The Seven Baptisms: Baptism of Israel - Part 2 of 8
Posted: Friday, May 23, 2008
by Teresa Ortiz
Freelance writer/Speaker
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your faithfulness to give us your word that we would know you and what your will for our life is. I ask your blessing on this and each of the studies that will follow. Teach us what we need to know. You promised that those who seek you with their whole heart will find you and this is what we are doing now. So Father, open our hearts and minds to receive a greater understanding of your word and give us a greater measure of your Spirit that we will come through a changed people because we have answered your call. I pray for those who are new in Christ, or haven't fully surrendered to you, yet find themselves following this study. Bless them Lord and bring them to a place of sweet surrender that they may know you and the power of the resurrection in their lives. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
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The Background:
The Israelites found themselves slaves in Egypt. Some 430 years prior to this event, they were welcomed in the land of Goshen, just outside of Egypt because Joseph, Israel's [Jacob] favorite son was second in command over all of the land. However, the latest king of Egypt had other plans...
"Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. And he said to his people, 'Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we; come, let us deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and It happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.' But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew, so the Egyptians made the children of Israel serve with rigor." (Exodus 1:8-10, 12-13.)
God at work behind the scenes:
"Then the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives...and he said, ‘When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him, but if it is a daughter, then she shall live'. But the midwives feared God and did not do as the king of Egypt had commanded them but saved them alive…and so it was because the midwives feared God, that He provided households for them." (Ex.1:15-1, 21.)
Enter Moses:
"So the woman conceived and bore a son…But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him and put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank…and the Pharaoh's daughter found the child…and he became her son and she called him Moses." (Ex. 2:2-3,10.)
The Cry:
"Now it happened in the process of time that the king of Egypt died. Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of the bondage. So God remembered His covenant with Isaac, and Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel and God acknowledged them." (Ex.2:23-24.)
God's plan revealed:
As we read on in Exodus, we see how God was bringing all things together to work for good. Moses grew and left the care of Pharaoh's daughter. He made a bad decision which led to murder and the need to flee Egypt. While in Midian, God called to Moses and told him of His plan to use him to deliver the children of Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, resulting in the 10 plagues.
These plagues were brought on by God for three reasons; to punish them for their wicked treatment toward His people, for their idol worship and rejection of the Creator God, and to show the Egyptians that He makes a distinction between His children and the wicked (Ex. 8:22).
After the 10th plague, the death of the first-born Egyptian male--man and cattle, Pharaoh agreed to let the children of Israel go. However, God knew that Pharaoh would change his mind and pursue His children so He led them to the Red Sea.
The baptism of Israel
By this point, the children of Israel had seen the hand of God deliver them; they witnessed His mighty power displayed in his protection for them throughout each plague, especially in the Passover. As long as they followed God's instructions to put the blood of the spotless lamb over the door posts of their homes, they were under the blood, thereby protected and passed over by the death angel. (Ex. 12.)
Nevertheless, it only took one incident to send them into a panic and doubt. Let's pick up the story in Exodus chapter fourteen, verse ten:
"And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold the Egyptians marched after them, so they were very afraid and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord…And Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid, Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today…The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.' And the LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward." (Ex. 14:10,13-15)
"And the Angel [Jesus] of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud went from before them and stood behind them. So it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. Thus it was a cloud and darkness to the one [Egypt] and it gave light by night to the other [Israel], so that the one did not come near the other all that night." (Ex. 14:19-20.)
"So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left." (Ex. 14:22.)
"So the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Thus Israel saw the great work which the LORD had done in Egypt; so the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD and His servant Moses". (Ex. 14:31.)
How is this baptism?
Fast-forward to the New Testament book of 1 Corinthians chapters nine and ten.
In this corrective letter, Paul is warning the Corinthian believers of the dangers of carnal and compromised living; they were following the culture of their environment while professing a faith in God-sound familiar? At the end of chapter nine, we see that Paul was admonishing them to discipline their bodies and he goes on to give them encouragement on how they can do this and in this, we find our explanation for our journey through Exodus:
"Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the red sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted." (1 Cor. 10:1-6.)
This passage leaves no room for doubt or dispute that the children of Israel had been baptized. It was a baptism into Moses because Moses was their leader.
Remembering the meaning of baptism, we see that they surrendered to the will of God; they trusted Moses and followed him all the way through the walls of water. There was no other way. They could not go around, but they had to go through, trusting God to keep the way open for them and trusting in the fact that they were engulfed in His protection. It was not their own plan that spared them; it was God's.
As Paul tells us, this ultimately points to the fact that the pre-incarnate Son of God was present with them. (Just one of many.) It was a picture of how future generations would need to trust in the coming Leader. The Messiah who is Christ Jesus--the Eternal King.
What can we learn?
God's instructions are specific and have a purpose. If we do not follow them, then we have chosen to take ourselves out of His protection. If the children of Israel did not go all the way through to the other side, they would have been over-taken by the enemy. So it goes with us today. Are we going to choose God's way of deliverance and surrender our will to Christ, or are we going to do it our own way and suffer the consequences. The choice is ours.
Partial baptism is not only impossible, it is also ineffective. Each person had to go all the way through; one could not go through for the other. The same goes with a commitment to God. Jesus said, "You are either for me or against me." (Matt. 12:30.) There is no in between . One cannot have faith for another--one cannot speak on behalf of or be baptized for another. Each person must walk for themselves.
Please share your thoughts, as I desire to build upon my understanding.
"they were following the culture of their environment while professing a faith in God-sound familiar?" a very powerful awesome message for today! You are growing each day in power. Take on those hard challanges because you have a gift to bring forth information and understanding that helps people to want to learn more. You do this for me. Well done. PS" You may want to investigate woman and their role in the early church. I think you are one that can bring enlightenment to that?Hi Robert, wow! You give me quite a compliment. It means a lot coming from you. I am so glad you are encouraged to learn more! I hope that this information gave you more insight to this subject. I am anxious to know how it helps you. Please share your perspective. I would love to glean from your insights. As my favorite biblical catch phrase goes, "iron shapens iron". We will never know it all this side of heaven, but it shouldn't stop us from trying! Thanks for the prompting to write about a woman's role in the church from my perspective. You ask me to write about another contraversial topic in the church. I accept :-) with all humility, of course. I will work on this after I am done with this series. I will leave you with this thought; While I firmly believe that God teaches that a woman should not have authority over a man (as in being Senior Pastor and the sole source of spiritual counsel,) I do believe that He was the first to truly liberate and give women a voice-and He most certainly gave them a place in ministry. We also see examples of godly men heading the advice of godly women at times...yes this should be fun. Thanks again for all of your encouraging words. May we continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.The Meaning of the Glorious Qu'ran,: 4. an-Nisa': Women 34. Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other ... the former most senior Muslim cleric in Australia when asked whether Muslims believe woman are equal to men replied Muslims believe woman are MORE equal than men however he has since been relieved from his responsibilities. so what do Christians believe? The meek shall ineherit the earth?Thank you for your comments. Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, varing degrees are practiced on an individual basis. Are you wondering what Christians believe regarding women in ministry or the meek shall inherit the earth? Jesus made the statement that the meek shall inherit the earth, so, yes , that is a belief. This statement means a lot and is a topic all to itself. I can expand if you wish. Let me know.Hi Mrs T, all i was trying to say was that sometimes ones comments can be misinterpreted or deliberately misconstrued. Yes please expand on what Christians believe regarding women in ministry AND on the meek shall inherit the earth AND on The Seven Baptisms. This is very much appreciated. Thank You so muchHello again. Thanks for the interest. You can read about what the seven baptisms are in part one of this series. Following will be an article on each of the individual baptisms- one per week. I will work on putting together an article on women in ministry, but for now I will say that the Bible teaches women to teach women and children first and foremost, but we as Christians are called to minister to all who are want to learn, so men can learn from women, as long as the woman is not in sole authority over the man--not that they are not capable, it's just not as God designed. There is a beautiful order to God's plan and it works incredibly well when followed. Again, thanks for your interest. I hope to have the article ready in a few weeks, as I am focusing on this baptism study first. Be patient with me :-) Again, thank you for your interest. I hope you will find this series helpful in understanding some biblical doctrines of Christianity. Blessings to you.
This study of the book of Exodus and the beginning prayer has come to me at a time when I need a renewal of my service and has inspired me to renew my Bible Study. Very well done. I look forward to reading The Baptism of John.Hi Judy, thank you so much for sharing! Praise the Lord! I'm, so glad you are renewing your commitment to study. It's where we meet with the true and living God and are encouraged to grow closer to Him. You will be blessed! Thanks for joining in on this study. Please feel free to include comments or questions I look foward to getting to know you :-)
Very nice article! Great inspirational read for an early morning start. Keep up the great work!Hi Lee, thanks for reading and for the comment. I am glad you were inspired by the word of God this morning. I hope you follow the rest of the study! Have a blessed day! I will go read your articles.
