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Prefiguration of Baptism Found in the Old Testament
Prefiguration of Baptism Found in the Old Testament
With the sacrament of Baptism, the Church teaches that this sacrament washes away all previous sins and brings forth new life to the receiver. In the Bible can be found where water is used metaphorically as a way of purification, repentance, removal of sin and remove the hand of slavery of sin. There are two Old Testament stories reflected on by the writers of the New Testament. Namely the books of 1 Peter and Hebrews. 1 Peter and Hebrews emphasizes the dynamics of these Old Testament stories and uses them as examples to explain the purpose and understanding of of Baptism. They underscore the purifying effects, new life, and freedom from the bondage of sin.
Below are the two stories from the Old Testament and comments to help with their understanding as they relate to the effect of Baptism.
Noah's Flood (as found in Genesis Chapter 7)
Noah's Flood (as found in Genesis Chapter 7)
1 Then the LORD said to Noah: Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this generation have I found to be righteous before me.
2 Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs, a male and its mate; and of the unclean animals, one pair, a male and its mate;
3 likewise, of every bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, to keep their progeny alive over all the earth.
4 For seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and so I will wipe out from the face of the earth every being that I have made.
5 Noah complied, just as the LORD had commanded.
The Great Flood
The Great Flood
6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood came upon the earth.
7 Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that crawls on the ground,
9 two by two, male and female came to Noah into the ark, just as God had commanded him.
10 When the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: on that day All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
12 For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.
13 On the very same day, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of Noah’s sons had entered the ark,
14 together with every kind of wild animal, every kind of tame animal, every kind of crawling thing that crawls on the earth, and every kind of bird.
15 Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life came to Noah into the ark.
16 Those that entered were male and female; of all creatures they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.
17 The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
18 The waters swelled and increased greatly on the earth, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters.
19 Higher and higher on the earth the waters swelled, until all the highest mountains under the heavens were submerged.
20 The waters swelled fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains.
21 All creatures that moved on earth perished: birds, tame animals, wild animals, and all that teemed on the earth, as well as all humankind.
22 Everything on dry land with the breath of life in its nostrils died.
23 The LORD wiped out every being on earth: human beings and animals, the crawling things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.
Genesis 7:1-23
Genesis 7:1-23
Water has always been a very powerful and purposeful symbol, in the lives of ancient biblical people. This impact certainly has to do with the location where many of these stories took place. In locations with dry climates, water is very precious and necessary for life. Also, in those locations extreme weather conditions would occur and the people in these areas would have also witnessed the menacing destructive threat of flash floods. Water is used in the stories of the Bible as a symbol of life, and destruction, for the removal of dirt, and for cleansing.[1]
Water as a symbol for life may speak for it self. All living beings on earth require water to one extent or another to maintain their life. Water itself as a chemical is the most efficient transfer of energy. As symbol within baptism it dynamic portrays for witnesses and the receiver the transfer of Gods grace into the soul
At the same time water can destroy. In water's image within baptism, it is destroying sin within the soul. As such it breaks the bondage of slavery to sin. Think of how a jet of water can remove dirt and grime. Once again this image is useful for the actual sense of the sacrament and that is the cleansing of the soul.
The story of Noah and flood as found in Genesis, contains useful imagery for the faithful. One image that stands out is the use of water to cleanse the earth of all evil.[2] Provided in the passages above, the story tells how God allows the flood to destroy mankind as a punishment for his extreme wickedness. Another image found depicts only those left behind in the ark are safe from the impending doom. You find the Faith Noah and his family had in God’s plan for their safety and salvation. The story of Noah with these important images prefigures the sacrament of baptism. Saint Peter makes note of this when he writes:
20 …… God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. 21 This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ….
1 Peter 3:20-21
The sacrament of baptism wipes away original sin as well as all other sins committed up to that point. Baptism brings new life as a new Christian is re-born into the loving fold within God’s church.
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[1] CCC 1218
[2] CCC 1219
The Israelites flee Pharaoh's army through the Red Sea
The Israelites flee Pharaoh's army through the Red Sea
(Exodus Chapter 14)
(Exodus Chapter 14)
5 When it was reported to the king of Egypt that the people (Israelites) had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart about the people. “What in the world have we done!” they said. “We have released Israel from our service!”
6 So Pharaoh harnessed his chariots and took his army with him.
7 He took six hundred select chariots and all the chariots of Egypt, with officers on all of them.
8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites while they were going out in triumph.
9 The Egyptians pursued them—all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, his horsemen,*and his army—and caught up with them as they lay encamped by the sea, at Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.
Crossing the Red Sea.
10 Now Pharaoh was near when the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians had set out after them. Greatly frightened, the Israelites cried out to the LORD.
11 To Moses they said, “Were there no burial places in Egypt that you brought us to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us, bringing us out of Egypt?
12 Did we not tell you this in Egypt, when we said, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? Far better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”
13 But Moses answered the people, “Do not fear! Stand your ground and see the victory the LORD will win for you today. For these Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again.
14 The LORD will fight for you; you have only to keep still.”
15 Then the LORD said to Moses: Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to set out.
16 And you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea, and split it in two, that the Israelites may pass through the sea on dry land.
17 But I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them, and I will receive glory through Pharaoh and all his army, his chariots and his horsemen.
18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
19 The angel of God, who had been leading Israel’s army, now moved and went around behind them. And the column of cloud, moving from in front of them, took up its place behind them,
20 so that it came between the Egyptian army and that of Israel. And when it became dark, the cloud illumined the night; and so the rival camps did not come any closer together all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind all night long and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split,
22 so that the Israelites entered into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left.
Rout of the Egyptians.
23 The Egyptians followed in pursuit after them—all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen—into the midst of the sea.
24 But during the watch just before dawn, the LORD looked down from a column of fiery cloud upon the Egyptian army and threw it into a panic;
25 and he so clogged their chariot wheels that they could drive only with difficulty. With that the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from Israel, because the LORD is fighting for them against Egypt.”
26 Then the LORD spoke to Moses: Stretch out your hand over the sea that the water may flow back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and their horsemen. 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal flow. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward it when the LORD cast the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.
28 As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the horsemen. Of all Pharaoh’s army which had followed the Israelites into the sea, not even one escaped.
29 But the Israelites had walked on dry land through the midst of the sea, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left.
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel on that day from the power of Egypt. When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore
31 and saw the great power that the LORD had shown against Egypt, the people feared the LORD. They believed in the LORD and in Moses his servant.
Exodus 14:5-31
In Christianity the story of the Israelite's freedom from slavery and bondage from the Egyptians is marked by presentations of faith.[1] The spiritual parallel assents to the belief which is that with faith in Jesus Christ mankind is freed from the bondage of sin. Going through the waters of the Red Sea is symbolic of going through the waters of Baptism. It is Baptism which frees us from the permanent bondage of sin.
25 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter;, Israelite's
28 By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood, that the Destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. 29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if it were dry land, but when the Egyptians attempted it they were drowned.
Hebrews 11:24, 11:28-29
With Jesus, we can be freed from our sins. We just need to flee from them and not look back. This is true repentance. Repentance is the act of turning away from sin, turning towards God, having faith in God, and not looking back. It is here where we hold onto faith in Jesus. Jesus in turn will ultimately destroy all sin.
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[1] CCC 1221
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