all
by Jesus was also
in one literal day!
Why would we think anything different for the accomplishment of
the last act of redemption by Jesus
on the Day of Atonement —
which also must be fulfilled in one literal day?
The
Mighty Angel’s Rainbow Covenant is now available and the
little book of Daniel’s judgment is now open
foretelling its seven thundering events fulfilling during the time of the last great
judgment of the living!
(See all Rev chp 10; 11:1; and 14:7.) We must pray for Christ’s Spirit to
cleanse our soul temple that we may stand in a cleansed Heavenly Sanctuary with our High Priest
on the last great Day of Atonement! Do we desire to be on the Sea of Glass with our Savior being
transported seven days to the Holy City during the
Feast of Tabernacles?
FS Great and wonderful blessings await those who give all they have!
May the Mighty Angel, Jesus, bless our understanding that we may be prepared!
Matt 24:3.
“And the dragon was wroth with the woman,
and went to make war with the remnant of her seed,
which keep the commandments of God,
and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Revelation 12:17
Are we following Jesus?
“And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee,
and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.”
Matthew 4:25
Further Study 3
New truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it!
“Christ in His teaching presented old truths of which He Himself was the originator, truths which He had spoken through patriarchs and prophets; but He now shed upon them a new light. How different appeared their meaning! A flood of light and spirituality was brought in by His explanation. And He promised that the Holy Spirit should enlighten the disciples, that the word of God should be ever unfolding to them. They would be able to present its truths in new beauty.
{COL 127.2}
“Ever since the first promise of redemption was spoken in Eden, the life, the character, and the mediatorial work of Christ have been the study of human minds. Yet every mind through whom the Holy Spirit has worked has presented these themes in a light that is fresh and new. The truths of redemption are capable of constant development and expansion. Though old, they are ever new, constantly revealing to the seeker for truth a greater glory and a mightier power.
{COL 127.3}
“In every age there is a new development of truth, a message of God to the people of that generation. The old truths are all essential; new truth is not independent of the old, but an unfolding of it. It is only as the old truths are understood that we can comprehend the new. When Christ desired to open to His disciples the truth of His resurrection, He began “at Moses and all the prophets” and “expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
Luke 24:27 But it is the light which shines in the fresh unfolding of truth that glorifies the old. He who rejects or neglects the new does not really possess the old. For him it loses its vital power and becomes but a lifeless form. {COL 127.4}
“There are those who profess to believe and to teach the truths of the Old Testament, while they reject the New. But in refusing to receive the teachings of Christ, they show that they do not believe that which patriarchs and prophets have spoken. “Had ye believed Moses,” Christ said, “ye would have believed Me; for he wrote of Me.”
John 5:46 Hence there is no real power in their teaching of even the Old Testament.”
{COL 128.1}
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