Abraham, My Friend The Making of a Praying Man_51
Father and Son
In our previous meditation I made the statement that from this point in our meditations on the life of Abraham, the Friend of God, we come to a new aspect of Abrahams life. We shall begin to see Abraham and Isaac as types of the Father and the Son. Typology is a blessed and dangerous piece of country. It has been brought into disrepute by some excesses and it is now treated with acute suspicion by some branches of the Christian family.
What is a type? The word has to do with the shape of things and is where we get our word type from; the ink coated metal imprinting its shape onto the paper. The word is itself Greek; [i]tupos[/i] coming from [i]tuptO[/i] meaning to beat into shape. So the word comes to mean a mark left by something applied with pressure. Its first use in our Bible is a sobering one; [b] The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the [u]print[/u] of the nails, and put my finger into the [u]print[/u] of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. (Joh 20:25 KJV)[/b] Not the nails themselves but the shape of the nails. Types then are the shapes of something much more real; they are the mark left behind.
Another word which links with this branch of Bible study is the word shadow. In writing to the Colossians Paul says; [b] Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a [u]shadow[/u] of things to come; but the body is of Christ. [/b](Col 2:16-17 KJV) The Sinai laws were not themselves the reality but were the shadow of the reality. The writer to the Hebrews uses the same kind of language; [b] For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and [u]shadow[/u] of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. (Heb 8:4-5 KJV)[/b] The writer explains exactly how he is using this language a little later in Hebrews; [b] For the law having [u]a shadow[/u] of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. (Heb 10:1 KJV)[/b]. The law, he says, was not things itself but a shadow of the reality.
We can see an association of ideas here. Both types and shadows give the outer shape but have no detail, no colour, no breath. They are visual aids and not the thing itself. We see to that the reality must exist before the type or shadow. This means we have to read the Bible backwards! Among the reasons that Tyndale gave for extensive study of Romans he included his opinion that it was the best introduction to the Old Testamen. It is very important to realise that the reality must precede the type or the shadow. Even when they are shadows of things to come the sense is from the eternal to the timebased. Imagine yourself walking towards a bright light and you encounter a shadow of a tree. In order of time you will meet the shadow before you meet the tree, but there could have been no shadow without the tree, or without the eternal light which cast such clear shadows backwards into history. If we are to understand the Old Testament it will only be in the light of the New Testament. I sometimes say that my bible has three testaments; an Old Testament, a New Testament, and an Old Testament understood in the light of the New Testament. Some Christians have never begun to discover the third Testament.
There are some types where the anti-type or the reality which gave the shape to the type, are clearly interpreted. The word is sometimes translated example, or figure. Adam was a type; [b] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the [u]figure[/u] of him that was to come. (Rom 5:14 KJV)[/b] The word is also used as an example of good or bad; [b] Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. (1Co 10:11 KJV)[/b] and again [b] Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (Phi 3:17 KJV)[/b]
Types and shadows serve as illustrations and Charles Spurgeon, his Lectures to My Students. once said a very important thing about illustrations. He likened them to windows through which light is let into the building. They are important, he said, but should not be too elaborate or draw attention to themselves. A stained glass-window only attracts attention to itself. Illustrations should serve their purpose simple. They are, he said, necessary, but beware of building your foundations of glass. This is very sound hermeneutics. Types must not be used to create theology but to illustrate it.
So lets take a look at Abraham and Isaac. The name Abraham has the title ofThe Father built into it, but the title only begins to make sense when it is used in relation to the Son. Abraham means the Father of a Multitude, but even a multitude must begin with a single starting point. Ishmael can never serve as a type of the Son, because Ishmael was the son of Abram High Father, whereas Isaac was the Son of Abra-ha-m the Father of a Multitude. It was always the Fathers purpose to bring many sons to glory, and both The Son and the sons must have the same Father; [b] For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, (Heb 2:10-11 NASB)[/b]
Father, what a wonderful revelation God has given us of Himself. In terms of son-ship the letter to the Hebrews refers to Him as the Father of spirits. I am so glad that God has raised me as a Father of my spirit, rather than a managing director, quality assurance or progress engineer! He doesnt inhabit the penthouse suite of the Head Office as the CEO, but is wonderfully accessible as a Father.
Surely it is significant that the fathers son, is called Laughter; Isaac. In one of those mysterious glimpses into eternity that scripture reveal we see Father and Son in a snap-shot of eternity. [b] Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; (Pro 8:30 KJV)[/b] daily his delight
how long does an eternal day last? The picture is of a delight that never grows jaded. Did you see delight on the face of any children over Christmas? Did you see the whole person aglow with enjoyment and pleasure? He has his bicycle and his world is complete; he could not possibly want anything else. If you did you saw a fleeting glimpse of daily delight. Wesley tried to capture it in his hymn O GOD, of good the unfathomed sea!
Fountain of good! all blessing flows From thee; no want thy fulness knows; What but thyself canst thou desire? Through eternal days the Son was daily the Fathers delight.
If delight is the word to express the Fathers joy, how shall we express that of the Son? rejoicing always before Him. The word rejoicing is the Hebrew word [i]?âchaq[/i] meaning to laugh out aloud. You will have heard the word before, it is the name of Abrahams son; [i]yitschâq[/i]. Sometime coincidences are just too good to be coincidences! What a picture of eternal days; heaven full of a Fathers delight and a Sons laughter. There were no angels then, no sky or earth or sea or men. Just God. Is this what you had imagined? Or had you imagined the Godhead in solemn counsel? When God created the angels and the earth the mood is one of contagious holy joy; [b]Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? (Job 38:4-8 KJV)[/b]
When was the last time you shouted aloud for joy? [b] Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness; and let thy saints shout for joy. (Psa 132:8-9 KJV)[/b]
Can you imagine Abraham when Isaac was born? Can you imagine his delight? As a family we have just celebrated Christmas and the children and grandchildren have all made their visits. I wish you could see my wife at such times with 14 sitting around the table. Its only for brief time but the family is together again; she would ask nothing more for Christmas. Its a little heaven for her; all the flock safely gathered in. This sense of togetherness is a key part of the gospel story; [b] Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing. And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant. And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound. (Luk 15:25-27 KJV)[/b] We know the rest of the story but pause to think what did the elder brother hear? I have no doubt that, as well as the music and dancing, he heard a fathers delight and a son laughing out loud.
When the time came for the Son to step into humanity, He came to Jordan and the fulfilment of Isaiahs prophecy; [b] Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, [u]in whom my soul delighteth[/u]; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. (Isa 42:1 KJV)[/b] He who had been the Fathers daily delight had stepped into time as His servant, but the Fathers delight in His Son was undiminished.
That mysterious Proverbs passage goes further
[b] Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Pro 8:30-31 KJV)[/b] We have touched these things before. Before the creation the thoughts of the God-head were man-wards, laughing out aloud over the prospect of the inhabited earth, and delighting in the prospects of sons. But before the sons could be gathered into the family home, Father and Son must make their way to a place of sacrifice and death. Only by this route would the sons be brought home. That part of our story still lies ahead, but we will never begin to understand the cost of that sacrifice unless we glimpse those eternal days of Father and Son in perfect fellowship of delight and eternity itself ringing with laughter.
_________________ Ron Bailey
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