 |  |
nation. As a solemn background to this baptism was the Passover, and the fact that gave
the Passover such significance "there was not a house where there was not one dead"
(Exod. 12: 30), either a firstborn in the houses of Egypt or a Lamb instead in the houses
of Israel. The baptism unto Moses was a symbolic setting forth of this great fact.
"Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized INTO Jesus Christ were baptized
INTO His death . . . . . buried with Him by baptism unto death" (Rom. 6: 4).
We must now turn our attention to the baptism of Israel at the Jordan under Joshua.
"Moses is dead: now therefore ARISE" (Josh. 1: 2).
Here the Hebrew word kum is translated "arise", the word used by the Saviour when
He said Talitha cumi (Mark 5: 41). "Within THREE DAYS" (Josh. 1: 11). Here,
resurrection is set forth in type. "Thou and ALL this people" (Josh. 1: 2), here is the same
emphasis upon "All" that we found to be true at the Red Sea.
The crossing of the Jordan is described in Josh. 3: 1 to 5: 12, and by eliminating
every reference but the barest minimum, we find the following items standing out as of
first importance.
The Magnifying of Joshua. "This day will I begin to magnify thee" (3: 7). "On that
day the Lord magnified Joshua" (4: 14).
The Command to the Priests. "Stand still" (3: 8) "come up" (4: 15-17).
The Twelve Stones. "What mean ye?" (4: 1-10, 19-23).
The Magnifying of Joshua anticipates the exaltation of the Saviour at the resurrection.
The LXX uses the Greek word hupsoo to translate the Hebrew word for "magnify" here,
and this word is found in Isa 52: 13 "He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high",
and is used by Peter when he said "Him hath God exalted with His right hand"
(Acts 5: 31, also 2: 33).
The twofold command to the Priests stresses two great doctrinal facts:
(1)
"Stand still"; "stood firm"; "until everything was finished"; "When all the
people were clean passed over" (3: 8, 17; 4: 10, 11). Here we have the
finished work of Christ set forth as the basis of all that follows.
(2)
"Come up out of Jordan."
"When the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, the waters of
Jordan returned unto their place" (4: 16-18).
It may be that the reader mentally questioned our right to use the word "baptism" in
connexion with the crossing of Jordan. Our justification is that the LXX translators have
used the verb bapto in translating Josh. 3: 15: