Moses And The Pillars Of Cloud
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‘Our forefathers were all under the cloud, and every one of them passed safely through the Red Sea, and each one of them was baptized into Moses,in the cloud and in the sea (1stCorinthians 10:1 & 2). |
The Word Cloud
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νεφέλη (nephelē, 3507), -ης, ἡ, (νέφος), [fr. Hom. down], Sept. esp. for עָנָן, but also for עָב and שַׁחַק; α cloud: [ν.φωτεινή, Mt. xvii. 5]; Mt. xxiv. 30; xxvi. 64; Mk. ix. 7; xiii. 26; xiv. 62; Lk. ix. 34 sq.; xii. 54; xxi. 27; Acts i. 9; 1 Th. iv. 17; 2 Pet. ii. 17 [Rec]; Jude 12; Rev. i. 7; x. 1; xi. 12; xiv. 14 sqq.; of that cloud in which Jehovah is said (Ex. xiii. 21 sq., etc.) to have gone before the Israelites on their march through the wilderness, and which Paul represents as spread over them (ὑπὸ τὴν νεφέλην ἦσαν, cf. Ps. civ. (cv.) 39; Sap. x. 17): 1 Co. x. 1 sq. [Syn. see νέφος.] [This definition cites every instance of this word in the Greek NT.] |
That they were all "baptized into Moses, in the cloud and in the sea" means they were initiated and inaugurated under God into union with Him and also with Moses (Moses was a type Christ) and his leadership. We are told the same thing in the New Testament about Jesus (see Romans 6:3-4; cf; Gal. 3:27 and Hebrews 3:1-6. Here they are untied to God (the cloud) and his Servant Moses (Jesus). The Hebrew word for this unique cloud is ‘Shekinah’ which means ‘God’s visible Presence’. It was not like the normal clouds we see in the sky.
The experiences of the Children of Israel are examples, types and patterns for us to follow, and 1 Corinthians 10:1 to 11 gives us more detail. The Israelites had faith in the blood of the Passover lamb, (Exodus 12) which corresponds to our having faith in the Lamb of God.
We have to openly and outwardly declare our faith in the blood of Jesus, just as Israel had to place the lamb’s blood on the outside of their houses. The Lord Jesus, our Passover Lamb is endorsed by the New Testament. ‘Christ, our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed’ (1st Corinthians 5:7).
The
blood began the Israelites redemptive route, but it did not get them
out of Egypt. If all they did was believe in the blood, they would
have remained in slavery. There were two more experiences awaiting
Israel before they could be freed. Their deliverance from Egypt was
not accomplished by the blood, nor by the cloud, but by the sea. The
‘baptism’ through the waters of the Red Sea was the final cut-off
point from slavery, because the Egyptians could not follow them
through the Sea. Water baptism is not just a ritual, it is part of
the total provision of God for our salvation and the regeneration
(renewing) of our minds. It is a part of the whole salvation process.
We can see clearly, it was the water that freed the Israelites from
their slave masters, and it is water baptism that rids us of the
bondage of sin.
by Lane Rogers