History of Baptism: Moses and the Israelites
History of Baptism: Moses and the Israelites
Sacraments, Lesson 2
All traditions or rituals start with a backstory. There was always a first time that something happened, and possibly a reason why it happened, and then it just stuck. For example, my mom’s side of the family meets for a family reunion in August every year. I’m not old enough to know why or how it first started, but I would assume it is for much the same reason as any family reunion—to maintain the connection with family members you don’t see very often. This year will be the 75th anniversary of that first family reunion, and it will be held at the same park that I remember going to as a child. And I’m sure we’ll have the traditional egg toss and penny throw for the kids. And, of course, great food.
Baptism has a backstory too. Even though it’s not called baptism in the Old Testament, the New Testament has two verses that point us in the right direction:
1 Corinthians 10:1-2: 1 For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. 2 They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.
John 3:5: Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”
These verses lead us to a discussion of three points:
Escape from Egypt
The verses in 1 Corinthians 10 refer to being baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. What does this mean? Let’s look back at Exodus for some answers.
In the book of Exodus, we read the beginning of the story of Moses and the Israelites. Moses is chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt (Exodus 1-6), but the Pharaoh in Egypt doesn’t want to let them go. I mean, he’s getting free labor, right? So God sends 10 plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-12). As the plagues get worse, Pharaoh promises to let the Israelites go, and then he hardens his heart again and changes his mind. The last straw is the 10th plague (Exodus 12)—God kills every firstborn in Egypt unless the household was protected by the blood of the lamb on the doorposts (more on this in the Communion lessons).
Once the Israelites leave, they encounter their first big barrier—the Red Sea. As the Israelites travel through the desert, they encounter the Red Sea—which they cannot cross—in front of them, and the Egyptian army—sent to bring them back—behind them. The Israelites, in true fashion, complain to Moses about this predicament. And in spite of the complaints, God does something amazing. When Moses stretches out his staff over the water, the water parts, and the Israelites are able to pass through on dry ground (Exodus 14). Once all of the Israelites are across the sea, with the Egyptian army close behind them, Moses stretches out his hand again, and the seas return to normal, drowning the army. God has delivered the Israelites once and for all from the hand of Egypt!
In this way, God “baptized” the Israelites into Moses in the sea. Moses was truly established as their leader who worked through God’s power. God led them through the waters, and they were saved, just as we are baptized now with water as a testimony to our salvation.
God’s Leading and Protection
The verses in 1 Corinthians 10 talk not only about being baptized into Moses in the sea, but also in the cloud. Let’s look a little more at what this means.
In the story of the exodus from Egypt and the Red Sea crossing, God established a way for the people to see his presence and guidance:
Exodus 13:21: By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.
Not only did this cloud guide them on their journey, it also protected them when they were being pursued by the Egyptian army:
Exodus 14:19-20: 19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
As the Israelites traveled, not only did the cloud give them guidance and protection, it symbolized the presence of God with them. Exodus 40 tells us about the building of the tabernacle, or tent of meeting, which was a portable “church” for the Israelites. This is where they went to meet with God, worship him, and offer sacrifices. Once the tabernacle was complete, something amazing happened:
Exodus 40:34-35: 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
As the Israelites traveled, they would set up the tabernacle when they settled in a place, and God’s glory would settle on it. When God wanted them to move on, his cloud would leave the tabernacle and set out, and the Israelites would follow:
Exodus 40:36-37: 36 In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; 37 but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. 38 So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels.
In this way, the Israelites were “baptized” into the cloud. They followed its leading day and night. When it moved forward, they moved forward. When it stopped, they stopped. In this same way, we use baptism as a way to express that we will follow God all the days of our lives.
Ceremonial Cleansing
The connection of baptism to ceremonial cleansing was never something I really thought about until I wrote the Bible Essentials lesson on John 3. In John 3, this verse appears:
John 3:5: Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.”
I always assumed when I read this verse that “born of the water” meant baptism in the sense that we normally think about it. Others have different interpretations, such as the actual birth of a baby. However, this article gives us another idea:
The other perspective is that “born of water” refers to spiritual cleansing and that Nicodemus would have naturally understood it that way. … Throughout the Old Testament, water is used figuratively of spiritual cleansing. For example, Ezekiel 36:25 says, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities.” … Nicodemus, a teacher of the law, would surely have been familiar with the concept of physical water representing spiritual purification.
Cleansing with water was used frequently in the Old Testament for purifying an unclean person. The law of Moses included many reasons why a person might become unclean, and God gave a process for making that unclean person clean again.
Numbers 19:17-19: 17 “For the unclean person, put some ashes from the burned purification offering into a jar and pour fresh water over them. 18 Then a man who is ceremonially clean is to take some hyssop, dip it in the water and sprinkle the tent and all the furnishings and the people who were there. He must also sprinkle anyone who has touched a human bone or a grave or anyone who has been killed or anyone who has died a natural death. 19 The man who is clean is to sprinkle those who are unclean on the third and seventh days, and on the seventh day he is to purify them. Those who are being cleansed must wash their clothes and bathe with water, and that evening they will be clean.”
Just like the Israelites could become unclean because of their actions, we are unclean because of sin. And just as water was used to make those who were unclean ceremonially clean in the Old Testament, so too we use baptism with water to symbolize that God has cleansed us from our sins.
Conclusion
These verses and stories from the Old Testament give us a bit of background for the important symbolism of baptism: We use it to show that God has saved us and cleansed us from our sins, and we commit to following God for our whole lives. Keep these important foundations in mind as we work through the rest of the lessons in this series.