BAPTISM: WHERE OUR HOPE BEGINS (Part 4)
Posted on August 21, 2024 by Patrick Shabi with an estimated reading time of 4 minutes
Last updated on August 30, 2024
The intertestamental period: The silent years (Part 3)
We have reviewed the term mikveh and see that it has the meaning of “a collection [of waters]” in early Old Testament writings, but “hope” in later Old Testament writings. Both definitions and their usage give us a deeper understanding to what God was conveying when he inspired mikveh to be used in these varying ways. However, although it is not stated in the Old Testament and only came later during the time between the Old and New Testament, another usage of mikveh needs to be understood to recognize its significance and how it relates to baptism entirely. For roughly four hundred years, spanning the ministry of Malachi to John the Baptist, Jewish tradition says no prophet spoke in the land of Israel. Jewish tradition considers this time the silent years from God and scholars refer to this period as the intertestamental period. Even though there were no Biblical writings during this time, many important events happened during this period, which influenced Jewish thinking and prepared the world for Jesus Christ’s arrival and His gospel.
An ancient ritual bath (mikveh pool) outside of Jerusalem.
One such important event from this period was the adoption of the mikveh pool into Jewish life. Only found in Israel, mikveh pools (or mikvoth) began to appear throughout the land of Israel and in historic communities of the Jewish diaspora, starting in the 2nd century B.C. According to the Britannica Encyclopedia, mikvoth are baths used for ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. They can be found in almost any ancient Jewish community due to their strong ties to ritual purity within the Jewish faith. To give you a sense of their importance, according to the publication The Times of Israel, 700 mikvoth have been discovered throughout Israel. Of the 700 mikvoth discovered so far, 200 are found in Jerusalem, and of these, 50 are located near the Temple Mount. The location of these mikvoth, and their strong presence in Jerusalem and near the Temple Mount, clearly show their role and importance. Jerusalem, and especially the Temple Mount, was the center of the sacrificial system during the Old Testament and through the intertestamental period. As a result, there could be thousands of Jewish pilgrims in need of ritual cleansing at any time of the day, with many more thousands above that in need around the holy days.