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Dunkin' But No Doughnuts 

     The dictionary says that baptism is a Christian event; a sacrament with water. Scholars, educators, and our western culture identify only Christianity with this subject. The same dictionary defines a sacrament as a "religious rite ordained by the Roman Catholic Church that confers sanctifying grace." Yet sometimes you cannot always rely on an English dictionary to give you a true historical meaning of a word or concept. What does the Bible teach about this subject? Is baptism solely a New Testament idea? The word baptism comes to the English language from the Greek word "baptizos," which means to "wash or immerse." This Greek concept is derived from the Hebrew term "t'vilah." Does this mean that baptism is really a Hebrew concept..hmmm? Yes, before John the Baptist came preaching "repent and be baptized," immersion was already an accepted practice in the life of the Hebrew people. As John the Baptist stood in the Jordan River, he wasn't doing anything radical or new. T'vilah (immersion) was part of the Biblical faith before Messiah came. Judaism today continues to use immersion. Baptism is not just a sacrament ordained by the Roman Church, but an action commanded by the Scriptures. T'vilah is in essence a gateway into being kedusha (holy). T'vilah is the physical act of immersing into a body of moving water, called a "mikvah" in Hebrew. The Encyclopedia Judaica says that a mikvah is a, "a collection of water, a pool or bath of clear water, immersion in which renders ritually clean a person who has become ritually unclean through contact with the dead (Num. 19) or any other defiling object, or through an unclean discharge from the body (Lev. 15) and especially a menstruating woman. To learn more about this topic let's consult the only true authority, the Holy Scriptures.

     As Hebrews, let's look to our dictionary, the Torah, to learn exactly what t'vilah / immersion is. We're not going to look directly to John the Baptist in the New Testament, but other places immersion is found throughout the Tanakh, starting in the book of Genesis. Let's begin with understanding that the main purpose of immersion into water is not physical cleanliness, though that does play a part in t'vilah. The most important reason we have been called to t'vilah is to reinforce the Bible's message of spiritually clean and unclean. The earth was immersed in the beginning. As part of creation, the Almighty immersed the world in water. "Elohim said, Let the mayim (waters) under the Shamayim (heavens) be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear, and it was so. And the mayim under the shamayim gathered to their gatherings and the dry land appeared. And Elohim called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the mayim He called Seas: and Elohim saw that it was tov(good). And Elohim said, Let the earth bring out grass, the herb yielding zera, and the fruit eytz (tree) yielding fruit after its kind, whose zera (seed) is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought out grass, and herb yielding zera after its kind, and the eytz yielding fruit, whose zera was in itself, after its kind: and Elohim saw that it was tov," -- Beresheet / Genesis 1: 8-12. Believe it or not, there is a baptism in these verses! The Hebrew word often translated "gathering the waters" in Genesis 1: 9 can be translated "mikvah." The place where the waters gathered was a mikvah, or a "gathering of moving waters that renders a ritually unclean person clean." New life sprung forth after the waters were gathered into a mikvah. This is repeated in the birth of Messiah Yahshua. The Spirit hovered over Miriam (Mary); she became impregnated, and brought forth a child. The Angel spoke to Miriam, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of Elohim," -- Luke 1:35. This pattern of hovering, immersion, and impregnation, is one that YHWH has set and continues to use to this day. In the beginning Adam and Eve allowed sin to corrupt them and were therefore rendered ritually unclean.

    They were cast from YHWH's awesome presence. The Midrash teaches that after Adam was banished, he sat in a river that flowed from the garden. This was his immersion after sin that showed his desire to return to the Creator. As Adam sat in the moving waters that flowed from the Garden he could remember his former state and he no doubt mourned the loss of closeness with the Creator. This is “commentary” remember, not scripture on this idea. The next mikvah found in the Scriptures shows us how immersion not only brings forth new life, but also washes away the old life. Mikvah washes away the evil and brings a new start. After many years of wickedness increasing in the earth, YHWH decided to destroy the world with the great flood during Noah’s time. The role of mikvah continues with the Passover story of the Hebrews. Pharaoh is pursuing them from behind and before them is the massive Red Sea. What will happen? The Torah says that the immense waters of the Red Sea parted and our ancestors walked across the deep on dry land. With the walls of water on either side of them, the Yisra'elites experienced mikvah, "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..." -- 1 Corinthians 10:1-2. There are many ways that we become unclean. However, mikvah was, and is, a central part in dealing with uncleanliness. A mikvah's purpose is to spiritually cleanse the believer from an unclean state. For example, the leper would go through washing rituals found in Vayikra / Leviticus 14, not for physical cleansing but spiritual cleansing. Like Naaman who immersed seven times and was healed, mikvah completed the healing process for leprosy. The priests also went through immersions in preparation for temple service in Vayikra / Leviticus 16.

     Throughout the Torah, mikvah is established as a vital and necessary part of Temple worship. Thus, ritual baths were built at the Temple site to be used by those seeking to immerse themselves for ritual/spiritual cleanliness. People who became unclean were not allowed to approach YHWH without first immersing themselves. Simply put, immersion in a mikvah signals a change in status -- more correctly, an elevation in status. Its unparalleled function lies in its power of transformation, its ability to affect metamorphosis. The idea of immersion symbolizing a change of state is not something new for Christianity. This process originally began in the Torah. Today we do not have a mikvah pool in our homes that we can take advantage of. That is why we advocate the ritual washing of hands. It’s the closest thing we can do to parallel doing a complete mikvah. After all, it’s the intent of the heart that YHVH looks at in any act we undertake. Nothing prevents us from holding our hands under a faucet and asking for YHVH’S forgiveness and cleansing from anything impure we may have came in contact with, or after a monthly cycle for a woman. Hand washing is not exactly the same as “dunkin”, but you “can” have a doughnut afterwards.