Baptism as Part of the Highway

 

 

Good day! I’m Duane Matz and this is Today’s Living Word:

 

Isa 11:16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

Isaiah continues his description of “in that day,” (The Messianic age in which we are living now.) Here he speaks of a highway and likens it to the time the Israelites left Egypt via the miraculous parting of the Red Sea.

 

A couple of things ought to come to mind here. First of all, the prophecy concerning John the Baptist who would pave the way for Jesus with his message of repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins.  John was, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert A highway for our God. (Isa 40:3)

 

John was the initial voice of this message and Peter followed with, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38)

 

And of course, this message is the great commission that Jesus has given to His church in Mt 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

 20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

 

I think the importance of baptism in the construction of this highway to Jesus is often overlooked. We understand repentance. We can see it with our eyes when people do a 180 in the way they are living, but we have a hard time believing that the application of water and the words of Jesus can be a part of our safe passage to the Promised Land.

 

There is an interesting portion of Scripture in light of this found in 1Co 10:2 “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, 2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

 

This trek through the Red Sea was meant to be a type of New Testament baptism

And before we relegate baptism to a lesser status, let’s ask ourselves, “Was God the power behind the parting of the Sea?” Yes He was. “Who made it safely to the other side?” Was it not those who passed through the waters?

 

Baptism matters, and we ought to treat it as such. How did Jesus put it? "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mk 16:16)

 

 

I’m Duane Matz and that’s Today’s Living Word.