Jewish Baptism Predates the New Testament (Yes, This Title Stinks)

Dunking. Sprinkling. Running water. Standing water. These are the things Christian argue about when it comes to baptism. It’s like they think they invented the thing. But, it’s Jewish and it’s been around long before John the Baptist.  I’ll prove it to you in less than 10 minutes.

When my oldest son, Sam, was 13, I took him to Israel for a couple weeks. Our guide showed us some recently excavated mikvahs on the southern side of the Mount Moriah – the site of the Jewish Temple. There are dozens there. Our guide told us that this was the location when the first Christians were baptised. Without missing a beat, Sam said, “So dad, this is where people got baptised, right?” I answered, “Yes.” He replied, “And these are the southern steps?” Again, I confirmed this. Sam got this crooked grin on his face and said, “So, you’re saying that the first Christians were all Southern Baptists?” Not exactly accurate, but well played, for sure. But it does make you wonder: where did this whole baptism idea come from, anyway?

Tahor

Ritual bathing in the Bible begins with the priests and Levites who served in the Tabernacle. Torah clearly teaches that these chosen individuals must become ritually pure before beginning their service. In Hebrew, this is called “tahor.” But this cleansing wasn’t through immersion, like we think of with baptism:

The LORD spoke to Moses, “You are also to make a large bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. You are to put it between the tent of meeting and the altar and put water in it, and Aaron and his sons must wash their hands and their feet from it. When they enter the tent of meeting, they must wash with water so that they do not die. Also, when they approach the altar to minister by burning incense as an offering made by fire to the LORD, they must wash their hands and their feet so that they do not die. And this will be a perpetual ordinance for them and for their descendants throughout their generations.” (Deuteronomy 30:17-21 NET)

The priests and Levites used a bronze laver or stand that had water in it for this cleansing. It had both practical, and symbolic purposes. Of course, the priests needed to wash before and after handling these animals. But symbolically, this process reminded them of the need to be pure before entering before the presence of YHWH. But what about the rest of Israel? Did they need to become ritually clean?

Tamay

This is really important to understand. Ritual impurity isn’t the same as moral impurity. Ritual impurity happened through the day to day life of an Israelite. Handling a dead body. Sickness and disease. Menstrual cycles. Birth. All of these resulted in the Israelite becoming unclean or ritual impure. And the process required in the Torah of becoming ritually clean again was called “tamay.”

Mikveh

Over the centuries, the process for ritual Jewish baptism became more elaborate as Israel moved from being a wandering collection of tribes to an established nation. When John the Baptist came on the scene, different standards were accepted by most Jewish people. One common idea was that the best way to do it was to completely immerse yourself. How that was to happen, became very systematic as well.

The least desirable form of Jewish baptism was using a pit or cistern with standing water. From there, it progressed to a pit or cistern with rain water collected all the way to fountains or streams of running water. But, ritual purity had also become a very important element of Jewish worship. And in order to have the most consistent and accessible ritual cleansing process, special custom made baptismal fonts, called “mikvot” were developed. These were very common in First Century Israel. Thousands have been excavated throughout the Old City of Jerusalem in the past 100 years. Many of them just outside the entrance to the Temple Mount. The Day of Pentecost took place, right there.

Netilat Yadayim

Another form of ritual washing is called “netilat yadayim.” While it’s different than baptism, it was still very important to the Jewish people. It’s the ritual hand washing that the Pharisees criticized Jesus and His disciples for not practicing. The Pharisees had made this a sign of purity. It showed who was pious, and who wasn’t. Jesus didn’t bite. He criticized this practice because it was another ritual done before others, instead of before God. But like Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount about prayer, charity, and fasting, the act itself isn’t the problem. The heart is.

With John the Baptist and Jesus, and then the Christians after them, baptism took on even more meaning. John the Baptist proclaimed that baptism was the outer sign showing an inner repentance. It wasn’t about entering the Temple ritually clean. It is about a spiritual cleansing of the heart. The New Testament writers began to interpret it as joining with Jesus in His death, burial, and resurrection. A way of dying to self and becoming a new creation. Ritual impurity isn’t the point of Christian baptism. Spiritual impurity and the washing of the blood of the Lamb, is. This is why baptism is so foundational to our faith.