A Bible History of Baptism

by Samuel J. Baird

We have already seen the typical relation which Moses and Israel, and the covenant with them sustained to the Lord Jesus and the true Israel, and the better covenant, as expounded by Paul to the Hebrews. The language here cited from the same apostle derives its form from the same conception. Israel in the bondage of Egypt,—Moses sent to them as a deliverer,—the passage out of the land of bondage, through the Red Sea,—the destruction of Pharaoh in the sea and the cutting off thus of Israel from all dependence or subjection to him,—their consequent faith in Moses and submission to his authority,—the covenant made with them through him as Mediator,—their nourishment in the wilderness on the bread of heaven, and the water from the Rock,—and their final passage through the Jordan and entrance into the promised land,—are the elements of a typical system the antitypes of which are to be sought, not in the visible church and its ritual ordinances, but in Christ and his body, the invisible church, and the spiritual and heavenly realities which it enjoys. According to this conception, the “baptism into Moses” finds its antitype in the baptism into Christ, by which his people are emancipated from the bondage of Satan and brought under the yoke of Christ. And as that baptism is instrumentally accomplished by the Spirit, whereby they all are baptized into one body of which Christ is the Head, so the baptism of Israel was instrumentally effected “by the cloud and by the sea;” they being by the cloud protected from the Egyptians and directed through the receding sea; while “the Lord looked unto the host of the Egyptians, through the pillar of fire and of the cloud, and troubled the Egyptians, and took off their chariot wheels,” and the returning sea swallowed them up.—Ex. xiv, 23-28. Here was an immersion. But it was of the Egyptians. Here was a baptism,—of the children of Israel,—into Moses,—not into water,—not into cloud, or sea or both together. There were not two baptisms, but one, and in order to make it an immersion “in the cloud and in the sea,” the baptism “into Moses” must be obliterated. The Baptist figment which we have seen stated by Dr. Kendrick, of the “double wall of water rolled up on each side, and the column of fiery cloud stretching its enshrouding folds above them,” is not merely an idle imagination. But it is an imagination in direct and palpable contradiction to the record of Moses. The Israelites were indeed under the cloud. But it was before they entered the sea, and not during their march through it. “The Angel of God which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was a cloud and darkness to them; but it gave light by night to these; so that the one came not near the other all the night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea ... and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea.”—Ex. xiv, 19-22. Thus, before the sea was divided, Israel were “under the cloud,” as it passed back from their front, to become an intercepting barrier between them and the pursuing host. But, during the march through the sea, the cloud was between the two hosts, and not “enshrouding” Israel above. Thus, as by the touch of Ithuriel’s spear, the figment of immersion vanishes in the presence of the word of truth, and in its stead appear the ransomed tribes marching upon the sands between walls of water, miles apart, the open heavens above them and the cloud moving as a protecting curtain, in their rear. The attempt to find immersion here, is futile.

That the preposition, en, is rightly here translated, by, as indicating the instrumental cause, in the baptism, is illustrated by an example a little farther on in the same epistle. “By one Spirit, are we all baptized into one body.”—1 Cor. xii, 13. Here, Christ is the Baptizer, the Spirit is the instrument, and union with Christ and his body the result. So, of Israel, Jehovah was the Baptizer, the cloud and the sea were the instruments, and union with Moses the result. Just before, they had been in a state of open mutiny. (Ex. xiv, 11, 12.) But now, says the record, “the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. And Israel saw that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord, and believed the Lord and his servant Moses.”—Ib. 30, 31. Their changed state of mind was attested by the song of their triumph which rang out over the unconscious and now peaceful waters. “Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.”—Ib. xv, 1-21. Thus have we a signal example of such a change of state or experience as even Dr. Conant admits to have been designated by the word, baptizo. From under the power and fear of Pharaoh, they came into the trust and obedience of Moses. They were “baptized into Moses.” The only intimation of instrumental mode in this baptism, to be found in the Scriptures, occurs in the Psalmist’s vivid description of the scene. “The clouds poured out water, the skies sent out a sound, thine arrows also went abroad.”—Ps. lxxvii, 17.

Part XVI.
THE FAMILY AND THE CHILDREN.

Section XCVIII.—Christ and the Children.

At this stage of our inquiry, we note the following points which have important bearings upon the relation of the children to the church. (1.) We have seen that, in the establishing of the covenant with Abraham,—the promises of which were blessings to the natural offspring of the patriarch, and through them, salvation to the world,—its seal was set upon all the males of his household,—through whom the descent was to be counted,—at the age of eight days. (2.) We have seen that in the Sinai covenant, by which in fulfillment of the promises to Abraham, the church was constituted in the family of Israel, the same fundamental principles of family unity and parental headship were recognized and incorporated in the constitution of the church; and that in accordance therewith, the children and bondservants, both male and female, were included in its terms, with the family head; endowed with all its rights and privileges; bound under its responsibilities; and sealed with its baptismal seal. (3.) We have seen that it was into this church, as thus constituted and existing, and without change in its constitutional principles, or form of organization, that through the ministry of the apostles, the Gentiles were graffed; thus fulfilling the promise to Abraham, that in his seed should all families of the earth be blessed; a promise fulfilled not only in salvation accomplished through the promised Seed of Abraham, but in the reception thus of the Gentiles into the bosom of the church of Israel.

It now remains to be ascertained whether there is any thing in the principles of the gospel, as set forth in the New Testament, in the practical rules therein recorded, or in the facts of its history, to require or justify the extruding of the children from the place and privileges hitherto enjoyed;—whether there is any thing to lead us to the conclusion that the coming of Christ has straitened the grace of God, and withdrawn from the babes of us Gentiles that privilege of acceptance which was enjoyed by the little ones of Israel, from the day of the covenant at Sinai.

1. As the place of the children was originally conferred and secured by express statute and repeated enactments of confirmation, we have a right to expect the abrogation of the privileges thus established to be accomplished in terms as specific and imperative as were the laws by which they were conferred. But no one has ever pretended to produce such a statute of abrogation. Confessedly the New Testament is absolutely silent as to such an act,—a silence fatal to the theories which deny a place to the babes in the family of God.

2. The facts and principles set forth in the New Testament supply no argument for the exclusion of the children. First, is that touching incident which is recorded with more or less fullness in each of the synoptical gospels. In reply to the question who of the apostles should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Jesus, being in a house in Capernaum,—probably in the house of one of them, several of whom lived there,—he “called a little child unto him and set him in the midst of them,”—“and (enagkalisamenos) having folded it in his arms, he said unto them,” “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me.”—Matt. xviii, 1-5; Mark ix, 36; Luke ix, 46-48. With this is to be connected that kindred fact which occurred a few days afterward, and is also recorded in each of the three synoptical gospels. “Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them and pray; and the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, Suffer little children and forbid them not to come unto me; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.”—Matt. xix, 13-15. Mark and Luke add that he said, “Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. And (enagkalisamenos) folding them in his arms, he put his hands upon them, and blessed them.”—Mark x, 13-16; Luke xviii, 15-17. Of these little children, Luke tells us that they were (brephē) babes. That these incidents in the life of our Savior were of special significance is indicated by the fact that they are both given by each of the evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. As to their meaning,—(1.) These children all were, at the time, actual members of that visible kingdom of God the church of Israel, in the bosom of which Jesus himself lived and died. (2.) That church was the type and representative of the invisible church and kingdom. (3.) Of all members of the visible church, Jesus selects the little child of the first incident and the babes of the second, as the fittest types or representatives of the temper and spirit which will have admittance and honor in the heavenly kingdom. (4.) He was much displeased, that his disciples should attempt to prevent their being brought, in their unconsciousness and helplessness, into his personal presence, for recognition and a blessing from him. (5.) Both the child in the house, and the babes brought to him, he folded in his arms, and upon the latter he laid his hands and blessed them. He was the great Shepherd, as himself testifies,—“I am the good Shepherd.”—John x, 11. Of him the prophet wrote,—“He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom.”—Isa. xl, 11. And we ask,—Can any one venture to deny that, by these acts, so distinctly referring to the prophecy, Jesus designed to recognize and claim the babes as lambs of his fold? As before remarked, these babes were undeniably members of the church, at the time of these occurrences. If the Lord Jesus designed to leave them in undisturbed possession of the rights and privileges heretofore enjoyed, with his benediction added thereto, all this is clear and intelligible. But, if they were to be deprived and excluded, how are these things to be reconciled?

Another incident, in circumstances even more significant[significant], presents itself. After his resurrection, Jesus met with his disciples at the Sea of Galilee. “When they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.”—John xxi, 15. Peter was present in the house in Capernaum, when Jesus took the child in his arms. Nay, it is not improbable that it was Peter’s house, and Peter’s child. He was present when the babes were brought for blessing, and saw and heard all that then occurred. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews,—the chief apostle of the circumcision. When he received this charge from the Master, in which were commended to his love and care, first, the lambs, and afterward the sheep; and when he pondered this charge and legacy, in the light of the fifteen centuries during which the place of the children had been unquestioned and unquestionable, and in remembrance of those demonstrative facts which he had seen and heard,—would he understand it as implying a command to purge and renovate the fold, by the exclusion of the lambs? And when, a few days after, or, possibly on this very same occasion, he as the apostle through whom the doors of the gospel were to be opened to the Gentiles, with the rest, received that great command,—“Go disciple all nations, baptizing them,”—are we to conceive it possible that he understood it to mean that he must be very tender of the Jewish lambs, bringing them into the fold and school of Christ, but must drive out the children of the Gentiles as unclean?

3. Under the ministry of the apostles, the Gentiles were called and graffed into the church of Israel. In the church, thus constituted as already shown, some congregations were composed of Jews alone, some, of Gentiles, and some, of the two classes associated together; but in them all Jewish influences were pervasive and paramount. Now, is it to be imagined that without a word of command from Christ or the apostles, the Jewish believers would unanimously, gratuitously, and in silence, surrender the place of their children in the church, just at the moment when the privileges thereto incident had become so much more manifest, by the coming of Christ, and the brightness, by his rising, shed upon the gospel day? And even if such a thing could be imagined possible, what else would it have been but a wicked apostasy and rejection of the grace given them? But, that no such apostasy did take place, is assuredly testified by the silence of the record, and by all the circumstances. That, in the churches of the circumcision, and among Jewish believers everywhere, the children occupied their old status is beyond controversy or question. Of this, their circumcision is of itself conclusive proof. And as, from the days of Abraham, that rite certified them seed of the patriarch and heirs of the promises,—and at Sinai they were introduced, by baptism, into the pale of the church and the privileges of that covenant,—so their continued enjoyment alike of the privileges and the seals must stand forever certain, till some prophet shall arise to tell us when, and how, and for what cause, they were divested of rights once bestowed by Him whose “gifts and callings are without repentance.”