Why do Old Testament washings, not circumcision, provide the proper framework for understanding Christian baptism? This seminar challenges the common Reformed assumption that circumcision serves as the typological foundation for baptism, arguing instead that the Mosaic washings—particularly priestly consecration and ritual cleansing—point forward to New Testament baptism. The presentation traces how Jesus fulfilled the priestly washing requirement and how believers, as priests under the New Covenant, participate in this symbolic cleansing to approach God's presence. Rather than defending baptism reactively, this approach reclaims the biblical-theological initiative by demonstrating baptism's rich Old Testament foundations.

Baptism in the Old Testament

Opening Prayer

Let us pray. Father, thank you for this good presentation, and thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, that high priest, of a better covenant founded on better promises that afford a better hope. We pray that as we enter into worship now, we would approach you in the spirit of truth, that you would be glorified, that you would be enthroned upon the praise of your people here. And again, bless our brother as he preaches your word. And we ask this through Christ our Lord.

Introduction

I'm going to be standing up as I teach you because I need to work with the PowerPoint this morning. In 2024, I was asked by a pastor in Georgia to spend some time speaking to a young man who was being tempted to go over to infant baptism. And so I spent about an hour with him and was trying to help him to think through some issues. It came to mind that there are many, many people in Baptist churches who struggle with this issue. There's a narrative that if you really want to be reformed, you have to baptize babies.

Some people buy into that and so they end up going in that direction. And so when I met with this young man, and afterwards I was talking to Brent Ward, who's my assistant, we thought that maybe we would have the opportunity to help some of the people in these churches who are thinking along these lines, to develop a seminar that would be useful in the churches and to help people. So we put this together.

It has three sessions. Today we'll only be able to do the first one. The first session is called Baptism in the Old Testament, the second one, Baptism in the New Testament, and then the third session is Why Do We Only Baptize Professing Believers? So you get number one, Baptism in the Old Testament.

We did record this a couple of weeks ago. I was in Cape Coral, Florida. And Founders Press recorded the video, and they're editing it, and hopefully it'll be out sometime soon. So you will be able to see the other sessions. But I hope that this will be helpful for you today.

Taking Back the Home Field Advantage

One of the things that I want to do in the sessions is, I think that as Baptists we have too often allowed our Presbyterian and Reformed brothers and sisters to lay out the playing field for us. They have the home field advantage. I'm a baseball fan and I know that every baseball is different in major leagues and the general manager of each team does his best to provide a team that fits his home park because you play half of your games there. Well I think we've given away the home field advantage and I want to take it back. I want them to answer and respond on our terms. And so that's why this is structured as it is.

In the first session, baptism in the Old Testament, basically I want to take circumcision off the table. I want to argue that circumcision is not, doesn't have anything to do with baptism itself. Now that's one of the major arguments that our brothers will use. But I want to take it off the table and I want to say no, we need to think about baptism in the Old Testament in very different ways, and that's what this session is about. So here we go. I do want to stop this and say, let's remember what we have in common with our pedobaptist brothers and sisters.

There's 12 things that I have here. Our triune God, Jesus Christ, our Lord, the blessed Holy Spirit, the Holy Scriptures, the gospel of God's grace, saving faith, the forgiveness of sins, freedom in Christ, the church of Jesus Christ, the return of Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life.

We have these things in common. This is an intramural discussion. Let's not unchurch Presbyterian and Reformed brothers and sisters. Let's recognize that they are with us in Christ. So this is a disagreement within the family. not a disagreement outside the family, and it's really important for us to keep that in mind.

We need to show respect to them in the same way that I hope that they would show respect to us. So as I work my way through all of this material, I do so with a great appreciation for our Presbyterian and Reformed brothers and sisters. We have their books on our shelves. We've profited from their ministries. Let's not give that up. Let's recognize that fact, but admit that we have a difference of opinion here. All right.

New Testament Pointers to Old Testament Washings

So, baptism in the Old Testament, but I want to start in the New. So if you want to follow along with your Bible, you're welcome to. I have most of these texts on PowerPoint screens. So we start in the book of Hebrews. Now I'm using the ESV in this session, and I've done so for a specific reason. I typically preach from the New King James Version, but I wanted to use the ESV, and almost immediately you'll see why.

In Hebrews 6:1-2, the so-called six principles, we read this in verse two. Therefore, let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God and of instruction about washings, and notice that there's a little footnote there, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. Those are the six principles. Now they the ESV translation here instruction about washings in some of the older editions of the ESV they don't have the footnote but if you have a newer one or you're looking at a newer one this is what you see in the footnote.

The footnote says or baptisms, that is cleansing rites. Now it's interesting that the ESV has that alternative translation. Laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God and baptisms. And then the given interpretation, cleansing rites.

The book of Hebrews is one of the best commentaries on the Old Testament law, the law of Moses. It is full of references backwards to what Moses wrote in the Torah, the Pentateuch, the first five books. And so the writer here is picking up language from the Old Testament that talks about washings, and that's where I want to go. We have another later on in Hebrews 9:10, which says this, according to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink, various washings, regulations for the body and the time of reformation. These pointers should make us begin to think about the Old Testament. What does the Old Testament say about water and the application of water to the body?

Because that's effectively what baptism is. We have another text in the Gospel of Mark. There's actually a parallel in Matthew 15, but we read this in Mark 7:4, speaking about the scribes and the Pharisees. When they come from the marketplace, They do not eat unless they wash and notice there's another footnote and there are many other traditions that they observe such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches and you won't be surprised that the footnote says Greek unless they baptize. They do not eat unless they baptize.

Now here we have several indications in the New Testament that at least make us think about the Old, make us think about the washings in the Old Testament. That's all that these things are doing, are pointing us backwards. Well, I want to try to build a biblical theology of the washings and demonstrate that they are the Old Testament type to which baptism is the anti-type. It's not circumcision and baptism, it's the washings of the Old Covenant that point forward to the baptism that we receive when we come to faith in Christ. So this is just a couple of New Testament texts that help us to look backwards. So I want to break this up into two parts, Old Testament washings or baptisms, being a little bold in saying that.

Old Testament Washings for Priests

And the first one is for the priests. So Old Testament washings for the priests. Now we need to begin with Aaron and his sons. In Exodus 29, the Lord gives instruction to Moses for how the priests, Aaron and his sons, will be consecrated. for their priestly office. They're not just appointed and they go serve, but there's a ritual through which they must proceed in order to be able to serve as priests in the tabernacle of God. Not exactly, but maybe this is the type of ordination in the New Testament. What do we read in Exodus 29? Now this is what you shall do to them to consecrate them that they may serve me as priests.

Take one bull of the herd and two rams without blemish, and unleavened bread, unleavened cakes mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers smeared with oil. You shall make them a fine wheat flour." So we have, we're preparing for an animal sacrifice and a grain sacrifice at this point. You shall put them in one basket and bring them in the basket, and bring the bull and the two rams.

You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting. kind of washing. Now we have a lot more information we're going to see in a few moments, but you understand what's going on here. Prior to being priests, there's a ritual and part of that ritual is washing. You bring them to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water.

In the next chapter, Exodus 30:18-21, The Lord said to Moses, you shall also make a basin of bronze with a stand for bronze for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it with which Aaron and his son shall wash their hands and their feet. Now this is the instruction that God gives to Moses in the building of the tabernacle. And part of that instruction is to have this basin in which Aaron and his sons, the priests, will be able to wash their hands and their feet.

Now this is going to take on some significance in a couple of minutes, but think about hands and feet. What are they? They're the extremities of the body, aren't they? That's the furthest out you can get from the body is your hands, stretching them out like this, or your feet. That's, in a sense, the beginning and the ending of the body. I realize the head is there, too, the torso. But think about it in those terms. Put the hands up, there's top and bottom, hands and feet.

When they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister, to burn a food offering to the Lord, they shall wash with water so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet so that they may not die. It shall be a statute forever to them, even to him and his offspring throughout their generations." Pretty strong words. They must do this, if they don't do this, they will die.

This is part of their responsibility, part of their consecration, but also part of the regular task that they have as they enter into service to God in the tabernacle. Not the temple yet, we'll see that in a few moments, but in the tabernacle here. In Leviticus 8, I want to make sure I'm at the right place here.

The Lord spoke to Moses saying, take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments, and the anointing oil, and the bowl of the sin offering, and the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread. And assemble all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And Moses did as the Lord commanded him, and the congregation was assembled at the Tent of Meeting.

Now, let's try to picture this just for a moment, OK? The Tent of Meeting, it's a portable structure that has been made to carry with Israel on their journey to the Holy Land. So it's not something that is permanent, but it's movable. It's not a big structure. It's small, relatively small. The Lord tells Moses, as part of the consecration ritual, that the whole congregation is to be assembled at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

That's a lot of people maybe you remember last year when the new Pope was chosen They showed pictures when was introduced in Vatican Square on the balcony Probably you've seen it and there's a huge crowd of people that was around there in Vatican Square and down the side streets there and they estimate that there were about 300,000 people there to meet the new Pope we're talking about a four times as big as that gathering together I asked simple questions like How did the guy on the back row hear whatever Moses said? But they're all together together because this is a very somber and sober moment for the people of Israel. And Moses said to the congregation, this is the thing that the Lord has commanded to be done.

And Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. Okay, so there's this washing as they're entering into their office to serve in the tabernacle. And he put the coat on him, and tied the sash around his waist, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him, and tied the skillfully woven band of the ephod around him, binding it to him with the band. And he placed the breast piece on him, and in the breast piece, he put the urim and the thummim. And he set the turban on his head, and on the turban in front, he set the golden plate, the holy crown, as the Lord commanded Moses. Now, Kylan Dalich, this is a well-regarded commentary series on the Old Testament. And this is their comment on this text, which I find very helpful.

They say, Moses brought Aaron and his sons and washed them with water. that has directed them to wash themselves, no doubt all over, and not merely their hands and feet." Remember what I said about the hands and feet being the extremities of the body? You wash everything in between. So that's the point that they're making. What I have here in red could almost be a definition of baptism in the New Testament.

This cleansing from bodily uncleanness was a symbol of the putting away of the filth of sin. The washing of the body, therefore, was a symbol of spiritual cleansing without which no one could draw near to God, and least of all, those who were to perform the duties of reconciliation. Well, I think that these two German pedo-baptist commentators got it exactly right at this point, that that was the point of the washing. It was a washing that was done all over and it symbolized putting away of sin and a preparation to draw near to God in priestly office.

Now we move forward very quickly to the temple that Solomon built and we can read in 2nd Chronicles 4 some of the preparation that Solomon made for the temple. Solomon made an altar of bronze, 20 cubits, About 30 feet or 10 meters long, 20 cubits wide, and 10 cubits or 15 feet high, so what's that about?

Five meters. I'm not a metric system guy, and I have to do these things on the fly, and I could probably get them wrong, but you get the idea. Then he made the sea of cast metal. It was round, 10 cubits, so about 15 feet across from brim to brim, five meters, five cubits high, seven and a half feet, now I'm about 5'10", so add another 18 inches to me, way up here, that's how tall it would be, and a line of 30 cubits, 44 feet, whatever that is in meters, measured at circumference.

Under it were figures of gourds for 10 cubits, encompassing the sea all around. The gourds were in two rows, cast with it when it was cast. It stood on 12 oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east. The sea was set on them, and all their rear parts were inward." So this is a description where we're meant to have some sense in our mind of the size of this and also its beauty as it's made of bronze for the service of the temple that Solomon is building. And then, here we go.

Its thickness was a hand breadth. That's an ancient measurement that was typically from the bottom of your palm to the tip of your middle finger, roughly a hand breadth, so not precise. And its brim was like the brim of a cup, like the flower of a lily.

It contained 3,000 baths, or 18,000 gallons, or lots of liters. He also made ten basins in which to wash and set five on the south side and five on the north side. In these they were to rinse off what was used for the burnt offerings and the sea was for the priests to wash in.

Now, this is a huge vessel that has been made, right? You don't make something that big to dip your hands in and to sit on the edge and put your feet in. This was made so that they would go all the way in and wash themselves here. Finally, there's a means by which the priests are able to wash their whole body more easily than they would have with the tabernacle. So Solomon makes this and the priests are to wash in it, all right? So we have this this idea in the Old Testament, it's not just an idea, this practice of consecration ritual for the priest prior to entering into their office.

Why Was Jesus Baptized?

So I wanna move forward, I realize how quickly we're moving, but I wanna ask the question, why was Jesus baptized? Okay. Why was Jesus baptized? Let's think about this. He's still, he's born under the law of Moses, He's subject to all of the requirements of the law of Moses. We know that that's the case.

Paul says in Galatians 4:4 that he was born under the law. It was necessary for him to observe all of the stipulations of the law of Moses.

What do we find in Matthew 3:13-17? Now I know you can already answer that question, but this is what it says. Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him saying, I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me. But Jesus answered him, let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he consented.

Now I know that if I had asked the question, put it on a quiz or something, why was Jesus baptized? That would be your answer, to fulfill all righteousness. But the next question I ask then is, what does that mean? What does that mean? And that's where you find a lot of differences in many times what to say in order to understand what it means to fulfill all righteousness. Well, I want to suggest to you that what we read next in Matthew's gospel helps us to understand what it means that he was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. Remember, he had no sin. He wasn't entering into church membership. There's something unique about his baptism.

What do we find? I definitely have to get new batteries. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Son of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him. And behold, a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Now this ought to give us all righteousness. entering into a public priestly ministry. in his action as he gave himself to this.

Think about other texts that we find. Oh, this is interesting. I don't have them here. Typically, there should be a slide right here. I guess this is an older set that I sent. Psalm 110:1, the Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. Psalm 2, this is my son, today I have begotten you.

Hebrews 5 uses the language that we find in Matthew chapter 3. All of this focuses our attention on the fact that this was Jesus' public introduction to the people of Israel to serve as a priest. Prior to this, he was unknown to them. But John the Baptist was the one who had the privilege of introducing him to the nation and introducing him as prophet, priest, and king. This is a very important moment.

Jesus' baptism is not because he had to repent of anything, not because he was a sinner. It was atypical for John the Baptist's baptism, but it was important that he fulfill all righteousness in order to enter into his priesthood. So the Lord Jesus is baptized because now, publicly, he's beginning the process of walking towards Calvary so that he will offer himself as a priest for our sins. That's why he was baptized.

Why Are Believers Baptized?

And the next question I ask then, well, why are believers to be baptized?

Well, I said earlier that the book of Hebrews is full of allusions to the law of Moses and the requirements of the law of Moses. What do we find in a place like Hebrews 10:19,22? Having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus. That's us. We're priests now. We can enter into the very presence of God. We do that privately and personally when we pray to him. We do it publicly when we gather together, as we will in a few moments in the sanctuary here when we come together to worship. We do so boldly because the way has been opened. That's what priests do. We are priests before God. Having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Now that's baptism.

One of the things that we have to be careful not to do is fall prey to what's called the word-concept fallacy. The word-concept fallacy says something like this. If a word is not present in the context, then the idea of that word is also not present in the context. That's a fallacy, because there are terms that are synonymous, various terms that can be used to describe the same thing.

And that's what we have here, a washing in water. Our bodies are washed with water. Our hearts have been sprinkled from an evil conscience, that's the work of the Holy Spirit in regeneration, in applying to us the blood of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, and our bodies washed with pure water is the outward symbol in which we are able to approach unto God. Now we have to be really careful.

Because we never, ever, ever want to undermine the doctrine of justification by faith alone. I'm not arguing in any way, shape, or form that baptism is a necessity to salvation. to go through baptism in the New Testament, the second session, where I deal with this much more at length. We want to be careful not to violate the principle of justification by faith alone. But at the same time, I think sometimes we undermine or undervalue baptism and don't recognize how important it is.

It is one of those ceremonies, along with the Lord's Supper, that the Lord has given to us, commanded to us, that symbolizes who we are. We are priests to God. and we have a washing that we are to enter into so that we might be able to worship the Lord our God.

That's the typology that we have in the Old Testament. So believers are to be baptized because we are priests to God and can enter in. I think at the end of this, I've got some verses from 1 Peter, where Peter talks about the fact that we are priests to God. And so the ritual of the old covenant is carried over into the new covenant in terms of the symbolism of baptism. It sets us apart as priests to God. Now please, I'm not at all implying that our Reformed and Presbyterian brethren can't enter into the presence of God.

But I am saying that this is what the New Testament teaches us about baptism. And it's the means by which we are able to come before him. One of the things I want to do in these seminars is to raise our appreciation for baptism. I think sometimes we treat it like a ritual. Well, let's just get by it.

But it's actually a very meaningful ritual, where we've only in the last 20 years maybe recovered something of the wonder and the beauty of the Lord's Supper. I think we need to recover something of the wonder and beauty of baptism as well, and not be afraid as Baptists. A lot of times, maybe we've overreacted to the groups that argue that Applying water to the body puts grace into the soul. The Campbellites, the Church of Christ, who argue that baptism regenerates.

No, we deny that wholeheartedly. Baptism is a means by which we are able to testify to the fact that the Spirit of God has changed us. That's what it is. But it is something that God has given to us so that we might enter into his presence.

Old Testament Washings for Cleansing

Let's keep going. Old Testament washings or baptisms for cleansing, because there's another way that these things are presented to us in the Old Testament for cleansing.

Again, I go to the same text, Hebrews 10:22. Let us draw near with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. And it is the day of atonement that is behind this. Once again, we wanna look back into the Old Testament and think through what is present in the Old Covenant, what is present in the writings of the Old Testament that gives us information and helps us to see the richness and the beauty of what baptism is, and it is the Day of Atonement that's behind this, all right? So follow along with me. Leviticus 16, couple of texts.

On the Day of Atonement, Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house, an animal offering. Thus he shall make atonement for the holy place because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.

Everything on Earth is, in one sense, unclean and requires sacrifice in order for it to be acceptable in the worship of God, everything. In Numbers 19, on the day of atonement, than a man who is clean. Now what that means is ritually clean. There's not anything that has in his life or that he is that disqualifies him from the worship of God. Under the old covenant, there was, and we will see in a few moments, a vast number of actions that you could take, not even necessarily sinful actions, actions that could come into your life that would make you ritually unclean. They would make you to be in such a state that you could not come to the worship of God until these things had been remedied.

So when it speaks about a clean person, it's speaking about one who has gone through the rituals and is pronounced according to the law of Moses to be clean, able to enter into the worship of God. that a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, the heifer is the beast that has been slain and burned, and store them outside the camp in a clean place, and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification. It is for purifying from sin.

One of my friends, early last year when I was presenting this in Virginia, came to me afterwards and he noted something, you probably know this, I didn't know it. But he said that when you take ashes and you add water to the ashes, you get a mixture that's called lye, a very primitive soap. That's exactly what's happening here. You get, now it's not called that in the Law of Moses, but that is effectively what you have is a kind of soap.

It's a purifying soap, purifying for sin. For the unclean, they shall take some ashes of the burnt sin offering, and fresh water shall be added in a vessel. Then a clean person, again remembering what we know about a clean person, what that means, 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 whoever touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave. Now remember what I said a few moments ago, this is not just sinful actions that make you ritually unclean. If you touch a dead body, by touching the dead body you are ritually unclean.

Now what happened to Israel as they wandered in the wilderness? The whole generation that was 20 years old and above died in the wilderness. You would be, you would be, if you were one of them, you would be on a regular basis seeing or touching a dead body. And by doing so, you would be unclean.

So this is a ritual that everyone had to proceed through to be ritually clean. Whoever does this, and that's not a sinful action. When somebody dies, you have to bury them. You have to take care of their bodies. So that's what's going on here. The clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day. Thus, on the seventh day, he shall cleanse him. And he shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water. And at evening, he shall be clean.

Now, it's not the bathing that brings cleansing, that ends the ritual. It's part of the ritual. In the Hebrew, the Jewish system, the day ends and begins at sundown. So today, eight o'clock maybe tonight, the sun will go down. That'll be the end of Sunday and the beginning of Monday. That's how they would think. So you wait until the end of the day, that is until sundown, having followed the rest of the ritual, and then you are clean. You are able to once again enter into the worship of God in this way. But what is significant is that this person must bathe himself in water. This is part of the cleansing ritual. If a man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord.

Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean, and it shall be a statute forever to them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening. One of the realities of this ritual is that touching something that is clean doesn't make you clean. It actually makes the clean thing unclean. Uncleanliness can be transferred, but cleanliness cannot be transferred.

You have to go through a ritual in order to do that. And that's what's being described to us. So you go through this ritual, you wait until sundown, and then you are clean. William White, he's still alive. He's elderly now. I guess so am I. He was affiliated with Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. And he's got some very helpful comments here. He says this, as with most ancient peoples, the Jews did not transport water for bathing with the exception of the upper class.

Second Samuel 11:2 is Bathsheba, when David looks out and lusts after her.

He sees her bathing. However, in the course of time, bathing pools were built in most villages. Although a certain hygienic quality must have been understood, right, look, your hands are dirty, you're out in the garden working, your hands are dirty, you put them in water, what happens? The dirt comes off, doesn't it?

So there's, that's common sense. But, he says, although a certain hygienic quality must have been understood, the main purpose was ritual. In the main, ancient peoples had little or no comprehension of the germ theory of disease. Yet most cultic rituals, don't be troubled by that word, it just means worship rituals, rituals of religion. Yet most cultic rituals involve some form of lavation or sprinkling. Lavation means cleansing in water. So he's making a really important point. Ancient peoples didn't think about germs being spread. We know that you cover your mouth when you cough or when you sneeze. You don't shake hands with people when they're ill. That's how we transfer germs. They didn't understand that. For them, washing was a ritual thing. It was a religious action that you took.

He goes on, the ritual use of washing throughout the Old Testament represented cleansing from the moral implications of an action. Really important statement. Washing represents the cleansing from the moral implications of an action. Whatever you did, by washing, you are cleansed from that action.

An elaborate custom and form grew up around the practice so that to wash another was a sign of humility. To appear washed was a sign of joy and well-being. Genesis 43, that's Joseph when he reveals himself to his brothers. while to appear unkempt was a sign of public mourning. That's sackcloth and ashes type of idea is what you have there.

Water bathing was used frequently as a sign also of separation so that the infant was washed at birth, Ezekiel 16:4, the body at death, that's Dorcas, in Acts 9, and the animal before shearing, Song of Solomon 4:2.

The use of baptism, a specific type of washing or bathing as a sign of the covenant, was of great importance in the Old Testament. This aspect carries over into the New Testament practice. Notice the language there. A specific type of washing or bathing as a sign of the covenant, the old covenant, Part of the requirements of God, this was of great importance in the Old Testament, as we'll see in a few moments. If you were an observant Jew, when you read that language, you took seriously your religion, and you followed the practices as they were prescribed in the Law of Moses. If you were an observant Jew, you would have been bathing on a regular basis. This is a necessity. It's not a one-time thing, it's an over and over again thing. And it was very important as part of the Old Covenant. and White asserts to us this aspect carries over into the New Testament. He goes on.

A large variety of Greek terms are used to translate the Hebrew notion in the LXX. That's academic shorthand for the Greek translations of the Hebrew Old Testament. It's often pronounced Septuagint. It's the Roman numerals for 70. And the story is that 70 Jewish scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, so the Septuagint,

A large variety of Greek terms are used to translate the Hebrew notion in the Septuagint, and some of these pass into the New Testament usage and vocabulary.

Bathing as such is not mentioned in the New Testament, but washing, both hygienic and ritual, plays an important place in the Lord's teaching. Now, the Lord's teaching obviously means in the Gospels, but it means more than that. It means the New Testament, OK? Obviously plays an important place. A large, OK. Jesus forbade the unkempt appearance commonly affected during religious fasts and encouraged a secret contrition in its place. Don't call attention to yourself when you're fasting. Go privately into a closet and pray and fast. The washing of hands before meals was widely practiced among the Jews as an observance of the Old Testament law.

Matthew 15:2, that's the parallel to Mark 7:4 that we saw earlier at the beginning, just parallel text.

And this was governed by complex additions to the Levitical code as seen in the DSS, the Dead Sea Scrolls. Let me talk about the Dead Sea Scrolls. you perhaps know about them. The story goes like this. In the 1940s, a Bedouin shepherd was tending his flock at the north end of the Dead Sea and there are bluffs right next to the Dead Sea and there are caves up there. And the shepherd saw the caves and was curious like most boys would be. He took a stone and threw it into the cave. I mean, that's what we do, right? Boys do that. You want to break a window or something?

He threw the stone into the cave and he heard something break. He climbed up to see what it was, and there was a ceramic jar of some kind that contained scrolls. And he took these scrolls into Jerusalem with them. They found out that the story of these scrolls, many other caves then were explored. There were many, many, many scrolls that were found.

These belonged to a sect probably known as the Aeneans, who Now, that sentimentalist is a term from 1921. It's a modern term. Just over 100 years ago, that term was coined by the editor of a Baptist newspaper in New York City, Curtis Lee Laws. It's called The Watchman Examiner. So I'm using it anachronistically, out of time.

They were very strict observers of the law of Moses and very orthodox in their beliefs. Now, the temple in Jerusalem was controlled by the Sadducees. The priestly family in Jerusalem who were in charge of the high priests and the priests were Sadducees. And what do we know about Sadducees?

They denied the resurrection. Let me use another out of time and anachronistic term. They were theological liberals. And fundamentalists don't like liberals. I'm using modern terms to try to make sense of this. So the Essenes are like modern fundamentalists. Those in charge of the temple are like theological liberals. The Essenes go off and they live in a communal group near the Dead Sea, out in the desert. and they recorded these scrolls and put them into ceramic pots and stored them. This is one of the best places on earth to store documents. They didn't know this, that they would last for 1,900 years. But it's so dry so climate controlled that they didn't degrade. Some of them did, but they were kept.

The scroll of the prophet Isaiah is virtually complete. There's a lot of scrolls that deal with the ins and outs of daily life among the Essenes. Not biblical commentary, but sort of the restrictions and the laws of the Essenes. But it's a rich, rich treasure of material. So this was found since the 1940s. The excavations of both Qumran, Qumran is where the scrolls were found, and then Masada. Have any of you ever been to Masada? Anybody? Masada is an incredible place.

It is a mesa immediately next to the Dead Sea, just a couple of hundred meters away from the Dead Sea. You're down in the lowest place on earth. And right next to it is this huge mountain. Now, the top of it is approximately sea level. So it wouldn't be Mount Baker. But when you're down 1,800 feet or so below sea level, it looks huge. It's a diamond-shaped mesa.

And historically, there was only one way up there, what they called the Snake Path. And it became a refuge for the Jews. In AD 70, when the Romans came to destroy and held out against them and they were able for a long time to defend themselves because all that you had was the snake path and the snake path was maybe four or five men at a time could come up and if you're up above you can throw down stones and you can drive away your army. So what the Romans had to do was build a siege ramp on the other side of the Mesa and bring all their engines up. The story goes that when they got to the top they found that all of the 900 were Others say that there were men appointed to kill them all, but they would not submit to Rome. of great historical meaning to Israelites. A lot of military ceremonies are held up there on top of Masada. They'll have bar mitzvahs and bat mitzvahs up on top.

It's a place, it's a national park and it's also a world heritage site. It's really an amazing place to go. White is telling us that up there on Masada, which you have to understand it's one of the driest places in the world, they had an incredible system of catching and holding on to water, huge cisterns up there. The excavations of both Qumran and Masada have revealed the remains of what may have been ceremonial washing pools, things that are called mikveh, that's the Hebrew word for this, mikveh. Here's a picture of someone you might recognize standing in one of these mikveh on Masada. Now this, we were there in 2002, I think it was that we were there and had the opportunity to go up and visit Masada. This is fascinating to me.

You know, one of the requirements of the ritual baths is that the water had to be what they called living water. And living water is water that's moving. It can't be still water. It has to be moving water. So here, this doesn't work too well on the screen. Behind me, whoops. OK, behind me is another pool, which would have been the holding pool for the water. And there would have been a drain between them. And the drain would have been opened, and the water would come through. And it would then be living water, and they could take their ritual bath in this. There's a fascinating story.

The archaeologist in the early 1960s who worked on Masada was probably the most important archaeologist in Israel. His name was Yigal Yadin. And he tells the story as they were working on digging out everything up on top, they came upon one of these pools.

It wasn't this one, it was another one. But they thought that it was, they had discovered an ancient mikveh from the first century. Word get out to Jerusalem. And so one of the most important Orthodox rabbis who heard this word decided that he wanted to see the mikveh.

And so Yadin tells the story how this man came with his retinue. Masada is in the desert. It's a very hot place. But this man came with his retinue, all dressed in his black robes, and they're all dressed in their walked up the snake path all the way to the top of Masada, was offered some refreshment when he came to the top. He said, no, I want to see this.

So they took him to what they thought was a mikveh, and they watched anxiously as he measured. There were specific laws with regard to the depth. and the length, how much water it could hold, etc. So he was down there, he was doing all his measurements, and his disciples are watching him, and the archaeologists are watching him, and finally he looked Because up until then, I don't know that any of these mikveh had been found in Israel. Today, there are many, many of them. In fact, most of the villages that have been found, discovered, the archaeologists have gone to, they found these mikvehs.

It's the size of a baptistry, is what it is. And you were to go into this, and you do your washing, and you come on out. I remember the day that we took this picture, young lady brought my wife and I and our daughter up there and we stood there and I said, do you know the significance of this? And they said, no, what is it? So I explained to them what it was all about and then they said, get in it. And took my picture and I'm glad that they did because it's a good example of what the mikveh is all about.

Old Testament Washings and Impurity

All right, Old Testament washings and impurity. What do we find in Leviticus 15?

If a man has an emission of semen, he shall bathe his whole body in water and be unclean until the evening, and every garment and every skin on which the semen comes shall be washed with water and be unclean until the evening. If a man lies with a woman and has an emission of semen, both of them shall bathe themselves in water and be unclean until the evening.

Don't read this as simply a description of fornication. This is just as much a description of husband and wife is what this is about. Think about it in those terms. This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen being unclean thereby. Also for her who is unwell with her menstrual impurity. That is for anyone, male or female, who has a discharge and for the man who lies with a woman who is unclean. That's the law, you're unclean. And so part of the ritual to be clean, pardon me, for regular things of life, is that you have to have a cleansing bath. You have to go to the mikvah in order to be cleansed, a ritual bath.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Do not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

But such were some of you, but you were washed you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. First, we have justification, the last thing. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the first thing. Second thing, you were sanctified, you were made holy. as indeed a saint. You know from reading the epistles how often the churches are greeted to the saints in fill in the blank. That's who we are, we are saints. So that's what Paul is saying here.

He's not saying that the washing is the means of sanctification and justification. We shouldn't be troubled by the fact that the Bible doesn't always put things in the same order that we do. God willing, we'll talk about this this evening when I preach on the benediction in 2 Corinthians 13. We don't have to be fussy about the order of things.

We just have to think through what those things are and what their implications are. And that's what we have in this case. All right, Errol Hulse, great South African Reformed Baptist who spent most of his time in England, commenting on this text. Let us remember to whom this applies.

Not infants, but former adulterers, homosexuals, thieves, gluttons, and blasphemers. You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified. That's who. Old Testament washings were a part of priestly consecration. First Peter 2:9. You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession. You are a priest to God. And you have a washing. Washing symbolized cleansing from sin, same text. You are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Old Testament washings point to New Testament baptism of believers.

Why One Baptism Instead of Repeated Washings?

Now there's a question that I'd like to ask and answer right at this point. I think it's a really good question. It deserves some time.

Why is it that under the Old Covenant you would be washing on a regular basis? You'd be going to the mikvah regularly, and yet we only have one baptism. Why is that? I think that that's a reasonable question, but I think that there's a reasonable answer, and the reasonable answer is this.

In the same way that we don't offer daily sacrifices, that our elders in our churches don't offer up regular sacrifices to God, because we have one sacrifice, we have one washing, and that one washing commemorates our commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not necessary for us to be, baptized over and over again, because we have that one opportunity in which we profess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Now, that leads me in the next session, which I won't be able to do, to talk about the way that the New Testament picks up these themes. What are the symbols of baptism, or what does baptism symbolize for us? And then I work my way through especially the notion of confession of faith and the relationship of baptism to confession. And at the end, I deal with Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-12. And I argue that the confession that Timothy made before many witnesses in his baptism, that that's the place where he was able to confess his faith that Jesus Christ is Lord. But we can't do that.

Questions and Discussion

Now, we have five minutes. Anybody want to make a comment or ask any questions about this material? I realize it's very quick to run through. I'd be happy to have a discussion with you. Yes. Just a comment. Just sharing some things from my study of baptism. I came from a Paedo-Baptist background. And I was actually preaching for a while. And once, as I studied the topic, I wrote a sermon.

The outline of that sermon was that Baptism pictures the washing that we all need. It's the washing required by the law, promised by the prophets, thinking of the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and then also the washing provided by the Lord Jesus Christ. So in that sense, there's a connection between the outward symbolism of of water baptism pointing to what happens in the washing of regeneration when we are born again.

Yeah, Titus 3:5, the washing of regeneration, which doesn't mean that baptism regenerates us, but it's the washing affiliated or associated with regeneration, which is baptism.

Yeah, very good. What is the practical implication of being a priesthood? Is it that we now have access to God not needing a successor besides Christ? That's primarily what it's about, yeah, that we have that access. Now, I think we have to be careful because Old Testament saints did have access to God. When you find David praying, the Lord hears David's prayer.

But John Owen says that he's commenting on the words in the book of Hebrews that speak about our boldly going before the throne of grace he says that's one of the primary blessings that belong to us in the new covenant is a kind of boldness you know symbolically under the old covenant you were kept at a distance only the high priest once a year could go into the holy of holies and then moving away the priest could get close then the men could be close then the women could could be further away, and then finally the Gentiles further away, now all of us are able to enter in. I like to say I'm a Gentile of the Gentiles, because all of my ancestors were from Northern Europe. I don't have any of the blood of Abraham flowing through my veins, and yet I can come boldly to the throne of grace. If I had lived under the Old Covenant, I would have been kept at the most distant place from the dwelling place of God on earth.

Brother, Would you say our Pentecostal brethren would also have a different understanding of what the Washings would have included in the Old Testament, like in the ads? And Peter, would some of them also say, no, that was a poor understanding? What would Baptists say about those things? Pentecostal brethren.

Yeah. I'm not sure what they would say. My analogy at the beginning about wanting take the home field advantage. This material has. I think that they've really thought about it. In fact, I'll say this. A couple of years ago, I was asked to participate in a public discussion with Chad Van Dixon, a good friend. I really love Chad a lot. OPC minister, well-known Presbyterian academic. And I said to him at one point in the discussion, and I'm sure that it's on tape. I'm sure it's recorded. So I'm not giving away any secrets. I said, Chad. We've read all of your books. We've read all the pedo-baptist books. My sense is that you pedo-baptists have not read our books." And he said, that's a fair assessment. I'm sure that they deal with it in some way.

We need to get some material out there and talk about this more. Does it make sense? Am I making sense? I hope so. It's 10.30. I'll close with a prayer. So in your email, you have President of IRBS, and then underneath that, it should say Gentile of the Gentiles. I appreciate that. Thank you very much.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray.

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