There is one common thread in every scenario you have. Water would have killed if not for God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace. The water didn’t save them blood did, but it did symbolize their coming out of the grave (death, burial, and resurrection) that I agree completely.
1. Water killed (blood) every living thing on Earth except what was protected by the Ark(God).
2. The water would have killed Moses, but the basket saved him(God).
3. The water killed the Egyptian Army(blood), but God saved the Israeli’s from the water.
4. Not really sure about this reference, but he was physically sick and due to a miracle became a believer in the God of Israel.
5 & 6. Jonah would have died in the water if not protected by the fish(God). Actually by Scripture v.16 the men then made a sacrifice(blood) it wasn’t water.
Jonah 1:16-17 Amplified Bible (AMP)
16 Then the men [reverently and worshipfully] feared the Lord exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
17 Now the Lord had prepared and appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
Baptism is a symbol of faith in God, the resurrection, and the cleansing of the conscience.
Why was Jesus Baptized for he was sin free. Scripture tells us to fulfill all righteousness. And how do we know what that is just look at Abraham as he was credited with righteousness.
Matthew 3:15 Amplified Bible (AMP)
15 But Jesus replied to him, Permit it just now; for this is the fitting way for [both of] us to fulfill all righteousness [that is, to perform completely whatever is right]. Then he permitted Him.
Genesis 15:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).
Romans 4:3-5 Amplified Bible (AMP)
3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed in (trusted in) God, and it was credited to his account as righteousness (right living and right standing with God).
4 Now to a laborer, his wages are not counted as a favor or a gift, but as an obligation (something owed to him).
5 But to one who, not working [by the Law], trusts (believes fully) in Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness (the standing acceptable to God).
We are commanded to Baptism and thus if we accept Jesus Christ in our heart we want to please him and follow his commands. We want everyone to see our faith and our acceptance of God through Jesus Christ or at least I did and others I have talked to did also. We are also commanded to help the widows, orphans, and the Jewish poor. All this is a result of being saved that the Book of James refers to as good works.
James 2:21-23 Amplified Bible (AMP)
21 Was not our forefather Abraham [shown to be] justified (made acceptable to God) by [his] works when he brought to the altar as an offering his [own] son Isaac?
22 You see that [his] faith was cooperating with his works, and [his] faith was completed and reached its supreme expression [when he implemented it] by [good] works.
23 And [so] the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed in (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on) God, and this was accounted to him as righteousness (as conformity to God’s will in thought and deed), and he was called God’s friend.
**There is one common thread in every scenario you have. Water would have killed if not for God’s Love, Mercy, and Grace. The water didn’t save them blood did, but it did symbolize their coming out of the grave (death, burial, and resurrection) that I agree completely.**
Water baptism is death and buriel with Jesus Christ. It is the Spirit that powers the resurrection.
**1. Water killed (blood) every living thing on Earth except what was protected by the Ark(God).**
And Peter said that the water was God’s instrument to save eight souls, which is the same instrument he expects his ministers to use to bury souls with Jesus (in his name).
**2. The water would have killed Moses, but the basket saved him(God).**
Baby Moses was comdemned to death, but the water was where the basket was placed to hide him from destruction. Over a period of time he surely would have died in the river, if not pulled from it. He then began a new life.
**3. The water killed the Egyptian Army(blood), but God saved the Israeli’s from the water.**
Blood saved them from the first born curse. Water is the ‘sea’ in 1Cor. 10:1,2.”.. all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the Sea”.
**4. Not really sure about this reference, but he was physically sick and due to a miracle became a believer in the God of Israel.**
Well, Namann had the rotting skin of leprosy, a death sentence really. He immersed himself in the river, and his skin became like that of a baby. He left his early death sentence in the river.
**5 & 6. Jonah would have died in the water if not protected by the fish(God). Actually by Scripture v.16 the men then made a sacrifice(blood) it wasn’t water.**
Verse 16 comes AFTER the storm ceased. My point is that the curse to the sailors was Jonah, and by casting him into the sea, the sea ceased from it’s raging.
And Jonah was his own curse, destined to die with the sailors. Notice that he didn’t throw himself overboard. Sin doesn’t leave on it’s own. Jesus likened Jonah’s time in the fish as burial, since he used it as a comparison to his own.
I will answer more fully when able, we don’t want a sleepy trucker on the roads, do we?
Concerning Abraham:
**Genesis 15:6 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).**
That testamony from God was made years after Abraham had (at God’s instructions) traveled at least 400 miles (the old fashioned way), built an altar at Bethel (it wasn’t just to look at), and done many other faithful things.
The Abraham example is great, when told in it’s fullness. But, that is the failure of ‘Ahimaaz’ messengers. Good men, but inspite of missing the entire message, they still feel qualified. (see 2Sam. 18:19-32.)
**We are commanded to Baptism and thus if we accept Jesus Christ in our heart we want to please him and follow his commands. We want everyone to see our faith and our acceptance of God through Jesus Christ or at least I did and others I have talked to did also. We are also commanded to help the widows, orphans, and the Jewish poor. All this is a result of being saved that the Book of James refers to as good works.**
That is true. Just make SURE that you are not overlooking Jesus Christ, and his apostles, COMPLETE teaching on water baptism.