Kingdom Come

“John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God / the Christ, which taketh away the sin of the world. This is he of whom…I come baptizing with water...he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost…the Lamb of God! And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus…We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” (John 1:20-41)

Legalistic Jews and pagans alike understood the meaning and necessity of baptism preached by John the Baptist, Jesus and his Apostles. This makes sense given that all alternative methods of obtaining eternal life must have some basic concepts in common. It is just our dispirited society that has lost the meaning.

The Greek word “baptizo” as used in Mark 1:4 ( “And so John came, baptizing in the desert region . . .” ) was very common among Greek-speaking people; it is used in every period of Greek literature and was applied to a great variety of matters, including the most familiar acts of everyday life. Greek speakers and hearers understood the word at the time John was preaching; it had no doubtful meaning. It meant what we express by the Latin word ‘immerse’…

The practice of baptism in pagan religions seems to have been based on a belief in the purifying properties of water. In ancient Babylon, according to the Tablets of Maklu, water was important as a spiritual cleansing agent in the cult of Enke [Lucifer, see post Seed of the Serpent], lord of Eridu. In Egypt, the Book of Going Forth by Day contains a treatise on the baptism of newborn children, which is performed to purify them of blemishes acquired in the womb. Water, especially the Nile’s cold water, which was believed to have regenerative powers, is used to baptize the dead in a ritual based on the Osiris myth. Egyptian cults also developed the idea of regeneration through water. The bath preceding initiation into the cult of Isis seems to have been more than a simple ritual purification; it was probably intended to represent symbolically the initiate’s death to the life of this world by recalling Osiris’ drowning in the Nile. [Emphasis added.]

In the cult of Cybele, a baptism of blood was practiced in the rite of the Taurobolium: where one was covered with the blood of a bull…A well-known inscription attests that he who has received baptism of blood has received a new birth in eternity. However, the fact that this baptism was repeated periodically shows that the idea of complete spiritual regeneration was not associated with it.

The property of immortality was also associated with baptism in the ancient Greek world. A bath in the sanctuary of Trophonion procured for the initiate a blessed immortality even while in this world. The mystery religions of that period often included ablution rites of either immersion or a washing of the body for the purposes of purification or initiation. Other concepts said to have been associated with these forms of cultic baptisms included the transformation of one’s life, the removal of sins, symbolic representation...a new beginning, spiritual regeneration. It is believed that all ancient religions recognized some form of spiritual cleansing, renewal or initiation that was accomplished through a washing or immersion in water.

The liturgical use of water was common in the Jewish world. The Law of Moses required ablutions (washings)…

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and [implies additional washing besides their bodies] let them wash their clothes,” (Exodus 19:10)

“And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest’s office…Aaron and his sons thou shalt…wash them with water.” (Exodus 29:1-4)

“Thou shalt also make a laver of brass…to wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the congregation and the altar…For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat: When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:” (Exodus 30:18-21)

This can be considered symbolic, but no. Humans in fact create our own future by our actions. A murderer creates his future in prison, a college student creates her future as a leader in society, and mortal actions transcend time and create our immortal spiritual future.

“the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me…To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD…When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting…when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;” (Isaiah 1)

The physical act is clearly an expression of the invisible soul’s state reaching for “sanctification.”

The people who rejected the Egyptian gods and submitted to YHVH under to Moses’ leadership were baptized, even using water.

“brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;” (I Corinthians 10:1-2)

John the Baptist was following Mosaic law and prophetic instructions in his ministry of baptism.

“O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” (Jeremiah 4:14)

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea…he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins…

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees [heretics who despised the Mosaic covenant] come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?…I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” (Matthew 3:1-11)

“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death…Knowing this, that our old [mortal] man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:4-11)

“ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus…as many of you as have been baptized into Christ…There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:26-28)

And this is what saves us. Unity with the source of life. Uniting with Christ Jesus / YHVH’s Chosen Savior unites us with the Creator, the source of all power over body, soul, spirit, life and death.

And this is not a ritual. Baptism must be a public identity, a change from the old to the new, as public as John ministering at the Jordan River and those who stood at the cross – identifying themselves as Enemies of the State.