Bible Word of the Day
Archetype (Example or Picture of Something to Come)
Meaning
The Merriam-Webster dictionary tells us that archetype means, “the original pattern or model, of which all things of the same type are representations or copies.” And in the Bible archetypes, as seen through the lens of scripture, represent a person or an event involved in the future fulfillment of Bible prophecy. And leading up to that fulfillment, we see individuals or events which are representations or pictures of the archetype to come. For example, the anti-Christ is someone who will rule the world in the last days, this person will pretend to be God. The anti-Christ is the archetype, however leading up to his appearance, we will see images or representations of the anti-Christ in rulers who have characteristics and patterns of behavior representative of the anti-Christ to come.
However, they are only representatives of the archetype to come. For example, we have, Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who was a Greek king in the Seleucid Empire from 175 B.C. till 164 B.C., and another example would be Hitler in our modern times. These men as well as many others were representatives of the archetype. A writer by the name of Leland Ryken in his book “Words of Delight” says that an archetype is “an image, plot, motif, or character type that recurs throughout literature and is part of a reader’s total literary experience.” In our case archetypes are recurring people, and events reminding us of the “real thing” to come. Archetypes help us to understand God’s plan of redemption and the unfolding of human history as we read and study the Bible.