What Manner of Men? Part 2: Shine On!

So for my monthly installment of Sermons of the Heart, this month I chose to give out a car to drive my point home. What thought is so important that I’d gift a set of brand new wheels when I’m still limping around in my own bruised and battered beater? Of course I’ll get there, but I have to first straddle that fine line between musing and rambling. Fortunately for you, this time around, I elected to produce a game show and communicate some of my supporting facts and details through that exciting and prize-laden media to avoid simply dumping a load of scriptural knowledge on you.

Because I want to be sure that some of these intriguing findings of mine are not lost on you, and running the risk of unnecessary repetition, let’s review. First of all, what exactly is a type? George Landow, a Professor of English and Art History at Brown University defined typology (or typological symbolism) as “a Christian form of Biblical interpretation that proceeds on the assumption that God placed anticipations of Christ in the laws, events, and people of the Old Testament.”Though Professor Landow teaches English, let’s see if we can put his words into even plainer English so that an average Joe like me can better understand him. What he is saying is that Christians look to people, places, teachings, and happenings in the Bible and find similarities or foreshadowing of the Savior Jesus Christ. Any of these discovered people or events are called types of Christ, things that make us think of Christ’s life, mission, or gospel. In some scriptural references, we might see the words ensample, manner, figure, or similitude which also are used to denote a resemblance between something present and something future or past. The assumption identified by Professor Landow is that God deliberately directed paths and patterns in the words and actions of certain individuals to create these similarities.So as we looked at 3 Old Testament prophets here, consider how these men were types of Christ. First, Isaac. Isaac’s mother, Sariah was unable to bear a child for Abraham. This became a painful and bitter trial for the loving couple. Added to this challenge was the blessing from God that Abram would be the father of many nations, that his posterity would be as innumerable as the stars of the heavens and the sands of the sea. In fact, with this blessing, his name was changed from Abram to Abraham, which means exalted father. Well, it’s kind of hard to sire countless nations if your wife is barren and unable to bear you a child. Well past normal child-bearing years, Sariah was suddenly blessed with a child, her only child, the only begotten son of Abraham and Sariah. When Sariah expressed mixed emotions including some doubt, some hilarity, and some fears regarding the promise that she would bear a son in her old age, an angel told her, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” This is something of a foreshadowing of another mother who would live millennia later, would express doubt and fears when told that she would conceive a child, despite knowing no man, and would also be told of an angel, “For with God, nothing shall be impossible!” Just as the name of this other mother’s son was given by way of angelic commandment, a name which means Savior, the name of Sariah’s son was given from heaven, a name referring to Sarah’s laughter of joy and amused doubt at the angelic pronouncement.

Fast forward several years. How old was Isaac when Abraham was given the horrible command to sacrifice his only begotten? We don’t know. He was certainly old enough to understand about animal sacrifice and his father’s prophetic role. I would imagine that Isaac was old enough to physically resist his aged father when the time came for the sacrifice. Rather, this beloved son bore the wood for the sacrifice on his back and voluntarily laid himself upon the altar. Such was the meekness and submissiveness of this only begotten son to his exalted father. Unlike another sacrifice that had to be carried out at the meridian of time, despite the spiritual and physical pain and anguish to both Father and Son, an angel was dispatched to stay the prophetic father’s hand and preserve the life of the son. In the hours leading up to and those following the needed sacrifice of the Son of Man, angels were also dispatched to provide comfort, strength, and assistance in the restoration of life or the resurrection of the sacrificed.

Interestingly enough, it was a 3 day journey to Moriah--which was indeed the ancient name of the mountainous land where the Savior would one day be sacrificed for all mankind and which was named Jehovah-jireh--a name meaning “in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen”--in remembrance of this great sacrifice of the great God Jehovah to come. That 3 day journey, in which a father most-assuredly was grieving for the imminent loss of his son, makes us think of the 3 day journey of the earthly parents of the Son of Man in returning to Jerusalem in search of their lost son, whom they grieved and feared dead. Those same 3 days also make us think of a three day window when the Exalted Father surely grieved as no parent has ever before grieved for the pain and suffering of His Son, the same Son that He had to abandon in the moment of greatest agony so as to fulfill all righteousness and to satisfy the demands of justice and mercy for all of His children. Given all of this, is there any doubt that Isaac was a type of Christ?How about Joseph. Joseph was the grandson of Isaac, the eleventh of twelve sons of his father Jacob, also known as Israel. Jacob fell desperately in love with a beautiful woman named Rachel. He worked for Rachel’s father Laban for seven years to earn her hand. Through Laban’s trickery Jacob was wed to Rachel’s elder sister, Leah. He then worked for another seven years for the honor of marrying his true love. He was able to father children through Leah, but Rachel, like Sariah, was barren. Imagine his joy when Rachel, his beloved, was finally able to conceive. How did he treat this son? Above ten other sons, Joseph was the most beloved of his father. Joseph’s name means savior, just like another beloved Son. Only his divine mission of salvation was of a much different nature. Joseph had strange dreams that eluded to his exalted station above that of his elder brothers. This inspired jealousy, fear, and rejection among these brethren who thought of Joseph as ordinary and no different than they, and they refused to believe him. One of the 12 sons, Judah proposed to betray his brother and sell him for twenty pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Inflation over many centuries would drive the price of a slave to 30 pieces of silver by the time that another betraying brother named Judas would sell his eventual master to men of the world. Unbeknownst to Joseph, this evil intended against him would set the stage for him to fulfill his divine role of savior, as did the evil intended against the Savior of the World.

Later in Egypt, when cast into prison, Joseph held a private conversation with two others both condemned to die. Interpreting dreams, he told one that he would be pardoned and granted life. The other was given no such promise. A similar conversation took place with the Savior of the World and those two others condemned to die with Him on Calvary. One was promised the hope of pardon and Paradise. The other was not. At the age of 30, Joseph was appointed as steward of Pharoah, charged with the important task of providing life-sustaining bread to all of Egypt during a prophesied famine. The true bread of life also began His public mission of salvation at the age of 30. When Joseph’s eleven brothers came to Egypt for bread during the horrible drought, they did not recognize their brother just as Jesus was not recognized for His true nature both by the people at large and by those closest to Him. And, in the end, all of Egypt, including Joseph’s estranged brothers, fell to their knees in gratitude for this savior of Egypt as will every knee bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the World. Now given all of this, was Joseph a type of Christ?Finally, we have Moses. Of all of these three prophets, Moses was the one whom scriptures specifically declare as a type of Christ, a law-giver and deliverer in similitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. There are so many shadows and parallels to discover in the scriptures surrounding this man. We’ll just tackle some of the highlights. Moses was born to a people enslaved by a foreign power, a power which feared the birth of a prophesied king and deliverer. To prevent his birth, innocent babes under the age of two were slaughtered. Ironically, this prophesied deliverer was adopted by the ruling family and became a prince, a role which he voluntarily forsook, choosing to embrace his divine role instead. Exploring the genealogies of Jesus of Nazareth, we learn that if Judah had been a free and independent people, Jesus would have rightly been the literal King of the Jews, rather than the figurative King of the Jews as declared by a mocking sign hung upon a cross. This kingly role was one that Jesus forsook during His earthly life but is one that He will claim when He comes again.

Back to Moses. We know that Moses left Egypt at the age of 40. He lived as a shepherd among the Middianites for 40 years before he saw a burning bush and was commanded to fulfill his role as deliverer of the enslaved Israelites. Following this preparation for his mission, defined by the number 40, Moses was commanded to go into Egypt. Does this remind you of the 40 day preparation Jesus undertook before beginning his mortal ministry? Or the angelic command given in dream to Joseph to take his infant son and to flee to Egypt, later to return to the Holy Land of promise? Moses brought Israel forth from Egypt with the miraculous power of God behind them en route to a promised Holy Land. Their journey took much longer than that of Mary and Joseph, 40 years to be exact. During that time, Moses was called up to a high mountain, where he was transfigured and instructed of God. For 40 days, he was instructed, and he, like Christ, was tempted three times by Satan upon his return. In leaving Egypt, Moses instituted the Passover feast among Israel in remembrance of their physical deliverance from bondage. As they journeyed in the wilderness, Moses struck a rock and water came forth and the people were fed with bread from heaven. Moses provided a temporal set of laws and commandments by which the people should live to be saved spiritually--a law that was also explicitly declared to be a type or a foreshadowing of and to point to the great Savior to come.The Son of Man, the rock of our salvation whom Moses typified, provided living water and the bread of life to His people. Jesus Christ declared in His beautiful Sermon on the Mount, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law [of Moses], or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” He then proceeds to provide a new law, or a new covenant--a new testament--by which His people shall live, a law that no longer causes us to look forward to His coming, but one that causes us to look forward to our own exaltation, becoming perfect, even as Christ, or our Father in Heaven is perfect. To that end, Jesus instituted his own meal of remembrance, not one to remember the deliverance of Israel from physical bondage, but rather one designed to help us remember our own deliverance from spiritual bondage and our journey toward exaltation. Finally, I think of the serpentine staff that Moses held up in the wilderness, the one to which Israelites could look to be cured of their fatal ailment inflicted by poisonous serpents. All they had to do was look to that staff. But it was too simple a solution for many and many perished. Jesus said, “Come follow me.” Jesus said, “I stand at the door knocking.” Jesus says, “Look to me and live.” Is it really that simple? Can I just drop my nets and follow him? Can I just open up that door? Can I simply look at Him, or touch His garment even, and be healed? I’ll leave those questions unanswered and rather ask, is there any doubt that Moses was a type of Christ?You don’t have to look took deeply in the scriptures to find other types of Christ. However, if you do dig deeply you’ll find a vast treasure trove of symbols and types just waiting to be unearthed. In the Topical Guide of the Bible, we find two similar entries: Jesus Christ, Types of – in anticipation of; and Jesus Christ, Types of – in memory of. This is a great place to start. I find it interesting that types are divided into those that helped our fathers of old to look forward in anticipation of Christ’s coming and those that are designed to help us remember Him who so loved us. Comparing the two categories, you’ll find a lot of duality, such as the Law of Moses and Christ’s higher law, the Passover and the Sacrament, sacrifice and baptismal covenants, the Old Testament and the New Testament. As you dig, I encourage you to pay attention to the numbers you see.

• Look for the number 2, which symbolizes the word witness or testimony. Think about the mouth of two or three witnesses, a missionary companionship, the two great commandments, and the many other examples of dual witnesses found therein.
• Look for the number 3, which symbolizes perfection, the perfection of the Godhead, of the Resurrection, and of countless other Godlike attributes, orders, and symbols.
• Look for the number 7 which represents completeness, such as the 7 seals of the history of the world, resting on the 7th day or the Sabbath, 7 years of service for a beloved companion, and 70 times 7 times to forgive a neighbor his trespasses against us to name a few.
• Look for the number 6, which represents incompleteness. You’ll find several of those individuals depicted as the enemies of God and God’s people branded with this number. Think of the number of the beast, 3 6’s which could symbolically be interpreted as perfect incompleteness. Is there a better definition for the enemy of all righteousness?
• Look for the number 8, a number which symbolizes a new beginning. Think of baptism. Think of those 8 souls who survived the great flood. Think of healed lepers who began their new life on the 8th day following their cleansing.
• Look for the number 10 which is perfection in Divine order. Tithing, ten commandments, ten plagues, and parables of Jesus, including one about 10 virgins and one about 10 denaris.
• Look for the number 12 which symbolizes a perfect theocratic government. 12 is made up of 1 and 2, which together equal the perfect number, 3. The number 1 symbolizes the head, the first, the chief--1 God, 1 prophet, 1 High Priest, 1 law, 1 Savior, 1 way to God. 2 represents a witness. So, the number 12 represents the chief of God’s perfect rule, which we see with 12 apostles, priesthood quorum sizes defined in multiples of 12, 12,000 elect from 12 tribes, and so forth.
• Look for the number 40 which means either the completion of maturity--as in Moses’ age divisions--or the completion of a trial or test--such as Christ’s fasting, the flood, Moses’ sojourn on Sinai, or Israel’s years in the wilderness. Sometimes, you’ll find that the number 40 represents the endurance of a full trial to achieve full maturity.

Now when you get tired of looking for numbers and trying to sort out symbolic meaning, simply come to the knowledge that these numbers, too, are types of Christ and of His gospel and divine work.

I’ll ask again, is there any doubt that these people, these events, and these numbers were divinely shaped and patterned to draw us to Christ? Would you dare try to explain all of this away as a coincidence? Would you bet your life on that particular hand? So why would God so deliberately and obviously throw all of these signs, shadows, types, and wonders at us? King Benjamin said that “God saw that His people were a stiffnecked people.” They proved that continuously throughout the scriptures, and we continue to prove it today. Thus, we were given the Law of Moses, to point us to Christ. We were also shown these signs, wonders, types, and shadows concerning His mission and His coming.And as King Benjamin concluded, "all of this availeth nothing except it were through the atonement of His blood." In other words, none of these types mean anything without the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith declared, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.”

There is nothing more important in the scriptures, and in life itself, than the Atonement of our Lord and Master. All other "appendages" we encounter are merely patterned to draw us to Christ and His Atonement and to the Eternal Life that it draws us into as we fully embrace that wondrous gift.

In the beginning, I admitted that I like to dance around that fine line between musing and rambling to lead up to a point, usually a thought that has recently been on my mind. And those of you still with me have either patiently awaited or skimmed and fast-forwarded to this moment to see what it is. I thank you for your patience. My simple point, is that you, my brother or sister, are also a type of Christ--perhaps one of those designed in memory or remembrance of Him who we dearly love and wish to emulate. God may shape your life, patterning events and circumstances that will help you and your posterity to remember and to look to Jesus Christ. God may simply allow you to shape your own life and your own example to accomplish that same end.

Jesus Christ posed an interesting question to the twelve apostles He ordained when showing Himself to the Nephites following His resurrection that is applicable to all, both men and women. He asked, “What manner of men ought ye to be?” Before I reveal the answer He gave to His own question, which you surely already know, I have to point out that this answer came in the third Book of Nephi, chapter 27, verse 27. Do any of you aspiring Snipe that Type contestants wish to take a shot at why I got excited at this little nugget? Take the number 27, which you Mathletes quickly recognized as three cubed or three times three times three. So the answer to what our ultimate goal in life should be is to be found in Nephi Book three, chapter three times three times three, verse three times three times three. Given our numerical symbolic representations earlier, any guesses at what Christ answered? I’ll give you a hint… it has something to do with perfection. Christ answered, “Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”For extra credit, you can quickly point out that one of Jesus Christ’s, or Jehovah’s, many names--one for which the Jews wished to stone Him--was I AM or, as He introduced Himself to Moses, I AM THAT I AM.

Do you want to tell me that this was all a coincidence? Again, would you bet your life, or your Eternal Life, on that coincidence? So Christ commanded us to be perfect, even as HE IS--to be just like Him in thought, word, and deed. And as we seek more fully to emulate Him, we will become types of Christ, examples to those around us and to our posterity, to make them think of Christ and to strive to follow in that same path becoming themselves examples and types.In that masterful Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “Ye are the light of the world.” When He visited the Nephites, He worded that declaration a little differently. He said to them, “I give unto you to be the light of this people.” In other words, we are not automatically a light shining upon others. We are given light from Christ. We are asked, even commanded, to let it shine forth confidently, proudly, and ever so brightly from candlesticks that we hold high. We can also choose to hide our candlelight under a bushel. Which people are we to shine upon? The world as a whole? Yes, but specifically our people, our neighbors and coworkers, our friends and our family, our posterity. Jesus continues, “Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

I’m struck by the simple words of a simple song called A Window to His Love:

I want to be a window to His love,
So when you look at me you will see Him.
I want to be so pure and clear that you won’t even know I’m here,
‘cause His love will shine brightly through me.

I want to be a doorway to the truth,
So when you walk beyond you will find Him.
I want to stand so straight and tall, that you won’t notice me at all.
But through my open door He will be seen.

I want to be a window to His love,
so you can look through me and you'll see Him.
And some day shining through my face, you'll see His loving countenance,
'cause I will have become like He is.

A window to His love.
A doorway to the truth.
A bearer of the message He’d have me bring to you.
And with each passing day,
I want to fade away.
‘Till only He can be seen, and I become a window to His love.

So, my brothers and sisters, I ask you to raise your candlesticks high. Join them with mine. As you well know, each of our flames individually can provide a measure of light and warmth. But individual flames brought together exponentially combine to provide even greater light and warmth that can spread to all. Let us shine forth our Christ-like examples, our hope in His gospel and His Atonement, and our testimonies of His truth. Let us be types of Christ that cause our other brothers and sisters, those who have gone before and those who will come after, to look upon our lives and to see the image of God engraven upon our countenances. As they look to us, they will think of Him. Then they will think of His mercy and His grace. And then the Atonement of Him that loved us can work miracles in their lives, as it has in ours.

Shine on. Shine strong.