From “Feast of Tabernacles,” Chapter 1- Continued
THREE GREAT FEASTS FOR THE CHURCH
We are confident that the hour has come in the history of the Church when Israel’s annual cycle of Feasts is about to be fulfilled in the midst of the saints. And inasmuch as the natural observance of the Feasts constitutes a type and pattern of great and momentous spiritual events, it is vitally important that we should understand their meaning. The Scriptures reveal the fact that there were three annual festival seasons in Israel’s worship. Other days were added in later years to commemorate certain events, but according to the original Levitical pattern there were three occasions during the year when all Israel was called upon to observe a national religious festival. And inasmuch as the Church of Christ is the true spiritual Israel (a fact which we will establish from the Scriptures later.) and what happened to natural Israel constituted merely a type and shadow of what should happen to spiritual Israel–we can derive great spiritual benefit and comfort by studying the types in the Old Testament, and then discovering by the Spirit wherein they apply to us on a higher and vaster spiritual plane. For the scriptures make it very clear that “all these things happened unto them for ensamples (as a figure, or type): and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.” (1 Cor. 10:11).
And not only so. For we have abundant evidence from the New Testament to establish the fact that two of the three annual Feasts of Israel’s worship have already been fulfilled in Christ and His Church: fulfilled, moreover, in a way so manifestly clear from the Scriptures that we do not hesitate to declare that we are now on the verge of the fulfillment of the last annual Feast of the Lord. If God declares that the Old Testament is to be fulfilled in Christ and His Church, that is certainly sufficient for us. Buy when we can actually look into the New Testament and see the manner in which two of the three Feasts have already been gloriously fulfilled, what great consolation and comfort it is for the saints who are looking forward to the fulfillment of the last Feast, the Feast of Tabernacles.
In this study, therefore, we wish to present some of the fundamental principles concerning the great events transpiring at this present season, and mention other events that are yet to transpire, by way of fulfilling the Old Testament Feasts. We appeal entirely to the Word of God and the Spirit of God; for it is evident that the natural man cannot receive, much less teach, the things of the Spirit of God. If it is God’s Word, then it is infinite and eternal, and far beyond any human understanding; and only the Spirit can reveal and quicken it to us. GHW
Defining terms is important as we travel with Bro. Warnock on this trip of discovery. Let us start with answering the question, “What are types?” In answering that question, I thank Pastor Martin Wickens of Bedford Bible Church in Bedford, Pennsylvania for his recent teaching on the subject. Biblical types are foreshadows in the Old Testament of events fulfilled in the New Testament. It is generally agreed that certain criteria must be met for a true type to be identified as such.
First of all, they must be clearly claimed as types in the New Testament scriptures. For example, in 1 Corinthians 10:1-4, we read, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; 2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 and all ate the same spiritual food; 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.” We see here an explicit reference to Christ as the rock. In the Old Testament, Moses twice had to speak to or strike a rock to provide life-giving water for the people of God.
In John 4:10-15, we hear Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well, and saying,
“…If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12“You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”
In order to be considered a true type, secondly, there must be a notable resemblance between the type and the anti-type, or fulfillment of the type. We see a clear resemblance between water to live, in the Old Testament, and living water here in the new Testament.
Thirdly, there must be historical placement of type and anti-type. There is a specific time and place where we can see the type and the anti-type. The scripture above satisfies this criteria also.
And fourthly, there must be a heightened significance in the fulfillment of the type. The anti-type is greater than the type. Jesus is so much more living water than the water that flowed from the rock. Besides the scripture above, another example would be Aaron as a type of Jesus. Aaron was a priest who had to continually oversee and offer sacrifices. Christ came as the ultimate sacrifice, once for all, and also became our high priest forever.
There is some debate over what constitutes something as a type. As a general rule, look for the points above.
Other, less specific associations that are not types would be symbols and illustrations. Symbols have meaning assigned to them. An example is that Israel is sometimes referred to in scripture as a fig. But you would not normally associate Israel with figs. Symbols are less specific than types and unless you knew the meaning assigned, you might miss the connection. Illustrations are things or events that might make you think of something else. They are cool to think about but are not scripturally verifiable.
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