THE JEWISH WAY OF BAPTISM

The Origin of Baptism in the Jewish Culture
and its Implications for All People Today

A story is told about a captain in the U.S. Cavalry many years ago who was riding through a small town in Oklahoma. As he passed by a barn, he suddenly pulled his horse to a stop, because right there before him on the side of the barn were dozens of bull's eye circles drawn with chalk, and in the center of each one was a bullet hole.

About that time another man walked by and the captain asked him, "Do you know who is the marksman responsible for all those bull's eyes?" The passer-by nodded his head and said, "Yep, that would be Billy Hawkins. But he's a mite peculiar."

The captain replied, "Well I don't care what he is like. The Cavalry can use anyone who can shoot that well." "Ah ha," said the other man, "But I think you should know that Billy shoots first, then he comes over and draws those circles."

The above story is an illustration of a common favorite pastime—making the Bible say what we want it to say. First we shoot out a particular idea. Then we start circling verses to back up that idea. Conversely, the only legitimate approach to discovering biblical truth is to let the Bible speak for itself before we draw our conclusions. Likewise, we all would be wise to look at the many issues of our faith in their original context.

One key issue that can only be comprehended in that manner is baptism. It is a topic with great spiritual significance for many people. But it is also one that comes with great confusion. For Christians it can mean the act of salvation itself. For Jews it can be a negative reminder of the forced baptisms historically imposed on one's ancestors down through the centuries. There are many questions and much misunderstanding. But when considered in its full biblical light, baptism is an important depiction of G-d's plan for our lives.

Baptism has its foundation
in the testimony section of the Torah

The foundation for all biblical principles, including baptism, is found in the Torah. Within the writings of Moses, it has been determined that G-d gave 613 instructions, commonly called the Law, to the nation of Israel. These principles were distinguished by four categories. There are numerous passages of Scripture that describe these distinctive categories. For example, as King David prepared to pass his reign to his son Solomon, he cited each of them:

"And keep the charge of the L-rd your G-d, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes (hukim), His commandments (mitzvot), His ordinances (mishpatim), and His testimonies (edot) according to what is written in the Law (Torah) of Moses" (1 Kings 2:3).

The characteristics of these four categories can be summed up in this way:

The Types of Torah Instructions

1. Statutes (hukim)

Practices that serve to strengthen the bond between G-d and His people, such as the dietary laws.

2. Commandments (mitzvot)

Acts of righteousness, including loving and fearing G-d, and being charitable to others.

3. Judgments (mishpatim)

Civil ordinances enabling people to exercise justice and to live in harmony. Thes include laws prohibiting murder, theft, etc.

4. Testimonies (edot)

Rituals and festivals that bear witness to G-d and His ways.

Moses made it clear that the Torah was not only a standard for daily living, it provided a means of witnessing about Adonai, the G-d of Israel:

"I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the L-rd my G-d commanded me, that you may do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it. So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'" (Deut. 4:5-6).

The outward signs of faith in Adonai would enable others to see Him as the One True G-d of the universe. Among these many rituals that testified about one's inner faith in G-d was the mikveh bath. It involved the way individuals testified that they were eligible for full privileges and responsibilities within the community.

In the Torah, it is taught that there were a variety of ways that people could become symbolically unclean, such as touching a dead body or during a woman's monthly menstrual cycle. The entire 15th chapter of Leviticus provides the specific details.

G-d commanded that whenever someone became ritually impure, he or she had to go to the mikveh bath in order to restore one's status in the community. The word mikveh literally meant "a collection or gathering together." Over time it came to be associated with a collection of water (such as a pond or reservoir).

We also know this about the mikveh—the water had to be "living water" from a spring or river. It had to be running water. The individual was completely immersed under the water. And it had nothing to do with the salvation of the person.

It was all about declaring that you had been given a new life of service and privileges in the community. In ancient Israel, it was used as a testimony to others that a person was spiritually clean and eligible for full responsibility and blessings within the kingdom. As a result, the availability of a mikveh has been essential throughout the history of Israel. You can see an example of an ancient mikveh from antiquity on top of Masada, the fortress near the Dead Sea where Jewish zealots fled from the Romans in the late First Century.

Today, many Orthodox synagogues have their own mikvot. The modern version is filled with water to about chest high. A couple of inches below the water line is a small hole that enables water to recirculate from a pit on the other side. If there is not a river next door, rain water is collected and mixed in as the "living water." The Orthodox community will use their local mikveh on a regular basis according to Torah instructions. The ceremonial immersion of utensils also takes place there. In addition, a Gentile will use the mikveh as part of the formal conversion process. So there are certainly some common characteristics between the mikveh and baptism.

Several episodes in Scripture provide a backdrop to the symbolic nature of the mikveh. Together they demonstrate G-d's desire to cleanse this world of unrighteousness. We see this in the days of Noah when G-d immersed an entire world that had become exceedingly corrupted by sin. But remember, it was the preceding faith of Noah and his family to build and enter the Ark that saved them from the flood, and they emerged as a sign of faithfulness in action.

Likewise during the Exodus, we see another grand mikveh at the Red Sea. Exodus 14 tells about how the Israelites were chased by Pharaoh's army after their release from slavery in Egypt. When they reached the Red Sea, Moses worked a miracle and parted the waters. The people followed God's pillar of fire that was leading them and they crossed the sea on dry land.

In reflection upon this passage, the Apostle Paul says "All were baptized into Moses in the cloud in the sea" (1 Cor. 10:2). The order of events is very informative to us:

• They had already been redeemed by God, and spared the plague of Death.
• And now they passed through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on either side.
• By faith they entered in, and their emergence on the other side was a testimony of the trustworthiness and power of God to save them.

This, then, is the historical context of immersion—people first take steps of personal faith. This is followed by a sign that served as a witness to the ways of G-d.

Yohanan ben Zechariah, a.k.a. John the Baptist, the one prophesied and sent by G-d to herald the coming of Messiah, understood the meaning of immersion well. As He went about the countryside preaching G-d's message, many people responded faith and repentance. Then he confirmed this spiritual transformation with a ceremony very much related to the mikveh.

John's act of baptism did not determine an individual's salvation

In the case of the mikveh, your redemption was already established by faith and repentance and sacrificial atonement. You were merely making a testimony of your obedience to God's instructions and your eligibility for service in the kingdom. Likewise, the individuals being baptized by John had already come forth by faith and repentance and had received atonement for their sins. And while these things may have occurred even moments before, this ceremonial declaration of their redemption was subsequent to the act itself. In other words, John's baptism or any other baptism was not the determining factor in their salvation.

John completely immersed the individual under the water

Both Baptizo, the Greek word from which we get baptism, and its Hebrew equivalent t'vilah, mean "to dip." The root meaning of baptizo comes from the way a piece of cloth would be dipped into dye in order to soak up the solution, which is clear picture of immersion as opposed to mere sprinkling.

John's baptism was a symbol of new life

The ministry of John was necessary because of the spiritual decay of the nation of Israel. No longer were the people keeping their hearts pure before G-d. The prophet Jeremiah had already described a similar situation in his own day. In his the second chapter of his book he showed how there may have been rituals and sacrifices taking place in the nation, but they were not preceded by a pure inner spirituality that was supposed to exemplified in the ritual. Jeremiah summed it all up with this metaphor:

"My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living water, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water" (Jer. 2:13).

In other words, they were going about their lives, in their own way, without the True G-d, yet still trying to practice their religion. Can you see the symbolism here? G-d's way, as depicted in the mikveh, began with personal faith in G-d. It recognized Him as the Sovereign L-rd and Provider. And it was commemorated or observed in His ordained manner. Man's way, as depicted in the cisterns, began with forsaking G-d. It rejected His sovereignty over their lives. And it substituted broken, alternate ways of observance.

In the ministry of John the Baptist, he was calling the people back to the purity and sincerity of their biblical heritage. Surely his act of baptism in the rushing waters of the Jordan River, the primary source of water for the entire nation, was a sign of G-d's desire for an active, living relationship with His people.

No amount of ritual will have a bearing on our spiritual standing. There must be first something genuine within us. And that something is the eternal life given by Messiah. This is true for anything we do that has symbolic meaning to us. Not only is it true for our own step of obedience in baptism, it is true for festivals like Passover or doing good deeds and acts of charity.

But when you are right before G-d—meaning your sins have been forgiven and your faith is genuine - then all of these acts of testimony add to our spiritual growth. And there is no turning back. When a person is redeemed by the Spirit of G-d, he or she is forever changed. This is symbolized in coming forth from the mikveh/baptism waters. There is a new life that was not there before one's redemption. And with it comes a release from fear and risk and uncertainty.

This was the theme illustrated in the story of the Israelites' crossing of the Red Sea. Their redemption had already taken place. They passed through the water to a new life. And that which enslaved them before now lies dead on the shore. The people then responded to G-d's great act of intervention:

Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the L-rd: "I will sing to the L-rd, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea. The L-rd is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my G-d, and I will praise him, my father's G-d, and I will exalt him" (Exod. 15:1,2).

Their praise is noteworthy. But woven into this song of Moses and the Israelites is a remarkable Messianic foreshadowing. The phrase, "he has become my salvation" is v'yehi li l'yeshua, which also means the L-rd "has become Yeshua for me ."

In G-d's timing, He did indeed dwell here on earth as Yeshua haMashiach—Jesus the Messiah. He now provides our atonement for sin, freeing us from its grave consequences, and gives us the gift of salvation. We, then, bear witness to what He has done not only through our words and our deeds, but through the immersing waters. This, then, is the biblical portrait of baptism:

• Baptism is a practice with strong Jewish origins. While Jewish believers may prefer to use an equivalent term like "immersion" in light of the historical connotation of the word, the concept is highly consistent with Jewish tradition.
  
• Like any other ritual, baptism is not an act that determines our spiritual destiny. It is our inner faith in G-d through the Messiah that determines our redemption.
  
• It is an ordinance of G-d that underscores our commitment, and enables us to be a witness to others.
  
• It is a reminder to us that once we have been redeemed, sin has no hold over our lives. And we need to live obediently, gratefully, and victoriously.

What a privilege we have to be a witness to other people. Greater still is our privilege to be citizens in the kingdom of G-d.

Dr. Galen Peterson
© 1999 American Remnant Mission