09 TBC

09 TBC - Departure - The Plunge

Introduction

For those who are linking these studies to "The Better Covenant" (the book) you may like to know that we are in Chapter Two "The Sinai Covenant"... so we will press on. We have a lot of ground to cover.

The children of Israel have celebrated the Passover and are on their way to Sinai.

• Heb. 11,28–29 WEYMTH

  ¶ Through faith he (Moses) instituted the Passover, and the sprinkling with blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch the Israelites. Heb. 11,28 Through faith they (the children of Israel) passed through the Red Sea as though they were passing over dry land, but the Egyptians, when they tried to do the same, were swallowed up. (Heb. 11,28–29 WEYMTH)

  • digging deeper - the Red/Reed Sea

    ἐρυθρὰν eruthran ἐρυθρός eruthros Adjective fem sing acc red [ESVS] G2063 Red

    Modern scholars like to press the point that this can (and ought!) to be translated as the Reed Sea. This is as maybe, but the reference in 1 Kings to Ezion Geber and Elath being 'on the shore of the Red Sea', was clearly not the Reed Sea and the reference in Heb is definitely the adjective 'red'.

    ¶ King Solomon also built a fleet of ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. (1 Kings 9,26 NKJV)

They could not have 'passed through the Red Sea' until the Mediator had instituted the Passover.

1. God is the author of every impossible step.

2. A Mediator provides all we need to enable us to take that step,

3. and then... we walk through... on our own feet. - synergy.

Trapped? who is trapped?

• Ex. 14,1–4 ASV

  ¶ And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying, Ex. 14,1 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal-zephon: over against it shall ye encamp by the sea. Ex. 14,2 And Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, They are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in. Ex. 14,3 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he shall follow after them; and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host: and the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah. And they did so. (Ex. 14,1–4 ASV)

  If you are there by God's appointment, you are not 'trapped' you are 'poised'! You are not on the scrap-heap you are on the launch pad! RB

  The final humiliation for Egypt approaches

  • Exodus 14:8–9 ASV

    And Jehovah hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal-zephon. (Exodus 14:8–9 ASV)

    And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out unto Jehovah. And they said unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt? (Exodus 14:10–11 ASV)

    • digging deeper - qualities of faith?

      G3640 faith - qualities of faith?

      ὀλιγόπιστοι oligopistoi ὀλιγόπιστος (ὀλίγος, πείθω) oligopistos (oligos, peithō) Adjective masc plur voc of little faith sometimes 'of a short duration'

      [ESVS] James 4,14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

      Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? (Matt. 6,30 NKJV)

      Matt. 6,30; 8,26; 14,31; 16,8; Luke 12,28

The Plunge?

• Ex. 14,15–20 ASV - Moses instructions and God's intentions

  And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of Jehovah, which he will work for you to-day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to-day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. Ex. 14,13 Jehovah will fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. Ex. 14,14 ¶ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward. Ex. 14,15 And lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thy hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. Ex. 14,16 And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get me honor upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. Ex. 14,17 And the Egyptians shall know that I am Jehovah, when I have gotten me honor upon Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. Ex. 14,18 And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud removed from before them, and stood behind them: Ex. 14,19 and it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one came not near the other all the night. (Ex. 14,13–20 ASV)

• Ex. 14,21–25 ASV - The Baptism Pt 1

  ¶ And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and Jehovah caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. Ex. 14,21 And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Ex. 14,22 And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Ex. 14,23 And it came to pass in the morning watch, that Jehovah looked forth upon the host of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and discomfited the host of the Egyptians. Ex. 14,24 And he took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, Let us flee from the face of Israel; for Jehovah fighteth for them against the Egyptians. (Ex. 14,21–25 ASV)

• Ex. 14,26–31 ASV - The Baptism Pt 2

  ¶ And Jehovah said unto Moses, Stretch out thy hand over the sea, that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen. Ex. 14,26 And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and Jehovah overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Ex. 14,27 And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, even all the host of Pharaoh that went in after them into the sea; there remained not so much as one of them. Ex. 14,28 But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left. Ex. 14,29 Thus Jehovah saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. Ex. 14,30 And Israel saw the great work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared Jehovah: and they believed in Jehovah, and in his servant Moses. (Ex. 14,26–31 ASV)

The New Testament comment

• 1 Cor. 10,1–5 NKJV

  Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 1Cor. 10,1 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 1Cor. 10,2 all ate the same spiritual food, 1Cor. 10,3 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. 1Cor. 10,4 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (1 Cor. 10,1–5 NKJV)

• 1. four prepositions

  • - prepositions describe relationships of one thing to another

    1. under the cloud

    2. through the sea

    3. into Moses (or towards Moses)

    4. in the cloud and in the sea (or by - dative of instrument)

• 2. Union - this event brought Moses and the people into a union.

  Just as, at the flood, Noah's family was united with him, by a baptism, so now the children of Israel are 'united with' him, by this event that Paul calls a 'baptism'.

  What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Rom. 6,1 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Rom. 6,2 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Rom. 6,3 Therefore we were (co-)buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Rom. 6,4 ¶ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, Rom. 6,5 knowing this, that our old man was (co) crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. Rom. 6,6 For he who has died has been freed from sin. (Rom. 6,1–7 NKJV)

• 3. Baptism effects a union.

  On at least one occasion in ancient times there is a 'recipe' that illustrates this.

  This is a recipe for pickling onions. You begin by blanching the onions in boiling water and then you marinate the onions in the pickling spices but the woods for blanching and marinating are very instructive. The word for blanching is baptō which means 'to dip something' but the word for marinate is baptizō which means to submerge and saturate.

  The effect of 'baptising' onions in this way was that it 'united' all the flavours the blanched onion with all the flavours of the pickling spices, and the keyword here is 'united'; this is also the sense of Paul's reference to baptism "into Christ"; it unites. A 'baptism' sometimes had the effect of uniting the item being baptised with the element into which in which the baptism took place. (Cf Lydia the woman who died for living in Philippi)

  There are some very important truths here but for the time being we will just concentrate on this simple aspect, the events of the Red Sea 'united' the people with Moses, they became one with him. They would share his experience, they would share his destiny.

  It's interesting to notice that in both of the earliest Bible baptisms. Noah's and Moses'. no-one got wet!

  • IVP New Bible Commentary - Bruce Winter

    1-4 lays out the impeccable spiritual credentials of the children of God in the wilderness. They had experienced the clear guiding hand of God and witnessed the miraculous deliverance through the sea (Ex. 13:21; 14:22). The children of Israel entered into the experience of Moses as the agent of Israel’s deliverance, and in the same way Christians enter into the experience of Christ as their deliverer (2). They were nourished by the same spiritual food (Ex. 16:15, 35) and sustained by spiritual drink from the rock (Ps. 78:15), which was Christ meeting their needs in the same way he completely meets the needs of the Corinthians (1:4-7, 30). The One who was there at the beginning and was the agent of creation (Jn. 1:2-4), and who upholds all things (Col. 1:17), was actively involved in the life of God’s people in OT times just as he is involved in the lives of Christians today. The second person of the Trinity did not suddenly appear for the first time at the incarnation.

    New Bible Commentary (IVP-NB Commentary) - Bruce Winter © 1953, 1954, 1970, 1994 by University and Colleges Christian Fellowship. Electronic text hypertexted and prepared by OakTree Software, Inc. Version 2.4

We are still adding to the mixture on our artist's palette. Baptism effects a union. The Red Sea crossing effected a 'baptism' that united the people with Moses, their Mediator. The crossing from death into life, that the New Testament refers to as Baptism in the Holy Spirit has a similar effect. We are baptised 'in' the Holy Spirit 'into Christ' and become "one spirit with Him".

...he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. (1 Cor. 6,17 ESV)

• digging deeper - joined

  Liddell & Scott

  κολλώμενος kollōmenos κολλάω kollaō Verb pres mid part masc sing nom to glue, join to [ESVS] G2853 joined

  κολλάω, f. ήσω, (κόλλα) to glue, cement, Ar., Plat. 2. to join one metal to another, κ. χρυσὸν ἐλέφαντά τε, i.e. to make [a crown] inlaid with gold and ivory, Pind. II. generally, to join fast together: —Pass. to cleave to, κεκόλληται πρὸς ἄτᾳ is indissolubly bound to woe, Aesch.; so, of persons, κ. τινι to cleave to another, N.T.; and of things, ὁ κονιορτὸς ὁ κολληθείς τινι Ib. III. to put together, build, Pind.