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Instruction about baptisms, part 1

Hebrews 6:2 continues the list about the milk of the word that everyone ought to know:

² of instruction about washings [baptismos, “baptisms”] and of laying on of hands, and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

The Greek word baptismos, here translated “washings,” means “washing, a purification effected by means of water.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g909/nasb95/mgnt/0-1/

The word itself does not convey the mode of baptism, whether by immersion or sprinkling. The claim that it means “dip” or “immerse” is based on the Greek definition of the term, without regard to long-standing Hebrew practice. Unfortunately, it seems that most Christians are unaware that baptism was not invented by John the Baptist but had been instituted by Moses.

Old Covenant Baptism

The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament that was begun in 280 B.C. By the time of Christ it had become the standard lexicon of Hebrew-Greek equivalents. The rabbis who put together the Septuagint used the nearest Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word, even if the Greeks defined their own word in a different way. So the Greek term baptismos must be interpreted by its Hebrew definition and usage in the law of Moses.

We read in Hebrews 9:10,

¹⁰ since they relate only to food and drink and various washings [baptismos], regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation.

The context shows that these “washings” dated back to the time of Moses. Hebrews 9:13 continues,

¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ… cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The author of Hebrews recognized that the “washings” in the law—Old Testament baptisms—were normally administered by “sprinkling,” not by immersion. In the particular case of the ashes of the red heifer (Numbers 19:1-10), there is no specific manner of application advocated. It speaks only about the priest who gathered up the ashes to deposit them outside the camp. That priest was to wash his clothes (Numbers 19:7, 10).

This chapter then goes on to give other examples where purification was necessary. In each case the ashes of the red heifer were mixed with water and sprinkled upon the unclean person. Numbers 19:17, 18 says,

¹⁷ Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and flowing water shall be added to them in a vessel. ¹⁸ A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent and on all the furnishings and on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one slain or the one dying naturally or the grave.

It is clear that this was one of the “washings” practiced under Moses and that it was administered by sprinkling, even as stated in Hebrews 9:13. In those days, such cleansing ceremonies were “imposed until a time of reformation” (Hebrews 9:10). Under the New Covenant, such washings were no longer necessary, because there was a change in the law (Hebrews 7:12).

New Covenant Baptism

The principle of cleansing remained intact, along with all of the other laws that were changed, but the manner of cleansing was altered. Christian baptism with water is the only remnant of Old Testament baptism that was retained. Beyond that, we are now cleansed by the word of God, as Jesus said in John 15:3,

³ You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

Again, we read in Ephesians 5:25, 26,

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, ²⁶ so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.

Water is a type and shadow of the word itself. Baptismal water has no magical qualities by which men are automatically cleansed. Not everyone who is baptized with water is actually cleansed in the sight of God. True cleansing comes by means of the truth of the word if we believe (or have true faith). Nonetheless, those who exhibit genuine faith are instructed to be baptized as a public witness to their faith.

Cleansing Lepers

In Leviticus 14:1-7 we see another example where Old Covenant baptism was required. Any leper that was healed by God had to be inspected by a priest to see if he had been truly healed. If so, he was to take two birds, kill one of them over running water, and then smear the second bird with the blood of the first bird and set it free in the open field.

As for the healed leper himself, we read in Leviticus 14:7,

⁷ He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the live bird go free over the open field.

Leprosy is a type and shadow of mortality—a slow death. This principle of law teaches us how to go from mortality to immortality. We must first be healed by God of our leprosy (mortality) through faith in Christ. When examined by a clean “priest” and found to be healed, then that priest may “sprinkle” the faithful one through baptism.

The first bird represents the former leper’s death to the old man of flesh, and the second bird represents his rise to newness of life. Paul describes this further in Romans 6:4, 5,

⁴ Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. ⁵ For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.

Hence, our baptism simulates death and resurrection, as we identify with Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. The law of lepers first represents Christ Himself and secondarily those who identify with Him by faith.

Naaman’s Baptism

In the days of Elisha, the “captain of the army” of Syria named Naaman became a leper (2 Kings 5:1). It happened that he had in his house a slave girl that he had taken captive in one of the battles against Israel. She recommended that he go to Israel to see the prophet Elisha. We read in 2 Kings 5:10,

¹⁰ Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash [rachats] in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean.”

Elisha’s instructions were based on the law of leprosy in Leviticus 14:7, “He shall then sprinkle seven times the one who is to be cleansed from the leprosy” with one curious difference. Naaman was seeking God but had not yet come to the point of actual faith. The law itself did not allow a priest to perform the baptismal ceremony unless the leper had already been healed.

Naaman was angry at first, thinking that the prophet would do some sort of ritual over him, and that he would then require payment for his services (2 Kings 5:5). It was only when he decided to obey the word of the Lord that he exhibited faith. 2 Kings 5:14 then says,

¹⁴ So he went down and dipped [tabal] himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Details are sketchy, so it is hard to say how Naaman was baptized. We only know for sure that Elisha gave him instructions according to the law of leprosy. Was Naaman sprinkled seven times in the Jordan? Did he immerse himself? We only know that he “dipped himself seven times.” The Hebrew word tabal seems to indicate that he was baptized by immersion, contrary to the specific instructions in the law.

In my view, the mode of baptism is of lesser importance than one’s faith. When God sees evidence of faith, He overlooks our ignorance of the law, knowing that we have not yet had time to study and learn the ways of God—or, in this case, the symbolism of sprinkling.

The reason that baptism in the law was administered by sprinkling was to show its heavenly origin. It is the Spirit of God that raises us from the dead (Romans 8:11). A good example of this is seen in Ezekiel 36:25 and 27,

²⁵ Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols… ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

Again, we read in Isaiah 32:15, “Until the Spirit is poured out upon us from on high.”

Joel 2:28 again affirms this:

²⁸ It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind, and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.

When the Holy Spirit is poured out, it shows a heavenly origin coming down to us from above. This is the meaning of sprinkling, for it is only by this way of administration that the water can come down from above, thereby showing its heavenly origin.

How important is this? All things in Scripture have importance, but the example of Naaman shows that faith-obedience is preeminent.

The question for us is how (if at all) the law of “washings” (baptisms) carry over into the New Covenant.