(Immersion)
This is
another study, in a series of foundation studies. Many do not understand the
role of immersion [baptism] as a part of salvation; nor do they understand its
role for the earth. There are two types of immersion and everyone, including the earth, must
undergo both. One is the immersion of water, the repentance of sins, and the
other is of fire, a burning away of everything that is not of YHWH [Yahuweh].
Like everything else, this is not a “New Testament” idea. This is of the Hebrews
and is in the Tanak [OT].
There is a word
in the Hebrew, miqweh (called mikveh in Ashkenaz). It means a gathering or
collection. We see the first miqweh in Bereshiyth [Genesis]
Ritual purification
in the Hebrew is Rachats BaMayim, which means wash in THE waters. THE waters
are the mikwah waters or miqweh waters. This is the ritual purification,
sanctification from uncleanness. Rachats does not mean to wash, as in the
process of cleaning, but of the purification, spiritual cleansing of that which
is unclean, through these clean, sanctified
waters. There is a distinct difference between that which is purified,
clean and that which is defiled, unclean. YHWH desires us to know the
difference and to be righteous as He is righteous. Wayyiqra [Leviticus] 10:10, " 'you
must distinguish between the set-apart and the defiled, between the unclean and
the clean,' " YHWH shows us through His Thorah, the
difference between the two. Though physical Thorah is given for physical
situations, we need to see the intent and revelation that He is teaching us of
the spiritual Thorah, that should be guiding our hearts.
The Hebrew
word for set-apart one/saint is qeddiysh, which comes from qedosh, this means
to be set-apart, ceremonially or morally pronounced clean, consecrated,
sanctified. It is interesting that the Hebrew word for whore(ing) (adultery,
prostitution, whoring) is qadesh, this means idolatry, unclean. A female
prostitute or whore is a qadeshah. We are to be washed clean of all uncleanness and be a qeddiysh [set-apart one], not remain
in uncleanness as a whore.
Before we
can enter into the presence of YHWH, we have to be cleansed/purified. When YHWH
led Yisrael out of Mitsrayim [
There are
certain times that a person becomes defiled by what they do physically, which
is symbolic of something spiritually. If a person commits certain acts, they
were to be cut off from Yisrael, thereby being cut off from YHWH - their
spiritual source. Karath, in the Hebrew, means to cut off, cut down, hewn,
destroyed. Those that do not abide by the beriyth [covenant] of YHWH are to be
cut off from:
·
Yisrael
- (eating leavened bread during the Chag HaMatstsoth [Feast of Unleavened
Bread] - Shemoth [Exodus]
·
cut
off from his people - (makes perfume from the same formula used for the sacred
anointing oil - Shemoth 30:33).
·
his
people - (someone unclean eating meat from the fellowship offering belonging to
YHWH - Wayyiqra [Leviticus]
·
his
people - (eating the fat or blood of an anima l - Wayyiqra
·
his
people - (anyone who does any of the various things listed in Wayyiqra 18, such
as having sex with your relatives (your mother, father’s wife, sister or father
or mother’s daughter, son’s daughter or daughter’s daughter, aunt,
daughter–in-law, sister-in-law, a woman and her daughter or her son’s daughter
or daughter’s daughter, wife’s sister while your wife is still living), having
sex with a woman during her monthly cycle, having sex with your neighbors wife,
sacrificing your children to gods, men having sex together, having sex with an
animal.
·
cut
off from his people - (person who turns mediums and spiritists - Wayyiqra
20:6); presence of YHWH (any Levitical descendant who is cermonially unclean
and comes near set-apart offerings - Wayyiqra 22:3).
·
his
people - (who does not deny himself on Yom HaKiffuriym [Day of Atonements]
Wayyiqra
·
his
people - (for not celebrating Pesach [Passover] if he is ceremonially clean and
not on a journey - BeMidbar [Numbers]
·
his
people - ( “ ‘ “But anyone who sins defiantly, whether native born or Ger
living among you, blasphemes YHWH, and that person must be cut off from his
people. Because he has despised YHWH’s word and broken His commands, that
person must be surely cut off; his guilt remains on him.” ‘ “- BeMidbar
15:30,31).
·
Yisrael
- (touches a dead body and fails to purify himself, thus defiling YHWH’s
mishkan - BeMidbar
All of
these examples are revealed, in what I call “the lists”, in the Letters of
Shaul, Kefa [Peter] and Yahudah [Jude], and also in the book of
Revelations. These lists state who will
not enter the Malkuwth [Kingdom of] YHWH.
I have listed these in the study of “Those who will not enter the
This
washing in a miqweh was not just for people, but also of the things taken in
battle, from the Goyim [gentiles, nations]. BeMidbar [Numbers] 31:20-24, " 'purify every garment as well as everything
made of leather, goat hair or wood. then elazar, the kohen [priest] said to the
soldiers who had gone into battle, 'this is the requirement of the thorah that YHWH
gave mosheh, gold, silver, copper
[bronze], iron, tin, lead, everything
that comes into the fire, must be passed through the fire, and then it will be purified.
but it must also be purified with the water of purification. and whatever
cannot withstand fire must be passed through that water. on the seventh day you
will immerse your clothes and you will be purified. then you may come into the
camp.' " This is also a shadow and example of the
immersion of fire as well. Everything that is not of YHWH, will be destroyed by
fire - I Corinthians 3:11-15, "for no one
can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is yahusha`
hamashiyach. if any man builds on this
foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will
be shown for what it is, because the day will bring it to light. it will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. if what he has built survives, he will
receive his reward. if it is burned up,
he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through
the flames."
The uncleanness is not just upon a person, but as we saw in
BeMidbar [Numbers], with the items taken from Goyim [Gentiles]. Places, such as
a city or nation can have this uncleanness, as well as the land. Evan a family
line can carry this spirit of uncleanness. But YHWH has provided the means to
cleanse all that which is defiled and purify it. ZekarYahu [Zechariah] 13:2, " 'on that day, i will banish the names of the
idols from the land, and they will be remembered no more,' declares YHWH
tsebaoth. 'i will also remove both the (false) nebiiym [ prophets] and the
ruach of tumaah [religious impurity, filthiness, uncleanness, contamination,
defilement, pollution] from the land.' "
YHWH does this by His Son. ZekarYahu [Zechariah] 13:1, "
' "on that day a spring [maqowr] will be opened to the beyth [house]
dawiyd and the inhabitants of yerushalayim, for cleansing and for purification
[niddah].' " YirmeYahu [Jeremiah] 14:8, " 'miqweh yisrael [pool of water of yisrael], its
savior in times of distress,' " YirmeYahu
and have
dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.' " In the Hebrew, there is the article THE
before water. This indicates THE water - the living water. Who is the living
water? Yahusha` of course. He is the living water that the people rejected. The
people are the broken cisterns that cannot hold the living water.
On the Last Great Day of the Chag Sukkoth [Feast of Tents, Tabernacles],
there is a water pouring ceremony. From before Yahusha`’s time, the Kohaniym
[priests] and the Farushiym [Pharisees] taught the people the scriptures that tied in with the water
pouring ceremony. Of those, the two scriptures in YirmeYahu that I just showed,
were part of that teaching. In
Yahuchanan [John] chapter 7 verse 37-49 we see something that is missed by most
ingrafted believers because the hebrewness of the scriptures has been
removed.
"on
the last and greatest day of the feast, yahusha` stood and said in a loud
voice, 'if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. whoever believes in me, as the scripture has
said, streams of living water will flow from within him.' by this he meant the ruach [breath, spirit],
whom those who believed in him were later to receive. up to that time the ruach
had not been given, since yahusha` had not yet been given. on hearing his words,
some of the people said, 'surely this man is the nabiy [prophet].' others said, 'he is the mashiyach
[messiah].' still others asked, 'how can
the mashiyach come from galiyl [galilee]? does not the scripture say that the
mashiyach will come from dawiyd's family and from beyth lechem [
They rejected the one who claimed to be, and is, the Spring of Living Water. Now remember what
it said in YirmeYahu [Jeremiah] 17:13,14? Those who rejected the spring of
living water, their names would be written in the dust. Now let’s read further in Yahuchanan [John].
Chapter 8 is the account of the adulterous woman. This is the day after the Last Great Day, the day after
the water pouring ceremony occurred, the day after Yahusha` declared that He
was the spring of living water, the day after the religious leaders of Yisrael
rejected Him.
Yahuchanan 8:2-11, "at dawn
he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around
him, and he sat down to teach them. the soferiym [teachers] of the thorah [law]
and the farushiym [pharisees] brought in a woman caught in adultery. they made
her stand before the group and said to
yahusha`, 'rabbi, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. in the thorah [Law] mosheh commanded us to
stone such women. now what do you say?'
they were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for
accusing him. but yahusha` bent down and started to write on the ground (in the
dust) with his finger. when they kept on
questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'if any one of you is
without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' again he stooped down and wrote on the ground
(in the dust). at this, those who heard
began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only yahusha` was
left, with the woman still standing there. yahusha` straightened up and asked
her, 'woman, where are they? has no one condemned you?' 'no one, sir,' she
said. 'then neither do i condemn
you,' yahusha` declared. 'go now and
leave your life of sin.' "
I had always thought that Yahusha` was writing HaDebariym
[Deuteronomy]
This symbolism of springs of water and cisterns is of men
and women, of husbands and wives. Mishley [Proverbs] 5:15-20, "drink water from your own cistern, running
water from your own well. should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?
let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers. may your fountain
be blessed, and may you rejoice in the
wife of your youth. a loving doe, a graceful deer, may her breasts satisfy you
always, may you ever be captivated by her love. why be captivated, my son, by
an adulteress? why embrace the bosom of
another man's wife?" The men are the
springs of water, as YHWH is. The women are the cisterns that receive that
water, as Yisrael is the submissive to YHWH is. Yechezqel [Ezekiel] 16 is about
a relationship, likened to a marriage, between YHWH and Yisrael. This chapter
shows the betrothel, the cleansing of the miqweh for uncleanness, the marriage
beriyth [covenant] and all the gifts that YHWH pours out upon His bride. But
the bride does not remain faithful to Him. She becomes a whore, an adulterous
wife. She is the broken cistern that cannot hold the springs of living water.
She, Yisrael, rejects the Living Water, her husband. The book of Hoshea is
symbolic of the adulterous woman. We also see in Revelations 21:6 and 22:1,2
the Water of Life (living water) flowing from the throne of YHWH and of the
Lamb. Do you see the connection between the adultery, the whoring and the
uncleanness, defilement, that so necessitates the miqweh of YHWH’s pure, life
giving water to cleanse us from filth?
Ibriym [Hebrews] 10:22,
"let
us draw near to YHWH with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having
our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our
bodies washed with pure water." Immersion is a washing of sin, to make us pure
and clean. The Greek for immersion is baptizw – baptize -
to make whelmed, make fully wet. Notice that this means fully wet. Yahuchanan
the Immerser [John the Baptist] was not sprinkling anyone, he was submerging
them in the Yarden [Jordan] river. Every case of immersion was submersion. This was Miqweh! This is very important
because we need to be fully cleansed, washed from sin, not partially, but
wholly.
Thehillah [Psalm] 51:2-7,
"
'wash (miqweh) away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. for i know my
transgressions, and my sin is always before me. against you, you only, have i
sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when
you speak and justified when you judge. surely i was sinful at birth, sinful
from the time my mother conceived me. surely you desire truth in the inner
parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. cleanse me with hyssop, and i
will be clean; wash (in a miqweh) me, and i will be whiter than snow.' "
YirmeYahu [Jeremiah] 4:14, " 'yerushalayim [
Yechezqel [Ezekiel] 36:24-29, " 'for i will take you out of the goyim [gentiles,
nations]; i will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your
own land. i will scatter clean water on
you, and you will be clean; i will cleanse you from all your impurities and
from all your idols. i will give you a
new heart and put a new ruach in you; i will remove from you your heart of
stone and give you a heart of flesh. and
i will put my ruach [breath, spirit] in you and move you to follow my decrees
and be careful to keep my thorah [teachings, laws]. you will live in the land i gave your
forefathers; you will be my people, and i will be your elohey. i will save you from all your uncleanness. i
will call for the grain and make it plentiful and will not bring famine upon
you.' "
In all these Tanak [OT] examples, the word cleanse is xdh –taher. Taher means
to be made clean, pure,
uncontaminated, innocent, cleanse, purify. We cannot be pure by our own
strength or cleansing ourselves with water and soap. It is only through
immersion of the miqweh of the Living water of YHWH and His Son, the Springs of
Living Water, and by the blood of Yahusha` that we are washed and made clean,
not just of our flesh, but of our hearts and minds. Yaaqob [James] 4:8, " 'come near to YHWH and he will come near to you.
wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.'
" Ephesians 4:22-24, " 'you were taught, with regard to your former way
of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful
desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new
self, created to be like YHWH in true righteousness and being set apart.'
"
In
Bereshiyth [Genesis], we see YHWH
creating the heavens and the earth and YHWH saw that they were good.
Then Adam and Chawwah sinned and were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Sin was
on the earth now and Yahusha`’s blood was not yet shed to cleanse us of our
sins. In Bereshiyth 6, we see the account of the flood. Verse 5-8 states, "YHWH saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth
had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil all the time. YHWH was grieved that he
had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. so YHWH said, 'i will wipe mankind, whom i
have created, from the face of the earth, men and animals, and creatures that
move along the ground, and birds of the air, for i am grieved that i have made
them.' but noach found favor in the eyes
of YHWH."
YHWH is wanting to wash (a miqweh) the earth from all the
sin and iniquity. This is the immersion of water for the earth. II Kefa [Peter]
3:3-13, " 'first of all, you must understand that in the
last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil
desires. they will say, "where is
this 'coming' he promised? ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as
it has since the beginning of creation."
but they deliberately forget that long ago by YHWH’s word the heavens
existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. by these waters also the world of that time
was deluged and destroyed. by the same word the present heavens and earth are
reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of
unrighteous men.'
'but do not forget this one thing, dear
friends, with YHWH a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are
like a day. YHWH is not slow in keeping
his promise, as some understand slowness. he is patient with you, not wanting
anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. but the day of YHWH will
come like a thief. the heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. since
everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
you ought to live set apart and righteous lives
as you look forward to the day of YHWH and speed its coming. that day
will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will
melt in the heat. but in keeping with his
promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of
righteousness.' " And this is the
immersion of fire for the earth.
Kefa was referring to HaDebariym [Deuteronomy] 32:22,
YeshaYahu [Isaiah] 66:15-24, Yahuel [Joel] 4:15,16(3:15,16), Amos 9:5, Nachum
1:2-5, TsefanYahu [Zephaniah] 1:14-18,
3:8, Thehillah 46, 75, 97. This is a common theme in the Tanak of the wrath of
YHWH destroying the earth, because of the wickedness, but protecting those that
are righteous.
I Kefa [Peter] 3:20-21, "in it ( the ark) only a few people, eight in all,
were saved through water, and this water
symbolizes immersion (miqweh) that now saves you also, not the removal of dirt
from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward YHWH." Just as the earth has gone through an
immersion of water, to cleanse it from sin, it must go through an immersion of
fire to cleanse it from anything that is not of YHWH.
Yisrael also went through a type of immersion (miqweh);
first when they went through the Yam Suwph [
Another example, and this is a beautiful one, of YHWH, as a
husband to Yisrael, washing the wife to make her clean. We will see this again
with Yahusha` and the Qehillah [assembly, congregation]. Yechezqel [Ezekiel] 16:1-14, " 'the word of YHWH came to
me, "ben adam [son of man],
confront yerushalayim [jerusalem] with her detestable practices and say, this
is what adonay YHWH says to yerushalayim, your ancestry and birth were in the
land of the kenaaniy [canaanites]; your father was an amoriy [amorite] and your
mother a chiththiy [hittite]. on the day
you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you
clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. no one looked on you with pity or had
compassion enough to do any of these things for you. rather, you were thrown
out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. then i
passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your
blood i said to you, 'live.' i made you
grow like a plant of the field. you grew up and developed and became the most
beautiful of jewels. your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were
naked and bare." ' "
" ' "later i passed
by, and when i looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, i
spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. i gave you
my solemn oath and entered into a beriyth [covenant] with you, declares adonai YHWH,
and you became mine. i bathed you with water (mikweh for the cleansing of defilement)
and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. i clothed you with an embroidered dress and
put leather sandals on you. i dressed you in fine linen and covered you with
costly garments. i adorned you with jewelry, i put bracelets on your arms and a
necklace around your neck, and i put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears
and a beautiful crown on your head. so
you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and
costly fabric and embroidered cloth. your food was fine flour, honey and olive
oil. you became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. and your fame spread among the goyim
[nations] on account of your beauty, because the splendor i had given you made
your beauty perfect, declares adonay YHWH." ' "
Lets take a look at the book of MaththiYahu [Matthew]
3:13-17, and see the immersion of Yahusha`, "then
yahusha` came from galiyl [galilee] to the yarden [
The thalmiydiym [students, disciples] were immersed, even
Shaul [Saul] who was called Paul (Acts
Yahusha` HaMashiyach did not come just to immerse us with
water, to cleanse us from sins, but also to immerse us with fire. MaththiYahu
[Matthew] 3:11,12, " ' immerse (mikveh) you with water for
repentance. but after me will come one who is more powerful than i, whose sandals
i am not fit to carry. he will immerse you with the ruach YHWH and with fire.
his winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor,
gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable
fire.' " Yahuchanan [John]
1:32-34, "then yahuchanan gave this testimony, 'i saw the
ruach [breath] come down from shamayim [heavens] as a dove and remain on him. 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 ruach come down and remain is he who will immerse
with the ruach YHWH." i have seen and i testify that this is the ben [son
of] YHWH.' "
After Yahusha` was executed and buried, then rose from the
dead, He spoke to the talmiydiym [students, disciples], Acts 1:5, "for yahuchanan [john] immersed (miqweh) with
water, but in a few days you will be immersed with the ruach YHWH [breath of
YHWH].' " Acts 2:1-4, 'when the chag [feast] shabuoth [day of pentecost]
came, they were all together in one place.
suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from the
heavens and filled the whole house where they were sitting. they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire
that separated and came to rest on each of them. all of them were filled with the ruach YHWH
and began to speak in other tongues as the ruach enabled them." This
is the immersion of fire. Chag Shabaoth is the Feast of Weeks where the
firstfruits of the wheat harvest are offered up. This is fifty days
(pentecost-pente means fifty) after the Shabbath that occurs in the Chag
HaMatstsoth [Feast of Unleavened Bread].
In the book of Acts,
we see some believers who had received the immersion of water (miqweh), yet did
not know of the immersion of the ruach YHWH [breath], Acts 19:1-7, "while apollos was at
corinth, shaul [paul] took the road through the interior and arrived at
ephesus. there he found some talmiydiym [students, disciples] and asked them,
'did you receive the ruach YHWH when you
believed?' they answered, 'no, we have not even heard that there is a ruach YHWH.' so shaul asked, 'then what immersion did you
receive?' 'yahuchanan’s [john's]
immersion,' they replied. shaul said, 'yahuchanan’s immersion was an immersion
of repentance. he told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that
is, in yahusha`.' on hearing this, they
were immersed into the name of the adonay yahusha`. when shaul placed his hands on them, the ruach
YHWH came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. there were about twelve men in all.' " Note, this is not a water immersion, but one
of the laying on of hands and the ruach YHWH coming upon them. More will be
mentioned about this further on.
Part of our responsibility of witnessing the need for
salvation, is to immerse (miqweh). Mark
Here comes a crucial part. Who’s name are we immersed in?
The only account of a name, in the books of MaththiYahu, Mark, Luke and
Yahuchanan, is that in MaththiYahu 28:19. Yet the portion of the verse, that
says, " 'immersing in the name of the father and of the
son and of the ruach YHWH,' " does not occur in all the copies. And in the
Hebrew account of MaththiYahu, it does not occur either. So we have no hard
evidence, in the accounts of these sheliychiym [sent ones], that state that we
are to be immersed in either the name YHWH or in the name of His son, Yahusha`.
MaththiYahu
28:19, " 'therefore go and make thalmiydiym
[students] of all the goyim, immersing them in the name (singular, not plural)
of the father (YHWH) and the son (yahusha` - YHWH’s salvation) and the ruach
YHWH.' " I believe this is one of the verses that was
added to. You have a singular name mentioned. There is one name in common
between the three, which is YHWH. But the ruach is not a third in a trinity, which
was a later doctrine. The ruach is part of YHWH as HIS breath. Therefore the ruach
would not have been part of the salvation factor and had to have been added
later when the philosophy of the Trinity began.
The next chronological account is that of Acts 2. All the
Believers are assembled on the Chag Shabuoth [Feast of Weeks –Pentecost
(Greek)], in one place. They hear a voice from the heavens, as the rushing of a
mighty wind and it fills the house that they are in. Then, what appears to be
flames, tongues of fire, that settle on each of them. They were filled with the
ruach YHWH and began speaking with other tongues (languages). Now all those
that are gathered in Yerushalayim for this feast, hear this wind and gather to
the house, to see what is going on. This crowd, that represents Yahudiym from the Diaspora
[the scattering to the nations], hear the believers speaking in languages from
the countries that they are from. They are amazed because they know that these
believers are primarily from Galiyl [
" 'and
it will be afterwards, i will pour out my ruach on all flesh, and will foretell
your sons and your daughters, your old men will dream dreams, your young men
will see visions. and also on the men - servants, and on the maid - servants,
in those days, i will pour out my ruach. and i will give signs in the heavens,
and on the earth, blood and fire, and columns of smoke. the sun will be turned to darkness, and the
moon to blood, before the coming of the day of YHWH, the great and the awesome.
and it will be, all who call on the name YHWH, will be saved, for in mountain
Tsiyon and in Yerushalayim, there will be an escape, as YHWH has said, and
among the remnants whom YHWH calls.' "
Now Kefa quotes this passage, which just stated that those
who call on the name YHWH will be saved. Kefa then proceeds to give an account
of Yahusha`, his life, execution, death and raising by YHWH. Kefa quotes
Thehillah [Psalm] 16:8-11. He uses this passage as proof of the raising of
Yahusha` by YHWH and seating him at His right hand. Kefa then quotes Thehillah
110:1, pointing out that YHWH made Yahusha` Adon [master] and Mashiyach
[Anointed One]. When the people heard all this, they were cut to the heart and asked
what they should do. Kefa tells them, the same thing that Yahuchanan the
Immerser said, “ ‘Shubu wehitabelu
[repent, which means to turn and return. This is returning to YHWH. And be
immersed],’ “ but Acts says Kefa tells
them to be immersed in the name of Yahusha`. He has just quoted Yahuel, which
states that the only name for salvation was YHWH. So why, in an act, that
represents cleansing from sin and a return to YHWH, does Acts not record the
use of the name YHWH, as the quoted Tanak passages just did?
Now in
MaththiYahu [Matthew] 28:9, the Greek text reads that Yahusha` greeted the
women saying, "Greetings." So does the Peshitta. But Hebrew
MaththiYahu says, " 'the name save you.' " This is the Name of salvation, this is the name that
Yahusha` honored. As we look at the following verses, we will see that Yahusha`
honored his Fathers name.
In
MaththiYahu 21:9, as Yahusha` was entering Yerushalayim on a colt, the people
shouted, " 'blessed is he who comes
in the name YHWH.' "
Math. 6:9, Yahusha` points out to them,
that in praying, to exalt the name YHWH,
acknowledge that it is set-apart.
Yahuchanan
[John] 5:43, " 'i came in the name of my father, and you did
not receive me; but if another comes in his own name, him you receive.' " Yahuchanan 10:25, "yahusha`
answered, and said to them, 'i have told
you, and you did not believe. the works which i do in the name of my father,
they testify of me.' " Yahuchanan
In the
Tanak,
II Shemuel
22:4, " 'the one to be praised i call on, YHWH, and from my enemies i am
saved.' "
Yahuel 3:5
(
Thehilliym
33:16-21, " 'the king is not saved by the multitude of a force. a mighty man is not
delivered, by abundance of power. a
false thing the horse for safety, and by
the abundance of his strength he does not deliver. look, the eye of YHWH, to those fearing him, to those waiting for
his kindness, to deliver from death
their nafesh, and to keep them alive in famine.
our nafesh waits for YHWH, our help and our shield he,
for in him our heart rejoices, for in his qodesh name we have trusted.'
"
Thehilliym
54:3(1), " 'elohiym, by your name save me, and by your might
judge me.' "
Thehilliym
[Psalms] 42-72 were written around the time of King Chizqiyahu [Hezekiah],
729-696 BCE. In this section, the title “Elohiym” occurs 197 times and YHWH 32.
Some of those Thehilliym do not have YHWH at all. Thehilliym 1-41 are called
the Davidic Psalms. In these, “Elohiym” occurs 48 times, with 13 of those 48 occurring with
YHWH, while YHWH occurs 278 times. Thehillah 14 does not use Elohiym at
all, and uses YHWH 7 times. In Thehillah
53, which is an almost exact copy of Thehillah 14, we see Elohiym 7 times and
YHWH, not once.
Thehilliym
79:9, " 'help us, elohey of our salvation, for the honor of your name;
deliver us and atone for our sins, for the sake of your name.' "
Thehilliym
91:14, " 'for on me he has set love, i will deliver him, i will set him
on high, for he has known my name.' "
Thehilliym
116:4,13, " 'and on the name YHWH, i
call, i pray, YHWH, deliver my nafesh (being).' " " 'tHe cup of salvation i will lift up,
and on the name YHWH, i will call.' "
Thehilliym
124:8, " 'our help is in the name YHWH, the maker of the heavens and the
earth.' "
Mishley
[Proverbs] 18:10, " 'a tower of strength is the name YHWH, the righteous
run to it and are raised high.' "
All state
that salvation is in the name YHWH. The rest of the Tanak states that YHWH is
our Savior, the source of our salvation, the one who gives us salvation, worked
salvation for us, when we cried, He saved us, ... YHWH is the one who saves us
by His Right Arm -Yahusha`. It is by the atoning blood of His son that we are
saved. Yahusha` is the sin offering and the Kohen Gadol [High Priest] that
ministers between YHWH
and us. He
is the spring of living water that we are immersed in, for cleansing. Yahusha`
bears his Fathers name, that is the name by which we are saved, the one that
Yahusha` came in and honored above all others. Yahusha` comes in his Fathers
name, YHWH. his name (Yahusha`) declares the salvation of who? YHWH.
It is the
name YHWH that we are sealed with, Yechezqel [Ezekiel] 8 and 9, we are sealed
with the name YHWH. This is confirmed in Revelations 3:12, 7:3, 9:4, 14:1,
22:4. We have the mark of ownership and being set-apart to Him, on our
foreheads, by His name. Just as the Kohen Gadol [High Priest] had a golden
band, that was placed across the forehead, written Qodesh laYHWH - Set-apart to
YHWH. This was a type of what would be done on our foreheads. This also ties in
with the armor, another type and shadow. YeshaYahu [Isaiah] 59:17, and
Thehillah [Psalm] 140:8(7) state that we should put on the helmet of salvation.
This is part of the armor. It is also referred to in Ephesians 6.
Remember I told you, that just as YHWH had washed Yisrael, that Yahusha` does the same for the Qehillah
[assembly, congregation]? Not only does Yahusha` do this, but directs husbands
to do this for their wives. Ephesians 5:25-30, " 'husbands, love your wives, just as mashiyach
loved the qehillah [congregation, assembly] and gave himself up for her to make
her set apart, cleansing her by the washing with water (miqweh) through the
word, and to present her to himself as a radiant qehillah [assembly,
congregation], without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but set apart and
blameless. in this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own
bodies. he who loves his wife loves himself. after all, no one ever hated his
own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as mashiyach does the qehillah
[assembly, congregation], for we are
members of his body.' "
YHWH is the Living
Water and His son the Spring of Living Water. Yahusha` is also the Word from
the mouth of his Father, YHWH. By this Word - the Scriptures, we are
continually being cleansed, being made pure and set apart. Just as YHWH gave
His word to Yisrael, just as Yahusha` spoke those words, to purify the Qehillah
[congregation, assembly]; husbands should minister the word to their wives to
cleanse them.
Titus 3:3-5, " 'at one time we too were
foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and
pleasures. we lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. but
when the kindness and love of YHWH, our savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things
we had done, but because of his mercy. he saved us through the washing of rebirth
(miqweh) and renewal by the ruach YHWH [breath of YHWH], whom he poured out on us generously through
yahusha` hamashiyach our savior, so that,
having been justified by his favor, we might become heirs having the hope of
eternal life.' "
Immersion in a Miqweh also has applications for those in the
kehunnah [priesthood]. When a man entered into the service of being a kohen
[priest], he had to go through a miqweh, for cleansing and setting apart. In
Shemoth [Exodus] 29, we see the first ordaining of Aharon and his sons as
kohaniym [priests]. Verse 4, " 'then bring aharon and his
sons to the entrance to the tent of meeting and wash them with water (a miqweh).'
" Yahusha` was not being
cleansed from uncleanness or sin when he was immersed by Yahuchanan [John],
because he had none, but rather was going through the miqweh of being set apart
and entering the Kehunnah [Priesthood]. His ministry, service was beginning.
This initiation of the young men into the kehunnah [priesthood], was generally
done when they were about 30 years old. Luke 3:23, "now yahusha` himself was
about 30 years old when he began his ministry."
Immersion (miqweh) is not something to be done to infants,
this is a decision that is made by one old enough to know what sin is and to
turn and return to YHWH and receive His
salvation through Yahusha` HaMashiyach. An infant cannot do this. Nor is
immersion a sprinkling, but a submersion, to die with Mashiyach and then be
raised with him. Then, there is the immersion of fire, by the ruach YHWH, to
burn away all that is not of YHWH. You do not need to be an “rabbi, ordained
minister, priest or pastor”, for Yahusha` has ordained us to be a
Shalom, Kathryn