“Let the water and the blood…Be of sin the double cure: Cleanse me from it’s guilt and pow’r.”
Notice the two parts to Israel’s deliverance. There was salvation by blood and by water. The blood of the lamb delivered them from their sinfulness, saving them in Egypt. But the water delivered them from their enemy and saved them out of Egypt. So we read, “This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood” (1 Jn 5:6). The Lord had two baptisms, or immersions. First He was baptized in the Jordan River, where the Spirit came upon Him and the Father affirmed Him. Then He spoke of His baptism under the waves of God’s wrath at Calvary: “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished!” (Lk 12:50). In the case of Israel, we read, “All were baptized [to] Moses in the cloud and in the sea” (1 Cor 10:2). So too, believers today acknowledge these great acts of deliverance. By believer’s baptism, like Israel and Moses, we are identified with a new Leader. No longer slaves of this world, we are the people of God. But we also identify with the blood of the Lamb, and “as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes” (11:26). Victory in Jesus! Now with the Red Sea crossing behind them, “they went out into the Wilderness of Shur. And they went three days in the wilderness and found no water” (Ex 15:22). Recall that Moses had initially asked Pharaoh that they be allowed to go three days’ journey to meet with God. Well, here they are, and how is that working out? The water jugs and skins are dry. Bleating sheep, crying babies, worried mothers, two million parched throats! Medical News Today says, “As a general rule of thumb, a person can survive without water for about 3 days.” Whatever will they do now?