The Red Sea, the Jordan River and Baptism

There were two bodies of water that the Israelites passed through after they escaped from Egypt.

The first was the passage through the Red Sea. Of course it was a miraculous event… God parted the waters and the Israelites walked through on dry land headed for the Promised Land.

The second body of water was the Jordan River. After wandering around in the desert for 40 years God miraculously parted the waters of the Jordan River and they walked through on dry land into the Promised Land.

There’s another “water” that we have to pass through before we can reach our “Promised Land” and that is the water of Baptism. A miracle occurs when we pass through these waters… no the waters aren’t “parted” but what is “parted” is that we are parted or separated from our sin… Of course the miracle is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ which is mimicked in our own death (our old worldly nature), burial (in the waters of baptism) and resurrection (rising out of the water with a new life).

The Israelites were “baptized” in the waters of the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10:1-2) but that doesn’t mean they led perfect unblemished lives after that. No… in fact they failed Jehovah-God many times but God was always there waiting to forgive them and he’s waiting patiently to forgive us too.

If you haven’t accepted the “miracle” of Baptism… don’t waste anytime… do it right now. Try as best you can to never sin again but realize if you do God doesn’t give up on his people after all he didn’t give up on the Israelites who were the first ones to receive the Good News of Salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.