The Doctrine of Death, Burial, and Resurrection
Part Two: Burial This three-part series explores how the Old Testament serves as a “schoolmaster” pointing us to Christ through types and shadows. In Part Two, we examine the meaning of burial and how it connects to baptism in the New Testament.
The Principle of Burial
When someone dies, what comes next? Burial. We do not bury the living; only the dead are buried. In the same way, once we have repented and died out to sin, the next step is burial — which the Bible reveals to us is baptism.
Noah and the Flood
The story of Noah offers one of the clearest examples of burial in the Old Testament.
Genesis 6:5-8 records: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth… But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”
The flood buried the sin of the world beneath the waters, but Noah and his family found grace and were saved through the ark. The world of sin was destroyed, while the righteous were preserved.
Peter later ties this directly to baptism:
1 Peter 3:20-21: “…while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
Just as sin was buried in the flood, baptism serves as a burial of the old life of sin.
The Red Sea Crossing
We see this truth again in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. After leaving slavery, the Israelites found themselves trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea. But God made a way:
Exodus 14:13: “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord…”
God parted the sea, allowing Israel to pass through safely. But when Pharaoh’s army pursued, the waters returned and buried them beneath the sea.
In Part One, we saw how Egypt represented sin and bondage. Passing through the Red Sea was more than just escape — it was burial. Their old life, their oppressors, their sins, were left behind under the water.
Burial and Baptism
These lessons from the Schoolmaster show us that after death, burial must follow. Repentance is death to sin, and baptism is the burial of that old life.
Romans 6:4 says it plainly: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.”
The Old Testament types and shadows — Noah’s flood, the crossing of the Red Sea — all point us to the truth that baptism is the burial of the old man, preparing us for resurrection to new life in Christ.
Stay tuned for Part Three of this series: Resurrection.
