BAPTIZED INTO MOSES–BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST

If the Church is to be members of the great Mediator, why is not Israel, who was baptized into Moses, (1 Cor. 10:1, 2) thus, made members of the Mediator of the Law Covenant?

The Divine arrangement which used Moses, Aaron, the tribe of Levi and all Israel as types is complex, so that the unlearned and unstable are in danger of wresting them to their own injury. Whoever will begin with the Passover type of the deliverance of the first-born and proceed with the history of the typical people down to the time when they entered Canaan and then turn to the death of Christ as the antitypical Passover lamb and attempt to parallel the experiences of the Church and the world with the experiences of Israel, will find himself thoroughly confused until he comes to understand that in Israel a number of types mingled and overlapped.

For instance: Recognizing the Passover lamb as typical of our Lord Jesus and his death; and recognizing the first-born of Israel spared “in that night” as typical of Spiritual Israel, we know that “that night” typified this Gospel Age. We know also that the following morning typified the millennial morning. The deliverance of Israel through the Red Sea would therefore seemingly typify the final deliverance of the whole world of mankind from the bondage of sin and death, typified by Pharaoh and his army. Similarly the overthrow of Pharaoh’s army would seemingly represent the ultimate destruction of Satan and every evil influence at the close of the Millennial Age. That was the end of that type.

With the end of that type another began; for the march of Israel toward Mt. Sinai, where they entered into covenant relationship with the Lord, typified the approach of the Gospel Church and of the whole world to the condition of things pictured by St. Paul in Hebrews 12–the end of this Age, and a time of trouble and the establishment of the New [Law] Covenant with Israel for the blessing of all the families of the earth. And following this, the wilderness journey constitutes still another type representing God’s people and the failure of many to enter into his rest, because of lack of faith. Subsequently the smiting of the rock by Moses and his not being permitted to enter the Promised Land is yet another type. The crossing of Jordan is still another type. The appointment of Joshua, the new leader, instead of Moses, is still another type. The falling of the walls of Jericho is still another type. Israel’s conquering the various enemies in the land of Canaan is still another type.

Coming back now to the first-mentioned of these types– the one which began with the killing of the Passover lamb, the sprinkling of its blood, the eating of its flesh during “that night” in which the firstborns were passed over and spared– we notice that the feature of the type which has to do with “the Church of the Firstborn” and this Gospel Age was passed before the time when the Israelite’s as a nation were baptized into Moses in the sea and in the cloud.

Consequently that baptism into Moses evidently pictured, NOT the baptism of the Church of the Firstborn into Christ’s death, but the baptism of the whole world of mankind into Christ’s life during the Millennium.

The Church passes from justification of life into sacrificial death with the Lord to become members of the Mediator’s “Body.” But the Israelite’s passed through the sea and the cloud, not into death, but into liberty–into freedom as a nation. That baptism into Moses evidently therefore represented the deliverance of the groaning creation into the liberty wherewith Christ proposes to make free all who will come unto him in response to his drawing during the Millennial Age.

Thus the Apostle tells us that, as Jesus already is the Head of the Church, which is his Body, so ultimately he will be the Head of all creation, because it is the will of God “to gather together in one all things under one Head.”– Eph. 1:10.

This we have sought to illustrate in the Chart of the Ages In the pyramid of that chart we show our Lord Jesus the Head, and the Church his Body (x), the Great Company (y), Fleshly Israel restored (z), and ultimately all nations brought under the one Headship (w). The same thought that the world will become Christ’s in the possessive sense is expressed by St. Paul. When telling of the resurrection he says, “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and of the unjust–Christ the first fruits; afterwards they that are his at (during) his presence.” (1 Cor. 15:23) The Apostle expresses the same thought that the world will be brought under the control and under the name of Christ, saying, “In whom the whole family of God, both in heaven and in earth, is named.”–Eph. 3:15.

So then in this type of Israel’s being baptized into Moses we have a suggestion of what belongs to the Millennial Age, but no suggestion whatever appertaining to the Church of the Firstborn during this Age–no suggestion of a baptism into Christ’s sufferings and death. Indeed, nowhere in that type is the association between the Head and the members shown. It merely pictures to us the Lamb of God slain, and our privilege of being spared or passed over from death into life in this Gospel Age–before the general deliverance of mankind from the power of sin and death.

Continued with next post.