Water baptism (immersion) was not originally a Christian act. All through the Older Covenant Scriptures, the children of Israel, whenever they would have to come before G-d, would cleanse themselves. The priests had to cleanse themselves, and what they went through was called a mikveh, or a cleansing. A woman went through a mikveh once a month. There are many reasons for a mikveh in Scripture. It was not uncommon for the people of Israel to be immersed in water.
Tevilah: "The act of taking a ritual bath in a mikveh (gathering of water) is called tevilah (immersion). The three types of ritual washing (ablution) mentioned in biblical and talmudic literature are:
1) complete immersion (tevilah) in a natural water-source or in a specially constructed mikveh, prescribed for married women following their periods of menstruation or after childbirth as well as for proselytes (gerim) on being accepted into Judaism;
2) washing of the feet and hands, prescribed for the priests in the Temple service at Jerusalem;
3) washing of the hands (netilah yadayim) before sitting down to a meal and before prayer, upon rising from sleep and after the elimination of bodily wastes, also after being in proximity to a dead human body. Apart from ritual purification, the Jewish people have always regarded bathing and physical cleanliness as implicitly important because, as Hillel taught, the human body reflects the divine image of G-d.
Maimonides finds a symbolical significance in tevilah:
"The person who directs his heart to purify his soul from spiritual impurities, such as iniquitous thoughts and evil notions, becomes clean as soon as he determines in his heart to keep apart from these courses, and bathes his soul in the water of pure knowledge."1
So when John the immerser was down along the river of Jordan and there were multitudes that came down to him, it wasn't unusual that so many of those Judeans had come out of Jerusalem and Judea.
Before you go into the water or mikveh, you should know why you go into the water. You don't go into the mikveh to join a church. You're not sprinkled to join a church. You go into the water as an outward manifestation of an inward work that's happened in your life, a change in your life. That day it was to be for repentance.
"John had been baptising. The next day, John saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, "Look, the lamb of G-d who takes away the sins of the world. This is the one I meant when I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptising (immersing) with water was that He might be revealed to Israel." John 1:2-3
We need to get the picture, almost 2,000 years ago, of John the baptist, (or Yochanan) the immerser, along the river of Jordan, a prophet, one who came in the spirit of Elijah. He was down along the hot desert area of the Jordan. It was a Jewish community that was coming out because only the Jewish community knew anything about a Messiah. It wasn't the Greeks, it wasn't the Romans, nor any other nation, because no other nation had been promised a Messiah. Israel was the chosen nation. Today, we can be thankful that His mercy and grace have been extended to all nations. But until that time, the only people who knew the G-d of Israel, outside of Israel, were those who had become converts or proselytes to Judaism. They were down along the river of Jordan because they knew the prophecies, saw the signs of the time and recognized there was going to be a Messiah (and that he should come at that time).
Let us reflect, why was Yochanan (John) immersing? It was not just a mikveh for a woman at her season. It was not for a man with a skin disease or a running sore. It was not for the high priest at Yom Kippur. In fact it was for something different and special. It was for repentance! It was fulfilling the words of the prophet,
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" Matthew 3:2-3
This was a mikveh for repentance. According to history, in the first century, there were many men who were prophesying and many of those claimed to be the Messiah. Many prophets rose up talking about the coming of Messiah. When John was baptizing (immersing), he said, "The reason I came is that the Messiah might be revealed to Israel." John 1:30 You might think that if you were watching that mikveh along the river of Jordan, and the Messiah came out of the water, you would recognize him as the Messiah. But many did not recognize Yeshua as the Messiah. Many of John's disciples continued as his disciples, but a few of them left John and began to follow Yeshua. There was another baptism (mikveh) that followed and Yeshua and his disciples began to immerse and make more disciples than John. John 4:1 Yet John continued with his disciples; so, we see that not everyone recognizes when G-d makes a move. Even though the Messiah was before all the people who were there, and these were sincere people, honest people who were looking for Messiah, they still didn't see or recognize him.
Then John gave this testimony, "I saw the spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I would not have known him except that the one who sent me to immerse with water told me the man on whom you see the spirit (ruach) come down and remain is he who will baptise with the Holy Spirit (Ruach ha Kodesh). I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God." John 1:32-34 John was testifying and telling that this was the Son of God, this was Yeshua, the Emmanuel (God with us).
In the third chapter, continuing on the theme of water, after Yeshua had entered into his ministry, and he had changed the water into wine, Yeshua began to tell them something strange again and he said, "You must be born again." John 3:3,5 And Nicodemus questioned him. Yeshua replied,
"I tell you the truth -- no one can see the kingdom of G-d unless he is born again." Something has to really happen to a person to see what G-d is doing. It takes something on the inside to change a person's life, to want to live a life that's holy and pure and righteous and reject the world. In the book of Hebrews, it says that Moshe ( Moses) "chose to be mistreated along with the people of G-d rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time." Hebrews 25:2 He made a choice to follow in the righteous way that G-d showed him to lead the people, and we also have to walk in the righteous way G-d shows us.
"How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born." Yeshua answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of G-d unless he is born of water and the spirit." John 3:4
Actually going into the water (mikveh) does not give you birth. But what happens, is something takes place before you go into the water. It's an outward manifestation of something that has taken place in your life. A repentance has taken place and an acknowledgement that you need G-d and have done wrong. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of G-d.
"Flesh gives birth to flesh, and spirit gives birth to spirit." .John 3:5 Part of receiving the Spirit of the Lord (Ruach Ha Kodesh) into your life comes with repentance, acknowledging our sins, changing our ways, and beginning to walk in the ways of righteousness.
In the Encyclopedia Judaica (A Jewish interpretation) listed under sin, we find over 70 word references, but only three major categories for sin: the words "Het", "Pesha", and "Awon" (Avon). In the Tanach the word "Her" (Hata) is found 59 times. "Hata" means to fail. The word "Pesha" is found 136 times. "Psh" means breach. This refers to breaking a covenant, a criminal law, to break peaceful relations between two parties or as sinful behavior between man towards God. Then"there is "Awah" which is found 17 times,, or the root "Awon" - "To wrong", found 229 times, which infers "crookedness"; not upright in conduct, dishonest, as swindler, a deceiver.
So, sin is an act or deed against G-d and His Torah:
(1) by failure,
(2) the breaking of a covenant with G-d or fellow man, or
(3) being crooked by cheating, swindling, dishonesty or being a deceiver in general.
For these transgressions we must repent. The same Encyclopedia Judaica describes repentance as such: "Repentance is a prerequisite for divine forgiveness: G-d will not pardon man unconditionally but waits for him to repent. In repentance, man must experience genuine remorse for the wrong he has committed and then convert his penitential energy into concrete acts. Two substages are discernable in the latter process: first the negative one of ceasing to do evil and then the second, the positive step of doing good. It is a call to return to G-d, or "Teshuvah" (to return). The motion of turning (or returning) implies that sin is not an ineradicable stain but a straying from the path, and that by the effort of turning, (a power G-d has given to all men) the sinner can redirect his (or her) destiny."
The Great King of Israel, David Ha Melech, cried to God for mercy and said,
"Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;... Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, 0 G-d, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." Psalm 51:1-2
This is all a part of being born again. Changing our sinful ways and turning or returning to a righteous G-d with righteous deeds. First we must acknowledge our sins and second, repent and turn from our evil ways and deeds. After that, going though the mikveh or water of separates us from our past. Only then is new birth or rebirth evident by our deeds and actions.
"You should not be surprised at my saying you must be born again. The wind blows wither it pleases, you hear its sound but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." John 3:8
Just as with the wind, you can't see where the Holy Spirit comes from, but you can see the effects of the Holy Spirit in peoples' lives; you can tell if a person really is born of the Spirit by the type of life he or she is living. Therefore, let us press our way forward for the kingdom of heaven is very near.
