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Were Israelites Baptized?
Some think John's baptism in the gospels is the first baptism in the bible, but Paul would disagree!
In 1 Corinthians 10:1,2 Paul writes, "For I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;"
Paul isn't teaching about baptism in this passage. Paul is trying to draw a parallel between the saved in Corinth and the saved of Israel. He wants the Christians in Corinth to understand that availing oneself of God's salvation requires that you abandon idolatry, immorality, testing God, and grumbling.
But, what can we learn about Christian baptism from the fact that Paul draws this parallel?
Consider these facts:
- No Israelite escaped Egypt who didn't pass through the sea.
- Without passing through the sea, death in slavery was the result.
- The Israelite baptism was immersion: surrounded by the sea and under the cloud.
Paul wants the Corinthians to see themselves as being "on the other side," so to speak, of the sea. Because of their baptism (immersion as in the burial described in Rom 6), they have been rescued from slavery and death. The past masters have no power or authority over them. Jehovah is their God, and they are His people.
However, just as the Israelites' baptism and rescue from Egypt didn't give them license to ignore God, His character, His power, or His love, the same is true of Christians. The Corinthians need to look to the wilderness before them; not a physical wilderness, but the wilderness of temptation. They must resolve not to follow in the footsteps of the "fathers" who were baptized yet subsequently destroyed (1 Cor 10:5).
Christian baptism does indeed rescue. To that fact, Jesus, Paul, and Peter all attest (Mk 16, Acts 2, Rom 6, 1 Pet 3). However, that rescue doesn't negate the fact that we have choices to make in the future that will either please or displease our Rescuer. Paul wants us to keep in mind that the Israelites fell in the wilderness, but he also wants us to keep in mind that we have the power to overcome because "No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (1 Cor 10:13).
Escape every temptation with the help God provides to those who have obtained His salvation through baptism.
