The Old Testament Witness to Christ and His Kingdom, Mentor's Guide, MG09

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T H E O L D T E S T A M E N T W I T N E S S T O C H R I S T A N D H I S K I N G D O M

The Promise Clarified

Welcome to the Mentor’s Guide for Lesson 2, The Promise Clarified . The overall focus of this lesson is to clarify the divine promise made in God’s promised seed both in terms of the “seed of the woman” (Gen. 3.15), and the seed of Abraham (Gen. 12.1-3). The idea of typology as a valid hermeneutical rule is contested in much scholarship, largely because of the fanciful and uncritical use of the method by some of the Church fathers and other interpreters. Confusing typology with allegory, even many evangelical exegetical scholars find the use of the type a risky business (at best) and an invitation to error (at worst). Although we must concede the twisted interpretations that such a method used recklessly might do to the Scriptures, it is not possible to ignore it, largely because of Jesus’ and the apostles’ use of the method. John E. Alsup provides a concise and yet thorough discussion of the role and nature of type in biblical interpretation: “Typology” has been defined as “that form of biblical interpretation which deals with the correspondence between traditions concerning divinely appointed persons, events, and institutions, within the framework of salvation history” (Achtemeier International Dictionary of the Bible, Supplemental, 926). Paul expresses the hermeneutical starting point for typological thinking when he writes that the “veil” of Moses remains unlifted and obscures understanding when people “read the old covenant,” that “only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord the veil is removed,” and “all the promises of God find their Yes in him (Christ)” (2 Cor. 3.14–16; 1.20). This starting point presupposes the unity of the OT and NT and that the active involvement of God to save and deliver people in history is consistent. It presupposes, therefore, that the meaning of the OT is finally unclear without the NT, as is that of the NT without the OT; the two Testaments are connected at a substantive level. The Pauline image of the removal of the “veil” finds its antecedent subject matter in typology. ~ John E. Alsup. “Typology.” The Anchor Bible Dictionary . D. N. Freedman, ed. vol. 6. (electronic ed.). New York: Doubleday, 1996. p. 682. Although Alsup, like other modern biblical interpreters, does not identify a clear and iron-clad method for discerning the use of types in the Bible, he does recognize how the Bible itself, through Jesus and the apostles, makes historical analogies

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