Sample of People in the Old Testament Who Foreshadowed Christ

This is a sample of people in the Old Testament who foreshadowed Christ in a notable way rather than an exhaustive list. It is also not necessarily covering every single way in which the people who are mentioned foreshadow Christ.

Daniel- He suffered due to his utter faithfulness to God. His enemies also very publicly falsely accused him of being a criminal. Daniel being thrown into the lion’s den and coming out is a shadow of the death and resurrection of Christ. Daniel was in captivity due to the sins of others. He also notably made intercession for the transgressors of his people despite the fact that he was not a transgressor himself (he had broken off from sin and walked by faith in subjection to God’s law). The Jews would have never been in captivity if the people of the nation had been like him instead of unrepentant transgressors- and the Lord clearly said this much in Ezekiel chapter 14.

David- Jesus is the Son of David according to the flesh. He calls Himself the root and the offspring of David in Revelation chapter 22. Jesus is the one whom God promised David would sit on his throne forever (see 2 Samuel chapter 7 and Luke 1:31-33).

The concept that Christ would suffer first and then reign in glory afterwards is illustrated notably by David’s life. David had an obscure youth and suffered much false accusation and unrighteous persecution before he reigned. That caused him to even be cast out of Israel for a time.

There is also a great picture of Jesus defeating Satan in David slaying Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. Goliath there is an obvious picture of Satan, this prideful giant who reproaches the true God and seeks to eradicate His people and His worship from the earth. David is a faithful shepherd who rises out of obscurity and slays the giant with his own weapon (David chopped off Goliath’s head with Goliath’s own sword). Jesus destroyed Satan with his own weapon (death); and obtained the greatest victory for God’s kingdom and those who will come into line with Him (i.e. turn to be subject to His authority as the King of the kingdom of God).

Hebrews 2:14: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil…”

Isaac- A type and shadow of Christ who, as a full grown man (or nearly full grown man), obeyed his father and carried the wood which his father intended to slay him on up the mountain which God had appointed. Isaac’s father Abraham brought the fire and the knife, pictures of judgment and death, to slay his only begotten son and heir of all that he had. In Isaac’s case, the Lord intervened at the last moment and spared him from death.

Jeremiah- He preached against the sins of his own people and warned of the coming judgment. He was rejected, mistreated, and suffered deprivation in many ways. He suffered for the nation, even when it was prosperous, as he anticipated and warned about the horror that was coming on it. Jeremiah also suffered with the sinful nation when the judgment came. He was even rejected by the remnant afterwards- to their own shame and irreparable harm.

Job- A man who suffered for God’s glory precisely because he was a perfect and a just man that feared God and eschewed evil (Job 1:1). Job’s response in his suffering would basically settle a cosmic conflict one way or another. He was afflicted, tempted, and greatly misunderstood- yet he kept the faith and was ultimately delivered from his affliction and recompensed abundantly (see Isaiah 53:10-12 here in relation to Jesus).

Jonah- Jesus spoke of the historical truth of Jonah being swallowed by the sea creature and then spewed out alive. He also regarded this as a picture of His own death, burial, and resurrection (Matthew 12:38-41). Jonah came to warn Nineveh of coming judgment and implicitly warned its inhabitants to repent and bring forth works fitting for repentance while Jesus’ servants were sent to gentile cities to warn people to repent and turn to Him in order to obtain His grace before He comes again in judgment (see Acts 26:19-23). We also see clearly by the Ninevites’ repentance in Jonah 3:5-10 how action to wholeheartedly turn from sin is necessary to obtain God’s grace. Faith that doesn’t involve such repentance is dead faith which cannot save an individual (as James chapter 2 speaks about).

Joseph- Type of Christ who was eminently esteemed by his father and hated by his brethren for that reason and due to his honest report of their evil deeds to his father (see Genesis 37:2-4). They turned on him, betrayed him, sold him into slavery, dealt deceitfully with their father yet more, and Joseph suffered greatly while considered dead in the eyes of the Israelites (that is, Jacob’s household- Jacob was called Israel). Joseph was raised out of his affliction and became a ruler who was able to save those who would come to him from the deadly famine which hit the world. The parallels to Christ are obvious.

Joshua- The name Jesus is a Greek version of Joshua. The similarity of the name is no coincidence as Joshua is in many ways a type of Christ- especially now in Jesus’ exalted state with all power given Him in heaven and in earth. The pre-incarnate Christ’s appearance to Joshua in Joshua 5:13-15 is an amazing instance which proves that no one has unconditional security with God and that He did not give the land of Canaan to the Israelites unconditionally.

Moses- He served and followed Jesus. The Lord ordained the Passover Lamb (which is a type of Christ in itself) through Moses. Moses also foreshadows Christ in that he lived in glory yet regarded the Israelites in their affliction- and in doing so became a man of low estate himself. He spoke to the pre-incarnate Christ who spoke to him from the midst of the Burning Bush and was sent to deliver Israel after 40 years of a life of drudgery in the desert. Moses also demonstrated God’s anger at idolatry when he found Israel had made the Golden Calf- yet he made intercession for Israel and stood in the gap so that God did not destroy them as a nation. Think of Jesus cleansing the Temple yet praying for His enemies. Moses, in serving Him, understood the difference between judicial and personal vengeance. This is how he had multitudes killed judicially in righteousness yet prayed for his siblings Miriam and Aaron when they spoke against his person.

Nehemiah- He stood up to purify God’s worship and save it from heathen corruption by building the walls around Jerusalem. He was zealous for the purity of the Lord’s worship and did not compromise nor cut corners in enforcing righteousness in Jerusalem. He had come from the luxury of the Persian palace to visit Jerusalem in its impoverished, pathetic condition. The Jews repeatedly disobeyed Nehemiah despite the overwhelming evidence that God was with him. Nehemiah also faced much opposition from compromised Jewish rulers aligned with openly heathen idolaters. Christ also faced this in Herod and Pilate being made friends on the day He was crucified.

Noah- Noah was a man who walked with God in an especially corrupt period of time. Due to his faithfulness, he was appointed to make a way of salvation to any who would heed his righteous preaching and enter into the ark which he faithfully built through his own costly and painful labor. Noah is a picture of Christ in being a Captain of salvation (see Hebrews 2:10) for the potential rescue of others. We must personally obey Christ and enter into what He has built for our salvation- not just trust in what He has done. Imagine one trying to trust in Noah to be their personal savior from the flood while not heeding his righteous preaching and entering into the ark themselves. This illustrates the difference between the false doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ versus Biblical imputed righteousness that actually saves (which is the blood of Christ applied to those who repent and come under His authority since His whole person must be received- He is the Ultimate authority figure who only saves in the context of bringing people out of the devil’s dominion of unrighteousness to rather be under His righteous dominion).

Samuel- A type of Christ as a righteous Judge who is not a respecter of persons. Samuel could not be convinced to turn a blind eye to evil and he was definitely not a Pacifist. Samuel proved that he could (according to his judicial authority) hack wicked people justly condemned to death with a sword without any remorse- just like Jesus will when He returns to reign (see Luke 19:27 and Revelation 19:11-21).