By Pastor Bob Lawrenz
We often see parallels in scripture where one person goes through something so similar as another Bible character, that it cannot be coincidental. It should remind us all how similar all our lives can be; it should also remind us of how susceptible to temptations we all are.
When we see God in a Burning Bush, it's called a "Theophany." when we see Jesus in the tree that was cast into the bitter waters of Mara during the Exodus, we call it a "Christophany." But when life events are similar, with similar outcomes, we see the parallels of the Bible, and refer to them as Types," or typology.
In Genesis, we can find "types" of Jesus everywhere from Genesis 1& 2 to the final chapters of Genesis as Jacob is reunited with all his sons. Indeed, the entirety of the Old Testament points to the Lord, Savior, and Messiah, Jesus. The message of the Old Testament is that the Messiah-Redeemer is coming; the message of the New Testament is that Christ the Messiah-Redeemer is coming again.
In Jeremiah 26, God's judgment against the Jews remaining in Judah and Jerusalem continues in chapter 26, and sadly so. But one man who learned of God's judgment through Jeremiah's preaching, preaches in the name of God also against Judah and the city. He becomes a Jewish martyr as this chapter closes; or was he? Here in the person of Urijah we find perhaps a type of some who preach in God's name, but without a relationship with Him!
As Urijah is hunted down and killed, Jeremiah lives on as the hand of God is upon him. When God is with us, mercy prevails. But when He is not, it's not man's hands we have to worry about.
"For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me,
I will recompense, saith the Lord.
And again, The Lord shall judge his people."
And again, The Lord shall judge his people."
Hebrews 10:30
