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The apostles Peter and Paul tie in world changing events to the sacrament of baptism.
The following is taken from Exodus chapters 13 – 15. After the Passover and the final plague from God against Egypt, please see (link) for more context, Pharoah allowed Israel to leave Egypt. The blood of the Lamb truly delivered them from death and now captivity as they headed to the Promised Land. The Lord led Israel by a cloud of smoke during the day and a pillar of fire by night.
Pharoah though started to harden his heart again and sends his army after Israel to bring them back into Egypt as slaves. Pharoah’s army consisted of 600 chariots. The Lord leads Israel to the Red Sea, while the Egyptian army is following right behind. As the army was catching up, Israel was trapped by the Sea. They cried out to Moses in fear and in reply Moses gives one of the best lines recorded in the Bible.
13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today; for the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be still.”
There was literally no escape for Israel and trusting God was their only option. These words though spoken to ancient Israel is beneficial for us today as well. Though Israel had been delivered from death through the Passover, they were still in bondage to Egypt. Pharoah was not going to let them go that easily.
The Lord though who led them to this place, was going to completely deliver Israel. God told Moses to stretch out his rod over the sea and God would divide it. God divided the Red Sea and Israel walked on dry ground through the Sea. The Egyptian army followed them but was not able to catch up completely. After Israel was safely through, the Sea closed in on the Egyptian army, none remained. Israel was finally delivered from Egyptian slavery.
Was it the Passover that saved them? Yes.
Was it the splitting of the Red Sea that saved them? Yes.
Both events are tied and should not be divorced from one another. This is important to remember as we begin to look at Baptism. The apostle Paul ties in the splitting of the Red Sea and the Cloud that led Israel and protected them to baptism.
1 I want you to know, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,
2 and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 and all ate the same supernatural food
4 and all drank the same supernatural drink. For they drank from the supernatural Rock which followed them, and the Rock was Christ.
The context of this portion of scripture deals also with the Eucharist and is a warning to us. This may be for a future blog, but that does not take away that the apostle Paul ties this even to baptism.
The apostle Peter also ties in an Old Testament story to baptism. In Genesis chapter 6, we see the story of the Flood. After the fall of man in Genesis chapter 3, humanity grew worse and worse to the point that the earth was filled with violence. All flesh upon the earth was corrupted except for Noah. Noah was blameless in that most corrupted generation.
God spoke to Noah to build an Ark by which God would save humanity. Noah and his family, eight persons in total entered the Ark. The heavens opened and the great fountains of the deep burst forth. God flooded the earth. The earth was cleansed from the filth of that corrupted generation by the waters of the Flood. Through Noah, God created a new earth of sorts. It was a new beginning.
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit;
19 in which he went and preached to the spirits in prison,
20 who formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.
21Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.
The apostle Peter tells us that baptism saves us. Just as the Noah and his family, were saved from the corruption through the water, so are we today, saved from the corruption of sin through the waters of baptism. Like Noah, we experience new birth and made new creations through baptism.
The apostles Peter and Paul, the foundational apostles of the Church, tie baptism into Old Testament events that were world changing miracles. God desires to deliver us from the enemy of sin as He did Israel from Egypt. And He wants to make us new creations through the waters as He did Noah and His family.
Next blog we will look at the baptism of Jesus Christ in relation to our salvation.
Live repentance. Be zealous. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen
June 11, 2025, Wednesday Tenth Week of Ordinary Time; The Memorial of St. Barnabas
Be Zealous 
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