Baptized into Moses? (1 Corinthians 10)

Baptized into Moses in 1 Corinthians 10

Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist. My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist. Today I'm coming to you on location from the Baptistry at Sovereign Grace Family Church where I am the pastor. I'm coming to you today from the Baptistry because of the subject of today's lesson.

Today we're going to be in 1st Corinthians chapter 10. In 1st Corinthians chapter 10 Paul talks about the Israelites in the wilderness and he uses a very interesting expression. He says that they were baptized into Moses.

The Meaning of Baptism Beyond the Baptistry

Now this is an important time for us to recognize that the word baptism in Scripture does not always refer to what happens in the baptistry. The word baptism simply means to be immersed and so whenever we baptize someone we take and we put them in this water we immerse them in water as a sign of repentance and faith and as a sign of God's promise to those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ that they are buried with him in baptism and they're raised to new life.

And so that's the picture that we give. We lay them backwards as a symbol of burial and we bring them out as a symbol of resurrection. As the Apostle Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ nevertheless it is not I who live but Christ who lives within me.

And so baptism symbolizes that reality. But the word baptism again can sometimes have other nuances of meaning. Sometimes it can reference identity with someone and that is what is referenced in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 when the Bible says that the Israelites were baptized into Moses.

It's not talking about physical baptism. It isn't as if when Moses was in the Red Sea that he was walking along and baptizing people in the water that stood as a heap. No, that wouldn't make any sense and certainly that's not what the text is saying.

Israel's Identification with Moses Through the Red Sea

What it's saying is that they had their identity with Moses by following him through the Red Sea. They were identifying him and with him as the Savior that God had provided to them. He was the one who God had sent to lead them out of bondage and by going through the Red Sea with him they were identifying with him as their leader.

In essence as their Savior. I brought with me today a resource. I did say that I was going to try to make these videos not only Bible studies but also an opportunity for me to provide you with some resources that will help you with your own study and your own family worship and devotionals.

Today I brought with me one of my favorite one-volume commentaries. Now I will say from the outset this one-volume commentary is not super in-depth because you're not going to get a lot of exegetical depth from a single-volume commentary.

The Believer's Bible Commentary as a Study Resource

But it's a lot more than what you would get from such as a study Bible because study Bibles are very limited in how much they can put in the notes and in the margins. And so what I brought with me today is what's known as the Believer's Bible Commentary.

The Believer's Bible Commentary is one that I have used for years. It is by William MacDonald. It's edited by Art Farstad and I really recommend it. Now there are some things that I don't necessarily agree with it on.

It's a little bit more dispensational than I would like personally. But again that's not something that would keep me from being able to use the material in here. I just with anything that's not Scripture I take everything and I examine it through the lens of Scripture.

Baptism as Identity with Christ

But I've certainly found it to be a great help over the years. So what I want to read to you is just a few sentences about 1st Corinthians chapter 10. In To be baptized into Moses means to be identified with him and to acknowledge his leadership.

As Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt toward the promised land, all the nation of Israel pledged allegiance to Moses at first and recognized him as the divinely appointed Savior. And so that's just a small snippet from this book.

But again I find this book very helpful. It's encouraging and again it says just what I just said. Baptism doesn't always mean what happens in the water. Baptism is about identity. We who have been baptized into Christ have been identified with Christ.

We have said he is our Savior and we are his. He is mine and I am his. And that was pictured in my baptism. But it's also a true spiritual baptism which comes when I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. For at that moment I am placed into him and the Holy Spirit is placed into me.

Reading the Whole Chapter and Closing Encouragement

And so this is an opportunity again to simply look at one verse of Scripture. Today you're looking at 1st Corinthians chapter 10. I hope you enjoy reading the whole chapter. And if you have questions about other verses please feel free to send me a message and ask a question.

I want to remind you now that when you're finished watching this if you are enjoying these daily videos please hit the thumbs up. Please leave a comment and please subscribe. If you're on Facebook you can like and you can subscribe.

You can like and comment there as well. Again I appreciate you watching. I didn't bring any coffee with me today but I hope you're enjoying yours. This has been Coffee with a Calvinist. I'm Keith Foskey and I'm your Calvinist.

May God bless you.