ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS -- JESUS EXPLAINS THE SCRIPTURES EPISODE 4 PART 1 TYPOLOGY IN THE BOOK OF EXODUS

The Exodus is an event that foreshadows and parallels the ultimate act of redemption and revelation in Jesus Christ. The apostles, the early Church fathers, and the Church have always seen these spirit-inspired signs.

These are some of the most important events in Exodus that prefigure the redemption of Jesus Christ.

• Deliverance from bondage in Egypt prefigures Christians deliverance from the slavery of sin
• Crossing the Red Sea prefigures sacramental Baptism
• Passover feast celebrates the Exodus and the passing over of the Angel of Death, protecting all first borns of the Israelites.  The Passover meal foreshadows the Sacrament of the Eucharist. During the Last Supper, at a Passover meal,  Jesus initiated the Sacrament of the Eucharist, changing ordinary bread and wine into his own body and blood. Christ, the true Passover Lamb, delivers all of us from death into life.
• Manna in the desert, water from the rock, the bronze serpent, and many other details of the Exodus story, foreshadow the full revelation story that begins with the Incarnation of Jesus and is revealed in the New Testament.
• The tabernacle, housing the Ark of the Covenant, represents the humanity of Jesus, as well as the heavenly sanctuary, the Church, and the body of Christ.  Today in every Catholic Church there is a tabernacle that holds the consecrated bread, the living body of Christ.

Exodus is probably the most important book of the Bible.  In terms of the Israelites, it is in the Exodus that they become a nation.  For all mankind, it is in the story of Exodus where God begins a long-lasting, physical and personal relationship with His Creation through Moses and where he lays out the Law in which man learns how to follow in God's way.  Exodus influences the entire Old Testament, and it is in Exodus where quite a bit of the foreshadowing of the New Testament and God's final plan of man's redemption is foretold.

Exodus is the greatest redemptive event in the Old Testament to which subsequent revelation points to again and again.  An example of this is in the phrase from Hosea 11:1

"Out of Egypt I called my son."

In Exodus 4:22, the first reference for this phrase is to Israel.  God says, "Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, 'Let my son go.'" In the New Testament, (Matthew 2:13-15) Jesus is brought to Egypt by Mary and Joseph, escaping the wrath of Herod and then, after Herod's death, they eventually return to Israel.  This event fulfills the prophecy of Hosea 11:1 This establishes the Israel Typology, whereas the ultimate Israel is Jesus himself.  

Another precursor to this story is in the Book Of Genesis. It is in the final stories of Jacob (a.k.a. Israel) and his twelve sons, the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel.  Pay special attention to the Genesis stories of Jacob's sons, how they sold Joseph into slavery where he eventually ended up in Egypt.  Joseph rises out of slavery and becomes an aide to the Pharaoh.  His position allowed him to bring his family to Egypt to help them survive the famine in the Promise Land.  And it was this event that resulted in the 400 years of the descendants of the 12 tribes to be in Egypt and enslaved at the time Moses appears on the scene. Joseph's act to save his brothers, the ancestors of Israel, foreshadows St. Joseph who brought Jesus (the ultimate Israel) to Egypt to survive the threat of Herod.  

It is clear that typology was noted very early in the history of the Church.  St. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 5:7, refers to Christ as the Passover Lamb where he clearly links Jesus to the Exodus as the saving force.  Christ is also linked as the new Moses, as well as the Ultimate Israel, as He leads His People (the Church) to the new Promise Land.  

The earliest Gospel, written by Mark, also constantly refers indirectly to the Exodus of the Old Testament, by using the language of the Prophet Isaiah.  Isaiah picks up the Exodus theme again and again, sometimes referring to it in the past and sometimes using it as a way of talking about the impending Babylonian exile where the people are being cast out of the land again and will be drawn back by God.  Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Mark is thinking profoundly, relating the Old Testament to the New Testament and clearly seeing that Isaiah's "living" prophecy not only refers to the past, but also to the time of Jesus.  Mark's writings, which will become the New Testament, are truly the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

Mark was a disciple of Paul who frequently taught using typology.  Paul was educated by Gamaliel, a leading authority of the Sanhedrin, and as a result, St. Paul had a deep understanding of the Old Testament. Many of Paul's letters refer to the sins of the Israelites during the Exodus and used them as examples for Christ's Church, teaching the early Christians, as well as present day Christians, what we must avoid in order to reach the New Promise Land.

TYPOLOGY OF EXODUS EXPLAINED BY ST. PAUL

Typology is one method of revelation in Divine Teaching.  Through this method, God orchestrates the people, places, and events of the past to foreshadow future situations.  God gives us deep truths if we can recognize the connections.  

St. Paul’s writings also teach us through typology (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 128-129).  He highlights the Exodus from Egypt by teaching us that this foreshadowing is intended to instruct and exhort God’s people. The Church has used this method since the very beginning of its preaching.  Paul exhorts all Christians to not repeat the sins of the Israelites because, as a result of their sins, many did not inherit the Promised Land and he did not want that outcome for the early Christians.  Paul only mentions the Old Testament references in brief.  But, by introducing this typology, Paul wants us to contemplate these events even more deeply. 

Paul teaches the meaning behind the supernatural food and drink God gave the Israelites during their years of wandering in the desert.   Every day the Israelites woke up to find manna (which looked like a white wafer) on the ground and their water was miraculously provided from the rock that Moses struck each day.  This is the prefiguring of the Body and Blood of the Eucharist. The progression of this story starts with the first miracle Jesus performs which was to turn Water into Wine -- his last miracle, at the Last Supper, was to turn Wine into his Blood. The miracles of feeding the crowds from a few loaves of Bread progresses to the Bread at the Last Supper which is changed into his Body.  The supernatural food and drink of Exodus prefigures the supernatural food we have today in the Holy Eucharist.

Paul recalls other events of the Exodus as a foreshadowing of our Christian experience.  As the Israelites passed from slavery to freedom through the Red Sea, we pass from the slavery of sin into freedom in Christ through the waters of Baptism.  We begin our earthly pilgrimage as members of God's covenant family and the goal for us is the promise land of heaven.  Throughout this journey, Christ (the new Moses) is our guide and God is always with us. Our earthly pilgrimage will be like the Exodus of Egypt, our supernatural food is the Eucharist, which gives us the supernatural power that enables us to have faith, be obedient and to love God.  Even though our journey will be arduous, we must learn from the mistakes of the Israelites to never give up on God.  Even though we have struggles and sufferings to endure, we must place our full hope and trust in our heavenly Father.  We must learn from the sins of our ancestors to remain faithful even amid our hardships.  Our goal is heaven, but entry into this promise land is not guaranteed. As Paul writes, "Now these things happened to them as a warning, but they were written down for our instruction... therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 19: 1-12)

The Typology in the Book of Exodus

 will continue in

 Episode 4 Part 2 of Jesus Explains the Scriptures.