The idea of spiritraul immersion began as early as 1657-1512 B.C., and this is while ancient Israel tribes were in the Wilderness. Moses puts his pin to the canvas and start written the book of Exodus. This is the same time when God introduces Himself from within a cloud over Mount Sinai. Also new to the ancestors of Israel was a God who loves His people and desired a close relationship, becoming an active part in their lives. Amazingly, the God of Israel is welling to adopt a Human race into His domain.  God wanted to take them to another level, a new Human experience, but they were only familiar with the religions of Egypt. The Israelites struggled with the concept of an unseen deity. Even more difficult was the new idea of a divine being, who offers a covenant of inclusion of a part His Kingdom. The Wilderness was to become a divine community, where God is its center.

Immersion

From the Strong Concordance 908 βάπτισμα baptisma {bap’-tis-mah}

Meaning:  1) immersion, submersion 1a) of calamities and afflictions with which one is quite overwhelmed 1b) of John’s baptism, that purification rite by which men on confessing their sins were bound to spiritual reformation, obtained the pardon of their past sins and became qualified for the benefits of the Messiah’s kingdom soon to be set up. This was valid Christian baptism, as this was the only baptism the apostles received and it is not recorded anywhere that they were ever rebaptised after Pentecost. 1c) of Christian baptism; a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one after confessing his sins and professing his faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life, identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.

 

Baptized as followers of Moses.

 

^NLT  1 Corinthians 10:1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.

² In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses.

³ All of them ate the same spiritual food,

⁴ and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. (1Co 10:1-4 NLT)

 

Buried with Christ by baptism

¹² For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

¹³ You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

¹⁴ He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

¹⁵ In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. (Col 2:12-15 NLT)

 

Have been united with him in his death

his wonderful grace?

² Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?

³ Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?

⁴ For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.

⁵ Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was.

⁶ We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

⁷ For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

(Rom 6:1-7 NLT)