By
Peggy Pryor
Peggy Pryor
309 Golf Rd
Webb City, MO 64870
417-673-3694
ppryor@comesurfthe.net
http://www.haydid.org/ledevar.htm
It is not the intention of the
writer to criticize Christendom for the lack of understanding that abounds about
immersion, or add to the controversy, or think that by this humble book there
will be a great change across the world, that would be very much akin to trying
to empty the Atlantic ocean with a tea cup. But for the few hungry souls that
cry for understanding I pray that this will be a help. Understanding the Hebrew
rites and rituals is a long journey for us that were not exposed to the teaching
at an early age, and I dare say that not all that have had the privilege of
experiencing them for most or all of their life, see the significance of their
teaching as related to Yeshua/Jesus. I shall endeavor to help in a
small way to expand on the understanding.
One of the most misunderstood
teachings in the Bible is immersion. The Bible has much to say about
immersion/or the doctrine of washing/baptisms. The first century believers
understood the teachings of the different immersions and their purpose. In this
brief writing it will be impossible to explore all the different immersions, but
I would like to discuss briefly some of them, and in the process bring a glimmer
of light to this most misunderstood teaching in scripture. In Hebrew 6:1 it is
written:
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Messiah/Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God," (2) "Of the doctrine of baptism(s), and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment."
Rav Sha'ul/Paul in the
above referenced verses states that the elementary teachings of Messiah are as
follows;
Understanding of these six
principals was considered by Sha'ul/Paul, to be elementary teachings of
Messiah. If we fully understand the above six teachings then, and only then are
we qualified to move on to the MEAT of the word leaving the milk.
Ephesians 4:5 states that
"One L-rd, one faith, one immersion". To the casual student this might
seem to be a contradiction in scripture, but we know that the Ruach haKodesh/Holy
Spirit inspired all scripture so Rav Sha'ul/Paul is referring to one of
the many immersions, and in particular to the immersion into Messiah.
I was confused by what seemed to
me to be a new doctrine when Yochanan haMatvil/John the Baptist arrived
on the banks of the Jordan river preaching and immersing. Yochanan haMatvil/John
the Baptist was not suspect, by the people, as to where he received the doctrine
nor the validity of the teaching questioned. Never did anyone ask him why was he
immersing. They all seemed to accept the teaching, even in light of Deuteronomy
4:2, 12:32 and Revelations 22:19 stating that the Word could not be added to or
taken away from. In Deuteronomy 4:2 it is written:
"Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.In Deuteronomy 12:32 it is written:
"What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.In Revelation 22:19 it is written:
"And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
The severest punishment is the
penalty for such an act. It seems today that little thought is given to the fact
that G-d said not to add to or take away from the form of worship that he gave
to Adam in the Garden, had Moses write down on the mountain of Sinai and again
gave to King David before the temple was built by his son Solomon. This form of
worship/teaching, as prescribed by G-d, seems to have fallen by the way side in
this present day of many doctrinal differences. I hear many times "we must
have UNITY of the Faith" but the people that preach this the strongest, are
the very ones that say the only way to have unity is for you to come and join us
because we have the true revelation of the word, and you are lacking in your
understanding. I dare say that UNITY will not be realized to any great measure
until Messiah has returned and set up His Kingdom on earth. Then, and only then,
will UNITY be enjoyed by all believers. Maintenance of this unity will require
Messiah to rule with a rod of iron. In Revelation 19:15 it is written:
"And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron"... Rev 19:15 NAS
The Jews were chosen by G-d to
show all the world the ways of the L-rd. To teach the world about Messiah, our
relationship to Him, to each other, and end time events. All things must be
centered on Messiah. In Romans 3:1-2 it is written:
"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? (2), Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God (or words of G-d)."
All the festivals, customs, foods,
sacrificial system, laws of ritual purity including immersion were given to the
Jewish people as teaching tools for us to learn more about Messiah. We must
always keep Messiah in the forethought of our studies and realize that all
things are to give us a better understanding of what Messiah has done for us,
and what is in store for us. If we want rest, peace and contentment in our lives
we must know of Him. In Matthew 11:29 it is written:
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."
The entire Bible is written about
Messiah. In Psalm 40:7 it tell us this.
"Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me"
To follow the instructions of our
L-rd and learn of Him, we must learn about the festivals, customs, foods,
sacrificial system and laws of ritual purity. We must not only know about them
as we are commanded, but put into practice the things that we can do. Some of
the commandments require that the Holy Temple be standing in Jerusalem. The
other commandments that do not require the standing of the Holy Temple in
Jerusalem, we must make a part of our life to please our L-rd. The commandments
in Torah fall into three major categories
Some of the commandments that the
L-rd requires of us are hard to understand. We can understand, do not kill or
steal, as in "mishpatim/ethical" laws. We can understand the
"Edos/witness" commandments. These are the rituals and
festivals which teach us of important religious truths or commemorate key
events. The third group of commandments "Chukim/decrees" does
not seem to have a logical reason as to why we must obey them. The "chukim/decrees"
are commandments which we must obey whether or not we understand their reason.
In Exodus 24:7 it is written:
"All that G-d says, we will do and we will hear".
This indicates that when Torah was
given, we were ready to keep the commandments and "do" them
before we "heard" reason or logic. When we keep commandments
that have no apparent reason, we demonstrate our faith and inner security as
followers of Messiah. Even though we may not be able to justify these
commandments to the world, we feel secure to continue observing them. If a
person is unsure of himself, or wavering in his faith the laws that are not
understood are the first to be abandon. We understand what the Torah means when
it says in Deuteronomy 4:6 as it is written:
"Observe and keep [commandments], for this is your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations"
Messiah, Himself said in John
14:15 as it is written:
"If ye love me, keep my commandments".
We do not observe the commandments
because logic demands it, but simply because they were given by G-d. This shows
a "heart attitude" set to please G-d.. One of the most important of
these commandments is immersion in a mikvah, the ritual bath for the
purpose of bringing about ritual purity, and that is the one that we are going
to discuss.
The Greek word for baptism is baptizo
meaning to immerse or dip cloth into a vat of dye. The word is derived from an
industry of dying cloth in Lebanon. The vats used to hold the different colors
of dye, and the process of placing the cloth into the vats was called baptizo.
As time passed the ritual purity process of immersion began to be known as
baptism. The Hebrew word for immersion is tevilah and means literally
immersing in a ritual bath known as a mikvah. Immersion is the act of
washing performed to correct a condition of ritual impurity and restore the
impure to a state of ritual purity. It is never for the purpose of cleaning or
bathing the body.
The mikvah/ritual bath
was of great importance to the first century Jew. It was understood that if a
community or village had only enough money for a synagogue or a mikvah,
the mikvah would be built first. The Torah speaks of numerous things
that make a person Tomeh/ritually unclean, and a number of processes of
purification. The one act required in all purification processes was
immersion in the mikvah.
Life for the average Jew, in the
average village, depended on access to the mikvah. A man from the tribe
of Levi, a son of Aaron could not assume his office as priest until he had gone
through a mikvah. Before a person could be tahor/ritually
clean to enter the grounds of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, he must be immersed
in the mikvah. The severest punishment was imposed on a person for
entering the Temple area in the state of tomeh/ritual impurity. A woman
in her monthly cycle was required to ware special clothing so all would know
that she was in a state of niddah (ritually unclean due to monthly
cycle). She would not be tahor/ritually clean until after entering the mikvah.
Immersion in a mikvah is an integral part of conversion to Judaism.
Without immersion conversion is not valid. There are many more times an
immersion in a mikvah is customary, we will endeavor to explore as many
as space permits.
There are two basic parts of
Torah, one is the written Torah consisting of the first five books of the Bible,
with which we are all familiar. The second part of Torah is just as important
but not as well known. It is what we call the Oral Torah or unwritten law. This
was handed down orally from generation to generation for about 1,500 years.
About the third century C.E. Oral Torah was put into writing by Rabbi Yehudah
the Prince and is the foundation of Mishnah. The Talmud was formed after
discussion and commentary was added. All Jewish law is derived from this Oral
Torah. We might call it the "how to" book. Detail instructions on how
to carry out all worship, the festivals, sacrifices, commandments, including
ritual purification and preparing the mikvah are in Oral Torah.
The Mikvah is a ritual bath, the
Hebrew word mikvah means a "pool" or "Gathering" of
water. Two direct references in the Bible to Mikvah are in the Bible. In
Leviticus 11:36 it is written:
"Only a spring and a pit, a gathering (Mikvah) of water, shall be clean..."The second is Jeremiah 17:12-13 as it is written:
"A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. {13} O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters".
The word translated hope
in verse 13 is Mikvah thus giving us the understanding that Messiah is
the cleansing fountain/Mikvah or hope of Israel.
While Messiah still hung, on the
cross a Roman "soldier pierced His side, immediately there came out blood
and water"; John 19:34 NAS the opening of the cleansing fountain or Mikvah
for Israel. In Zechariah 13:1 it is written:
"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness."
The mikvah must meet six
special requirements as described in Oral Torah.
As you can see the modern
baptisteries, in the local church, do not fit the criteria of a clean ritual
bath. Many houses in Israel have been excavated and found to have as many as
nine Mikvot in them. The Holy Temple area had many Mikvot, a
worshipper could not enter the area without going thru the Mikvah. In
Masada, the fortress built by Herod the Great, Mikvot were found.
Today in the modern
"church" there is controversy as to what part immersion plays is our
life, and also how is a "Biblical" immersion performed. The three main
divisions of this controversy are for the most part as follows;
a) Is immersion
necessary for salvation...is salvation a two-part process
b) Which is Biblically
correct, immersion or sprinkling;
c) In what name is a
person immersed or sprinkled, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Jesus only?
Ritual purification or immersion
is a Hebrew ritual, commanded by G-d and must be viewed in that perspective.
Certain guidelines were commanded by G-d to be strictly followed by the person
entering the Mikvah.
The method of immersion as
practiced by all the Old Testament people and including Yochanan haMatvil/John
the Baptist was very different from what we do today. The person was to already
have taken a bath, washed his hair, pared his fingernails and make sure that he
was very clean. The Mikvah was not for the purpose of taking a bath. The person
being immersed went into the water by himself, stretching out his arms, flexing
his fingers, fluttering his eyelids he squats down into the water until he is
completely covered by water. Flexing the fingers and toes, fluttering the
eyelids was to insure that the water touched every part of the body. Normally a
person would do this three times. The witness was the person that stood out of
the water to make sure that the immersing person was completely covered by the
water.
There are three types of
immersion;
Immersion of the whole body will
be the first of the three types we will discuss beginning in
Part I of this teaching.
.