When a person desires to follow Christ and to be reconciled to God, we know and understand that such a one must be baptized, “born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). Water baptism, for God’s own purpose and pleasure, is how one comes into contact with the blood of Jesus, and that blood is what cleanses us from all our sins (Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:7). Yet, many don’t realize that God has used water and the Spirit throughout the Old Testament to bring about life, renewal and salvation. Many Old Testament events are types or shadows of what was to come in Jesus Christ.
The Old Testament is full of types and shadows that find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ and His church. Consider what Paul said about those who ate the manna and drank the water that came from the rock: “…and did all eat the same spiritual food; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4). Paul commented on events found in Exodus 16:15 and Exodus 17:6. He stated that those events, in a real way, point us to Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself said that He was the bread (manna) from heaven (John 6:31-35). Again, the Old Testament is full of types and shadows, and one of those types has to do with water baptism.
In Genesis 1, we see God creating the heavens and the earth. In Verse 2, the Spirit is found hovering or brooding over the waters of the deep like a bird over its nest. On day three, God brought dry land out of the water, and only then was life created. Life began on earth when dry land was created, and so out of water God brought life. In the creation account, we have water and the Spirit.
In Genesis chapters 6-9, we have the account of Noah’s flood. The world at that time had become so wicked that the earth was overflowing with sin. It was so bad that God was grieved that He had created man. Therefore, He planned to wipe out every living thing off the face of the earth. The only bright spot was Noah, a righteous man. God told Noah to build an ark. Once the ark was built, he and his family entered it. Then God brought a huge, worldwide flood upon the earth. The earth was once again “without form and void”; it was back to the way it was in Genesis 1, a watery mass of chaos. We should be seeing the echoes of Genesis 1 in this text. God in a very real way “uncreated” the world and prepared to recreate it. After the rains ceased, Noah finally sent out a dove, and the dove hovered over the surface of the deep, finding no place to rest (Genesis 8:8-9). In a symbolic way, this event pictures the Holy Spirit who was hovering over the waters in Genesis 1. God, once again, was about to bring dry land out of the water, and life would again be possible. God cleansed the earth of wickedness and sin through water. God brought about a renewed creation by water and the Spirit.
After the flood, we are told about a man named Abraham who had a son named Isaac. Isaac in turn had a son named Jacob, and he had twelve sons. From these twelve sons, God created the nation of Israel. The Israelites eventually found themselves in Egyptian slavery where they worked in bitterness and heartache for years. After a long time, God led them out of that slavery. He used ten plagues to force Pharaoh to let His people go, but once they left, Pharaoh had a change of heart. He went out with his army after the Israelites, but God through Moses opened the Red Sea so the Israelites walked through on dry ground. The Egyptian army that followed them were, in the end, drowned in the sea (Exodus 14:15-31). The Israelites were finally free or saved from Egyptian slavery when they reached the other side of the Red Sea. God baptized the Israelites in the sea and in the cloud. They were saved through water and guided by God (Exodus 13:21-22; cf., 1 Peter 3:20-22; 1 Corinthians 10:1-2).
Let us now connect the Old Testament with the New and consider two of those New Testament texts that speak about the Spirit and water. In Matthew 3, Jesus went out to John and was baptized by him in the Jordan River. As he came out of the water, the Spirit descended in the form of a dove (Matthew 3:16-17). Do you hear the echoes in this text? Genesis 1 should come to mind where the Spirit was hovering over the waters as well as the symbolic image of the Spirit seen in the dove after Noah’s flood. Genesis 1 describes the creation. Genesis 6-9 describes the renewed creation, and here, Jesus represented the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-18).
In the book of Acts, we hear a message preached by Peter that ended with him saying, “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Again, we find water and the Spirit. Of course, there are plenty of other New Testament texts that discuss water baptism, but my main focus in this article was to present some of those Old Testament texts that prefigure New Testament baptism.
It is clear when we examine the Scriptures that the Old Testament pictures and points us to many things that find their ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament, and one of those things is water baptism. Water and the Spirit have had a long and rich history that began back in Genesis and continues to this day. Through water, God brought about life, cleansing from sin, and renewal – from creation to new creation.
