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Day 4: Three Baptisms Throughout the Bible:

Welcome to day 4! Today, we’re talking about the three biblical baptisms.

In 1 Corinthians 10:1-2, Paul writes, “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”

Notice the three things into which they were baptized:

1. Moses
2. the cloud
3. the sea

What do these represent? Moses was a type of Jesus. Moses’s name means deliverer. He represented salvation from “Egypt,” our old life in the world. The people of Israel were “saved” from Egypt before they even crossed the Red Sea. They left behind the shame and dishonor of their enslavement. They left behind their old identity as powerless victims in society. They experienced this deliverance by the blood of the lamb in the last judgment of Egypt. On that night, called the Passover in the Jewish faith, the spirit of death passed over Jewish households because they smeared the blood of an unblemished lamb on their doorposts. What an amazing picture of salvation!

The second baptism is pretty obvious. Paul says they passed through the sea, which represents water baptism. Through salvation, each of us came out of our own personal Egypt. Once we are free from slavery to darkness, the enemy always tries to convince us to return to our old life. He doesn’t want us to progress to the second and third baptisms. He doesn’t want us to declare that we identify with Christ publicly.

The sea is figuratively where our old man dies for good. For the people of Israel, this was an actual, physical reality of the Red Sea crashing in on the Egyptian army and killing them. The waters washed away the old things, representing the power of one’s former life to enslave. That’s what happens when we are born again and water-baptized. We are set free—first in fact and then in practice as we walk it out among other believers.

Water baptism helps to strip the enemy of his power to control by the greater power of our public declaration and identification with Christ.

Paul then mentions baptism into “the cloud.” The Book of Exodus tells us that a cloud led the Israelites during the day, and a fire led them at night. This hovering, guiding, protective presence represents the Holy Spirit. He was with them through the wilderness through cloud and fire. He leads us to the right place at the right time. He shields us from the scorching heat, provides warmth at night, and is a comforting presence we can look to anytime.

Once you see these marvelous symbols of the three baptisms in the Old Testament, you’ll rejoice every time you come across them. They speak profoundly to our personal experience of the three baptisms today.

Here’s one more example of many. God says these words to the nation of Israel: “Then I washed you in water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil” (Ezekiel 16:9). In that brief passage, we see all three baptisms prophetically. Speaking through Ezekiel, God let us know that in the future we will be:

• washed in water—water baptism,
• thoroughly washed of blood—baptism into salvation and
• anointed with oil—baptized in the Holy Spirit.

Many such instances exist in the Old Testament, and I encourage you to watch for them as you read the Bible. God foretold the three baptisms His people should experience. It’s not a new, strange doctrine but part of His eternal plan.