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Women of the Old Testament as Types of Christ
The purpose of this reflection is to show that there are women of the Old Testament who are “types” of the Lord. We have limited typology to men. There are women of the Old Testament who speak to us as forcefully about the Lord as men. There are women who foreshadow the Lord .
Typology:
It is looking at people, places, situations of the Old Testament and seeing them in the light of Jesus. There are examples of types in the New Testament e.g. the multiplication of the loaves, which find their fulfillment later in the ministry of the Lord. For the sake of this paper we limit ourselves to the Old Testament. Typology may be compared, albeit a little weakly, with reversed coming attractions. A true type only comes to be understood in the light of Jesus. We look at Jesus and then see the continuity with the previous persons, places or things. We see them as “reversed” coming attractions because we have already seen the movie.
This principle of typology shows the unity of Scripture, the story of God with us, and also the gradual revelation of who He is. This finds its culmination in Jesus, the one who brings everything together. At one and the same time, He is the masterpiece and completes the masterpiece. Typology simply then is looking at the Old Testament as foreshadowing Jesus.
Examples of typology:
There are events (e.g. the Exodus), places (e.g. the Temple) and things (e.g. Ark of the Covenant) which find their fullest meaning in the New Testament. However once again we limit this paper to people. Recent scriptural studies have used this principle “typology” to enlighten the pages of the Word of God.
There is the story of Abraham and Isaac, the Father about to sacrifice his son, the obedience of Abraham and of Isaac, the complete self giving. We look at that and see the fulfillment with Jesus on the Cross.
Moses, was the great law giver. On the mountain he received and announced the law of the Old Testament. With direct continuity Jesus is the new Moses proclaiming the law of the New Covenant from a mountain.
The prophet Jeremiah whose righteous life and inspired words were a reproach to the authorities was condemned. One might easily see that he prefigures, Jesus the innocent one.
There are many more examples. It seems to me that we take men as types of Jesus but are quite hesitant in looking at women as foreshadowing Jesus.
Women as types of Jesus
The basic principle that I use in applying typology to women in the Old Testament is transcendentalism. What I mean by that rather intimidating word is abstracting from the physical . Is this approach valid? Given the fact that Christian life means being transformed into the Lord through the working of Holy Spirit, I think it is. Saints are given to us as models of what the Spirit does and as a result make Our Lord incarnate in their lives. We seem to accept this on the theoretical level but when it comes to practice, especially in sermons, there is a hesitancy in applying this to women.
For example, the great prophetess Deborah (Judges 4 ff) a very courageous woman, stands out as a great protectoress of her people. If Deborah were a man he would, without hesitation, be put up as an example of the Lord’s love for his people. Also, he would be used as an example of the Lord prodding us to do things we might think impossible. Yet never have I seen Deborah referred to as a “type” of Jesus.
In the book of Daniel (Daniel 13) we have the beautiful story of Susanna. While we have no problem in using Jeremiah as a model of the innocent Christ being condemned paradoxically we have a great deal of difficulty in saying the same about Susanna. Yet the parallels are quite obvious in both stories. In fact Susanna gives us a fuller picture of the lord because she was saved from death…Easter.
The final example that I would offer is that of Queen Esther. She undertook great risks to intercede for her people in time of great danger. If Esther were a king rather than a queen that would be used as foreshadowing the Lord as the great intercessor.
Observations
As I mentioned in the paper, would the story of Abraham and Isaac be used as a foreshadowing of Jesus if they were replaced by Sarah and a daughter? We have Moses interceding for his people and being used as a type of Jesus, yet we do not do the same for Ester.
In the Franciscan tradition we have the example of Lady Clare. For so many years, and probably in some quarters, is relegated to the Francis is for the men and Clare for women. Isn’t this possibly selling the Holy Spirit a little short? Our spirituality and humanity would be a lot richer if we looked at Clare and her uniquely feminine way of expressing the Franciscan charism as being for both men and women.
The spirit blows where it wills to manifest the Lord in many ways and through many people, male and female The challenge for us is to remember that we are not dealing with the physical but with the spiritual, God working in people.
Typology:
It is looking at people, places, situations of the Old Testament and seeing them in the light of Jesus. There are examples of types in the New Testament e.g. the multiplication of the loaves, which find their fulfillment later in the ministry of the Lord. For the sake of this paper we limit ourselves to the Old Testament. Typology may be compared, albeit a little weakly, with reversed coming attractions. A true type only comes to be understood in the light of Jesus. We look at Jesus and then see the continuity with the previous persons, places or things. We see them as “reversed” coming attractions because we have already seen the movie.
This principle of typology shows the unity of Scripture, the story of God with us, and also the gradual revelation of who He is. This finds its culmination in Jesus, the one who brings everything together. At one and the same time, He is the masterpiece and completes the masterpiece. Typology simply then is looking at the Old Testament as foreshadowing Jesus.
Examples of typology:
There are events (e.g. the Exodus), places (e.g. the Temple) and things (e.g. Ark of the Covenant) which find their fullest meaning in the New Testament. However once again we limit this paper to people. Recent scriptural studies have used this principle “typology” to enlighten the pages of the Word of God.
There is the story of Abraham and Isaac, the Father about to sacrifice his son, the obedience of Abraham and of Isaac, the complete self giving. We look at that and see the fulfillment with Jesus on the Cross.
Moses, was the great law giver. On the mountain he received and announced the law of the Old Testament. With direct continuity Jesus is the new Moses proclaiming the law of the New Covenant from a mountain.
The prophet Jeremiah whose righteous life and inspired words were a reproach to the authorities was condemned. One might easily see that he prefigures, Jesus the innocent one.
There are many more examples. It seems to me that we take men as types of Jesus but are quite hesitant in looking at women as foreshadowing Jesus.
Women as types of Jesus
The basic principle that I use in applying typology to women in the Old Testament is transcendentalism. What I mean by that rather intimidating word is abstracting from the physical . Is this approach valid? Given the fact that Christian life means being transformed into the Lord through the working of Holy Spirit, I think it is. Saints are given to us as models of what the Spirit does and as a result make Our Lord incarnate in their lives. We seem to accept this on the theoretical level but when it comes to practice, especially in sermons, there is a hesitancy in applying this to women.
For example, the great prophetess Deborah (Judges 4 ff) a very courageous woman, stands out as a great protectoress of her people. If Deborah were a man he would, without hesitation, be put up as an example of the Lord’s love for his people. Also, he would be used as an example of the Lord prodding us to do things we might think impossible. Yet never have I seen Deborah referred to as a “type” of Jesus.
In the book of Daniel (Daniel 13) we have the beautiful story of Susanna. While we have no problem in using Jeremiah as a model of the innocent Christ being condemned paradoxically we have a great deal of difficulty in saying the same about Susanna. Yet the parallels are quite obvious in both stories. In fact Susanna gives us a fuller picture of the lord because she was saved from death…Easter.
The final example that I would offer is that of Queen Esther. She undertook great risks to intercede for her people in time of great danger. If Esther were a king rather than a queen that would be used as foreshadowing the Lord as the great intercessor.
Observations
As I mentioned in the paper, would the story of Abraham and Isaac be used as a foreshadowing of Jesus if they were replaced by Sarah and a daughter? We have Moses interceding for his people and being used as a type of Jesus, yet we do not do the same for Ester.
In the Franciscan tradition we have the example of Lady Clare. For so many years, and probably in some quarters, is relegated to the Francis is for the men and Clare for women. Isn’t this possibly selling the Holy Spirit a little short? Our spirituality and humanity would be a lot richer if we looked at Clare and her uniquely feminine way of expressing the Franciscan charism as being for both men and women.
The spirit blows where it wills to manifest the Lord in many ways and through many people, male and female The challenge for us is to remember that we are not dealing with the physical but with the spiritual, God working in people.
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