(Exo 30:20-21 KJV) 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: So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.
There is no baptism in the Old Testament, there is only washing. If you look through the laws of Moses, washing was always required to achieve cleanliness.
Later as a cure for Naman’s leprosy: (2 Ki 5:10 KJV) And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
When David committed adultery with Bathsheba we see him repentant before Nathan the prophet and praying: (Psa 51:2-3 KJV) Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Sick and tired with empty religious behaviours we see Isaiah the prophet proclaiming:
(Isa 1:16 KJV) Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Jeremiah, then proclaims that even washing with much soap is of no value, if the heart is not right: (Jer 2:22 KJV) For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. And (Jer 4:14 KJV) O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
Clearly… washing, baptism, circumcision and all other forms of external religious behaviours, bodily marking, dress ups (religious garb) or dressing downs (sackcloth) do not get man or woman closer to God.
A true and righteous heart is the only way and if you have a true and righteous heart, the external symbolism becomes redundant and unnecessary, such symbolism being a ‘show’ for other people only.
Was Abram circumcised before he met God?
Did Moses wash before he saw the Burning bush?
Who baptised John the Baptist?
Religious rules are an attempt to restrain and save the ungodly (leash the dogs), but when the mind is forcibly taken in one direction while the heart is bound in another, such religious rules just create a social schizophrenia and a longing for escape.
Giving up on the unsuccessful cleanliness and conversion to holiness achievable through circumcision, washing and water baptism, we see a new approach to achieving some kind of cleanliness and relationship with God in the guise and teachings of Jesus.
Water is significant because it is the universal solvent that washes and cleanses.
Fire is significant because it is the universal solar power that heats and purifies.
(Mat 3:11 KJV) 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:
BAPTISM