Is Moses a type of Christ?

The Old Testament speaks of the coming Messiah from Genesis 3 on. It does this by direct prophecy and through types. A ‘type’ is an event or a person that God intended to be a picture of Messiah; in which or by whom Christ casts His shadow across the Old Testament. These types are found throughout the Old Testament: Adam, the serpent on the pole, Joshua, and many more.

What about Moses? As the author of most of Genesis to Deuteronomy he wrote often about the coming Messiah, even prophesying of him, The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken. But was Moses a type of Christ?

Now Moses was a great man. Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. He led Israel out of Egypt, gave them the Law, and was one of the greatest intercessors ever. In Isaiah we read, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. The Jews understood it to mean that Messiah will be exalted above Abraham, extolled above Moses and very high over the angels. Amen! But was he intended to be a type of Christ?

Last night I thought about the time, when, as a young, growing, eager believer, I asked my spiritual mentor if Moses was a type of Christ. I was taken aback by the swift and definite “No” that I got in response. I remember the No but I don’t remember an explanation being given.

Well, as great as Moses was, he was not a type of Christ. And this is the explanation, Moses represented the Law. He was the great Law-giver.

Moses is compared to Christ,
And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant…
But Christ [was faithful] as a son over his own house…

What is the significance of this? The law cannot save you. And this is illustrated in the entering of Israel into the promised land. Moses did not get to lead them into the land, because the law cannot take you there. Joshua, who is a type of Christ, did lead them in. (That Joshua is a type of Christ was established by God when He had Moses change his name from Oshea to Joshua - Joshua and Jesus being the same in Hebrew and Greek.)

So, is Moses a type of Christ? No. He was a great man, one of the greatest men in the Old Testament, and he was a part of the Old Testament witness concerning Messiah, but he represents the Law, not Christ. God was gracious to Moses and took him to the mountain so he could see the promised land before he died; and he had the privilege and honor of appearing with Christ in the mount of transfiguration, and so he was able to see Messiah as well. But he is not a type of Christ.


How a type of Christ kept Moses from the promised land
There is an actual incident which kept Moses from entering the land. Israel was at a place where there was no water, and they murmured against Moses. Moses took it to the Lord and God showed him a rock and told him,
Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

However, Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly.

For this God kept him out of the promised land. What’s the big deal? The big deal is the rock is Christ. The first time they ran out of water, God told Moses, Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And the second time he was to only speak to the rock.

The rock is a type of Christ and the water is eternal life. Christ must be smitten before the water will come forth. But Christ only needed to be smitten once, after this, we only need to speak to Him to receive the water of life. And Moses messed up God’s type by smiting the rock a second time!

Not only was Moses not a type of Christ, but a type of Christ kept him out of the promised land.

Anyway, that’s what I thought about last night at work.