The Berean Expositor
Volume 38 - Page 220 of 249
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type, the supplemental action of Joshua at the Jordan being necessary to round off the
whole foreshadowing.
Not only are there two movements symbolized in this great baptism, but two phases of
Redemption are also associated, the one with Moses and the other with Joshua. The
sixth chapter of Exodus shows that this twofold deliverance was always in the mind of
the Lord. This is the redemption effected under Moses.
"I am the Lord, and I will bring you OUT . . . . . I will rid you OUT . . . . ." (Exod. 6: 6).
This is the further redemption accomplished under Joshua.
"I will bring you IN . . . . . I will GIVE it you" (Exod. 6: 8).
In the first deliverance, a mighty foe is destroyed at the moment of Israel's baptism;
in the second, the walls of Jericho fall flat after the second baptism at Jordan. Following
the first baptism unto Moses, the Manna was given (Exod. 16: 35), and immediately after
the crossing of the Jordan "the manna ceased" (Josh. 5: 11, 12). The baptism unto Moses
followed the first Passover (Exod. 12:-14:), the baptism at the Jordan is followed by the
observance of the Passover (Josh. 5: 10). As a prelude to the mission of Moses, a burning
bush is used to teach a lesson, "and when Moses drew near to see this great sight, God
said to him, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Exod. 3: 1-5). So, in the case of Joshua,
immediately after the manna ceased, he saw a man standing with drawn sword and when
he went forward to question him, this "Captain of the Lord's host" said "Loose thy shoe
from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground" (Josh. 5: 13-15).
The powers of the enemy were shaken by the news of the crossing of the Red Sea and
at the destruction of Pharaoh and his host.
"The people shall hear and be afraid; sorrow shall take hold on the inhabitants of
Palestine . . . . . all the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away" (Exod. 15: 14-16).
The powers of the enemy were further shaken by the crossing of the Jordan by the
children of Israel:
"When all the kings of the Amorites . . . . . all the kings of the Canaanites . . . . . heard
that the Lord had dried up the waters of Jordan from before the children of Israel . . . . .
that their hearts melted" (Josh. 5: 1).
This "melting" effect upon the two sets of enemy, is associated in both Exod. 15: 16
and in Josh. 5: 1 with their "passing over": "till Thy people pass over"; "until we were
passed over".
The baptism of Israel "unto Moses" was that of the entire nation. "Not a hoof" was
left behind in Egypt (Exod. 10: 26). "I would not have you ignorant, how ALL our fathers
were under the cloud, and ALL passed through the sea; and were ALL baptized unto
Moses in the cloud and in the sea" (I Cor. 10: 1, 2). It was the baptism of the whole