The Baptism of John from a Jewish Perspective, Part 4

The Baptism of Pagans

In contemporary Judaic religious tradition of the day, those pagans (non-Jewish people), who wished to convert to Judaism would have had to go through a very specific ritual of Baptism. Moreover, this was the very form of baptism that John was using to baptize Jewish people—which is one of the things that made him a Prophet.

In order to understand what John was doing you need a little more background.

The Direction of Judgment

First, the place judgment was considered to be in the direction of East. For example, when Israel was carried away captive to Babylon they went in the direction of East. When Adam & Eve sinned against God and were cast out of the Garden, it was in the direction of East. Going east into captivity is not considered a good thing, while coming Westward and entering into the Land of Promise is considered a very good thing!

The Baptism that John practiced was and is still known as the Baptism of Repentance. However, most Christians think of it as the repentance from sin, but it is more than that—It is repentance from Pagan anti-God practices! Here is how this form of baptism worked:

1.      If a non-Jewish person wanted to follow God, they had to prove their repentance from their pagan ways by going to the East side River Jordan. They would stand on the East side of the river, which represented the Pagan Side of the River, the side without God.

2.      When they were ready, they moved to the center of the river where a priest waited for them. Once in the middle of the river the priest asked them to proclaim all of the pagan things they were renouncing, which included their lifestyle, family, friends and their very name.

3.      Once they completed, the previously the non-Jewish person went through a death and dying experience by being “buried.” The priest would cause them to lie down back-first into the water as a sign of dying to their old life. When they rose up out of the water again they were no longer considered a pagan! They were considered “born” into a new life—one as a member of the Commonwealth of Israel.

4.      Now, risen from the dead, this person with their new life was proclaimed a first generation descendent of Abraham and given a new name, “So-and-so, the Son of Abraham” or “So-and-so, Daughter of Abraham.”

Don’t let go of this last point, it is important for what comes next…

Why is this significant?

Jesus did not need to go through this ritual of conversion from paganism to the religion of Israel, but he did so anyway. When his cousin John protested, Jesus explained, that it had to happen this way:

 13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”

 15 Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented.

 16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 

17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17 (NIV)

As in Genesis 22, God speaks audibly so that those gathered can here and understand the words.

Here are some other important points to consider:

1.      Jesus was sinless. He did not need to go through this Baptism at all, but by humbling himself to doso anyway as a sinless man, it authorized him to take on the role and responsibility of the First Born Son. The Son of Righteousness, who did what was right even to his own hurt (Proverbs 11:19; 2 Peter 1:19).

2.      When Jesus “died” in the River Jordan, he died the death of a Martyr, someone who did not need to die for his own sins and pagan ways, but someone who was righteous dying for the pagan ways of others. Thus spiritually, he was “reborn” into the anointing that would allow him to physically take on the sins of all humanity so that he could physically die and be risen from the dead at a later time. This later death would take place on Mount Moriah (aka: The Temple Mount), where Isaac the son of Abraham was nearly sacrificed.

3.      When Jesus rose up out of the water he was given a new name. We do not know what that name is, only he knows it (Revelation 19:12). What we do know is that he was immediately, according to the tradition given a new name, “So-and-so, The Firstborn Son of Abraham.”

Only this time, Jesus the sinless man in fact became the replacement for Isaac as the first-born son Abraham! By going through the ritual of pagan baptism…

Jesus was literally anointed to die as a righteous man in Isaac’s place. This is why the Spirit of God descended in bodily form and God the Father’s own voice was heard for the first time in the History of the planet. It was a momentous occasion, the Father was, “…well pleased.”

In this baptism, Jesus took on Abraham’s Calling (Hebrews 11:8), and was given Abraham’s inheritance as his first-born son. Specifically: all of those from every nation on earth who believe on Jesus in faith. It might also be of note that Jesus acted with greater faith than Abraham and Isaac in that Jesus allowed himself to die, believing in faith that His Father would raise him up again from the dead! (James 2:23) Thus again, proving himself the righteous first-born heir of God’s Promise to Abraham (Hebrews 6:13, 11:17; Genesis 15).


Next Time, The Baptism of John Fully Exposed...

Top Books

Tov Rose's The Invisible Ingredient

You don’t always know what doors God is going to open! So, I’m coming to you asking for prayer! Michelle and I have had an active, but relaxing summer here in Minnesota. We’ve been spending a lot of time across the parking lot from our small home, that’s where the pool is, and the kids are swimming there about three hours every day. Josiah turned eight years old this coming July, and of course he's having a pool party! You should see his abdominal muscles. We joke that he could put some body builders to shame.

In other news, I’ve been calling churches to schedule speaking engagements for myself, my brother Jason, and my father, Mike. It’s a harder in the summer than at other times, and I’d appreciate your prayer heading into the fall, that God would significantly bless what I’m doing. If your congregation is interesting in having a Jewish follower of Jesus come to speak, please let me know. You can find a short list of my speaking topics here: http://speaking.tovrose.com/

Another major thing I’d like to ask prayer for is an opportunity that we’ve been praying about for many years in partnership with another organization that reaches out to Jewish people with the Gospel.  It looks like I am may be hosting a radio program beginning this fall. There are still many things to discuss before this is final. However, the show would be on a new Christian radio station covering a large portion of the upper mid-west. I wanted to open this up to anyone who would like to give input, would you happen to have any advice? Would you know anyone who might have me on air as a guest? Practice speaking into a microphone with lots of people listening is good!

Author and Radio Hosts, Dr. Michael Brown, Sid Roth and a few others have given me some great things to consider, but I want to hear from you as well. What would you like to hear about on the radio? What kind of guests? Topics?

Finally, after some craziness with hackers things are looking better now for  The New Messianic Version of the Bible. It has been doing very well. I can honestly say that Volume 1 and 3 of the preview editions are Amazon.com Best Sellers, in the Top 20 for Messianic books. Would you please pray that God would continue to bless and prosper these works for His glory?

Your Brother,

-TOV

Top Books

Would You Read This Book? Is it interesting?

• Unlocking secrets in the Bible that have been hidden for centuries, author Tov Rose goes where no author has gone before in bringing an old revelation about God into the 21st Century. 
  
  Using the book of Genesis as practical application, Tov clearly shows which three names of God represent GOD the Father, and which others represent His Son, The Word of GOD. He doesn't stop there, however. 
  
  "I discuss a number of taboo subjects in this book," says Tov, "including some overlooked and ignored issues in Bible scholarship. For example, did you know that the very letters of the Divine Name can be translated into words and the actual vowel markings for the Unspeakable Name can be themselves translated into words? Just imagine what that does for Bible translation!" 
  
  Some of the topics covered in Genesis Unbound include:
  
  

-       How to identify the names of the Living Word of God in the Hebrew Bible

-       What three (3) Names of GOD are only ever used for GOD the Father?

-       The Name of God controversy in the today's Messianic movement

-       Why the Massoretes choose the vowel markings for the Divine Name, and are they of Inspired by God?

-       How do you translate the Hebrew Vowels, and what mysteries does doing so reveal? 

-       Who is the Biblical Abram/Abraham, from his own cultural perspective?

-       What are Hebrew Hieroglyphs and why they are important to modern scholarship and believers? 

-       What is the meaning of the Hebrew word, ET? And Why it is significant to Christians. 

-       What happens when you translate the names of every person, place and thing in the Book of Genesis?

-       Did you know that God said in Genesis that He took Abraham out of “The Fire of the Sorcerers” to bring him to a new land that he and his descendants would live in forever? And that Abraham’s brother’s name means, “burnt one”?

One thing is certain, this book promises to change the way you read and understand your Bible. Top Books

Why Jesus' First Miracle had to have been the First? (And Yes, Jesus Drank Wine)

he Bible makes a very important distinction between "strong drink" and wine. New Wine, especially, is a symbol of the coming of the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament.

I'm not sure where the theological stance comes that says Christians cannot drink wine, and that wine itself is evil. My understanding of Scripture is that you need to read it in context to get the meaning of a verse. At least that is what my seminary teachers and mentors always said, but for some reason when it comes to this Wine issue, the rules seem to go out the window! I don't get it. Jesus was Jewish and he was very much part of his own culture and was even accused of eating and drinking strong drink with sinners. Any honest scholar will tell you that he really was eating and drinking strong drink with sinners! He went to those who needed him and showed himself to be fully human and fully able to engage in all of life's experiences without sinning.

I can understand the caution of some pastors and clergy, trying to protect their members who have addiction problems, but you cannot deny the truth. The truth is this: Jesus drank, all of the priests of Israel were required to drink, Moses drank, Paul commands Timothy to drink -- Wine.

I can give you a little background teaching on how I deal with the issue:

Why did Jesus turn water into WINE? Because it was required to fulfill the Rabbi's traditions! He could not have fulfilled tradition by turning the water into some kind of drink other than wine. By-the-way, all of Jesus' miracles were to fulfill Rabbinic Tradition that stated ONLY Messiah could do these things, so Jesus had to do them to prove himself beyond a shadow of doubt to be Messiah. Here is the tradition concerning the Marriage Wine:

The Rabbis teach that Adam and Eve sinned by eating a fruit from a tree that was similar to a GRAPE. They teach that Adam and Eve sinned just prior to consummating their marriage, and that the "second creation story" isn't about the creation of the world, or of the Garden of Eden, but about the WEDDING of Adam & Eve. Thus it was a seven day wedding.

All formal Orthodox Jewish weddings are Seven Days in commemoration of Adam & Eve's wedding. At every one of those weddings you are required to serve the best WINE first and the worst WINE last, to commemorate the Sin of Adam & Eve.

Further, because Eve was the one through whom the Original sin came in the first place, all of her daughters are required to be ritually bathed each day of the seven day wedding ceremony. She is required to have stone jars filled with water (symbolizing leaking vessels filled with the Spirit of GOD). After each cleansing that day's jar was to be smashed so it could not be used again. However, this did not happen in the New Testament story, the jars were kept whole. However, as is the tradition, the head of the party served the BEST wine first and the WORST wine last, BUT they ran out of WINE too early!

That is the moment where the story in John 2 begins, "And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.

 4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

 5His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

 6And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

 7Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim.

 8And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

 9When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

 10And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

 11This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him."

In other words this is what happened:
Jesus' mother saw an opportunity for Jesus to begin revealing himself to the world, but he knew that it was not time for the full revelation. However, he did do a very important thing. He had the six vessels (representing the cleansing of Eve of the original sin), filled with water (The Holy Spirit), then he turned the water into the BEST WINE, and all were surprised! Because you NEVER give the best wine (the NEW WINE) last!

Jesus with his first miracle used WINE and Rabbinic Tradition to personally reverse original sin...

We are the leaky vessels. We are filled with the Spirit which keeps us cleansed and we look forward to the day when we drink that Passover CUP of the Covenant with Jesus at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, when we drink with Him the New Wine of the Kingdom in the presence of His Father in Heaven.