The doctrine of shadows
1. Shadows were used for hospitality
in the Old Testament the shadow of a tree. People in the ancient world would
often sit under the shadow of a home or the shadow of a wall of a home and the
people who owned the home would invite them in. This was the concept of
hospitality and is taught in Genesis 19:8. It indicates the principle of love,
the relaxed mental attitude, the spiritual growth of the soul that extends
hospitality to a stranger.
2. Shadows are used for life in
contrast to eternity 1 Chronicles 29:15; Job 8:9. In other words, the shadow
of this life is nothing compared to the reality of eternity for the believer.
If life can be so wonderful and still be a shadow, how fantastically glorious
eternity must be, and it is something that all of us contemplate with great
anticipation. For physical death means absent from the body, face to face with
the Lord. It means no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain, no more death,
the old things have passed away. It means having an incorruptible inheritance
from God Himself. And all these things cannot be explained except in terms of
shadows. Life at its best is a shadow; eternity at its worst for the believer
is a reality of great blessing and happiness.
3. Shadows are also used, then, for
dying grace. One of the greatest blessings that comes to the believer in this
life is the experience of dying grace Psalm 23:4. Death is a shadow to the
believer in dying grace. He knows where he is going, he knows where he has
been. No matter how great the pain, how prolonged the dying, he is in the
valley of the shadow of death, and therefore the dying does not have that
disastrous reality that it portrays for the unbeliever or for the reversionistic
believer minus Bible doctrine. So the shadow portrays the principle of dying
grace.
4. The shadow is used for protection
from the source God. All of us face known and unknown dangers in our lifetime.
Life is filled with many dangers for the believer because once you accept
Christ as your saviour you enter into the intensified stage of the angelic
conflict. There are many invisible and unseen dangers in your life, there are
many pressures which the unbeliever does not have. There are many pressures of
this life which belong to the human race in common but the shadow of God
protects from all Psalm 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; 63:7; 91:1. This was Davids
wonderful testimony of how God cast His shadow over him in all circumstances of
life. David had that supergrace confidence that the Lord was protecting him.
5. The shadow is also used in a
contrasting thought. The shadow is used in the Bible for empty, superficial,
and disastrous type living Psalm 144:4; Ecclesiastes 8:13; 6:12.
6. The shadow is used for the love
protection of right man over right woman. The right woman always is protected
by the one she loves, even when he is absent Song of Solomon 2:3.
7. The shadow is used for
instability James 1:17. In other words, the instability concept is that a
shadow keeps moving. The instability factor comes from the fact that a shadow
may be in one spot one moment and it is in another spot the next. So the shadow
for instability often portrays the fluffy-headed female who cant make up her
mind about which one she loves.
8. The shadow is also used for bad
foreign policy Isaiah 30:2,3.
9. The shadow is used for pressure
destroying the normal functions of life, as in Job 17:7; Psalm 102:11; 109:23.
10. The shadow is used for the
ritual of the Old Testament, a ritual which was meaningful at the time. The
people of the Old Testament learned much of their doctrine through the
observation of ritual. Therefore, the Levitical priesthood functioned in ritual
to teach doctrine. So the shadow is used for the ritual of the Old Testament
which has no function or substance in our dispensation, the Church Age
Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5; 10:1.