Where Does Baptism Come From?
/It only takes a couple pages of reading into the New Testament to see that Baptism isn’t a new concept for the original audience. The gospel writers talk as if we should know all about it. There’s even someone called “John The Baptist.” So where’d this concept come from and why don’t we see it in the Old Testament? Was it, as some say, a product of pagan mystery religions that was adopted into Christianity?
Apparently a lot happened in the 400 years between the Old and New Testament. Who would’ve thought? Two things are clear:
This is a Jewish practice (even the Pharisees seem to be “cool” with it)
The roots of this practice can be traced back to the Old Testament
Let’s examine point 2 real quick!
1. Baptism is foreshadowed by the Jordan River
In Joshua 1:2 the Israelites are to cross the Jordan to get to the promised land
“Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel.
This is an early analogy to baptism – we pass through the water to go to the place God has for us.
In 2 Kings 5:10-12 Elisha ordered Naaman to be washed 7 times in the Jordan river.
So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's house. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.
What’s happening here? Elisha is asking Naaman to submit to an act of faith – of course it’s not the water that heals but it’s God’s power working through the waters as Naaman submits in faith that brings that healing.
So it’s no surprise that when John the Baptist is baptizing in order to prepare the way for the Messiah – he chooses to do so at the very same Jordan River.
2. Baptism is foreshadowed by ritual washing.
In Numbers 31:23 The Israelites purified with water that which could not survive being purified by fire.
everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. Nevertheless, it shall also be purified with the water for impurity. And whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water.
What are humans? We are that which "cannot stand the fire." And so how are we to be purified? We’re to be purified by water and this ritual washing was extended not just to objects but also to humans AND it wasn’t considered an outer cleansing only but was seen and understood as a spiritual, inner cleansing.
In Exodus 40:30-32 Aaron and his sons washed in the bronze basin before going into the Tabernacle so they wouldn’t die. Solomon’s temple also had a “sea” and 10 basins for ceremonial washing.
He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing, with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar, they washed, as the Lord commanded Moses.
In Numbers 8:7-11 The Levites are sprinkled with the water of purification – this was part of a “wave” offering in which the Levites were being given to God – they were set aside to be used by God for God’s purposes.
To purify them, do this: Sprinkle the water of cleansing on them; then have them shave their whole bodies and wash their clothes. And so they will purify themselves. Have them take a young bull with its grain offering of the finest flour mixed with olive oil; then you are to take a second young bull for a sin offering. Bring the Levites to the front of the tent of meeting and assemble the whole Israelite community. You are to bring the Levites before the Lord, and the Israelites are to lay their hands on them. Aaron is to present the Levites before the Lord as a wave offering from the Israelites, so that they may be ready to do the work of the Lord.
In the same way, when we’re baptized we confess that same thing – that we’ve been purchased by God, that we are no longer our own, that we’re dead to self, and that we’re set aside (a holy priesthood) for God’s purposes.
In Psalm 51:2 We see David ask for forgiveness and what he alludes to is the need to be “washed” of his sin.
Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3. Baptism is foreshadowed by The Flood
In 1 Peter 3:20-21 we’re told that the flood was a type of baptism.
to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ..
In the “flood baptism”, the world is cleansed from sin and only a few are saved by the “wood” (Noah’s ark). But in Christian Baptism, Jesus is killed by the wood (the cross) and all who pass through these waters are saved.
4. Baptism is foreshadowed by The Red Sea
In 1 Corinthians 10:1-2 Paul makes it clear that the Israelites became “baptized” as followers of Moses by following the cloud and passing through the Sea:
I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.
In the same way, when we “pass” through the waters of baptism we are signifying our desire to follow Jesus to freedom.
5. Christian Baptism is prophesied about in Ezekiel
In Ezekiel 36:24-27 we’re given a description of something that sounds a lot like Christian Baptism.
“‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.
At first it may seem as if this text is talking about a future baptism that has yet to come (even for us) OR perhaps it is speaking metaphorically when it uses the term "sprinkle". All of this is possible but if we remind ourselves that God’s kingdom is a spiritual one then we begin to understand this passage differently. Remember, the reason the disciples AND the would-be followers of Jesus had such a hard time with Jesus’ ministry was that many expected a political messiah.
It turned out that God had something much more in mind. And so "bringing us back to our own land" may have more to do with bringing us together as a people (more than it has to do with a physical land here on earth. Furthermore, have we not been called out of the nations? Paul says that true Israelites are those that have circumcised the heart – are we not then, true Israelites? Have we been cleansed from our sins and our idols and have we been sprinkled with clean water? Have we been given a new heart? Has a new Spirit been put in us? Has not (as verse 27 says) God’s Spirit been put in us?
An online article from “Jews for Jesus” make this claim:
“The roots of baptism rest deeply and permanently in the soil of these Jewish scriptures and traditions. That is, both baptism and mikveh depict by an outward act the inward transaction of faith; and both declare that only the Holy One has the power to cleanse men’s hearts and lives.”
Baptism appears to come out of nowhere when we begin reading the New Testament but the truth is – it did not catch Jewish people by surprise – nor was a it a pagan practice that Christianity adopted but rather it was rooted in and grew out of the Old Testament.