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Flesh in the Torah, Sacrifice and Mikva (Baptism)

 
Key Points:
  • Sacrifices are symbolic of reconciling living dead (corruptible) flesh back to a state of relationship with YHWH
  • Sacrifices are for purification of sin and uncleanness
  • Leprosy, birth of a child, male emission, and touching a dead or unclean thing all make us unclean, all are connected to loss of blood/life
  • Being made clean is tied to the ordination of the priests
  • Being made clean is tied to Yom Kippur/The Day of Atonement and the sin offerings presented for reconciling the holy place, the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar
  • The blood sprinkled before and on the mercy seat and on the horns of the altar are symbolic of Yeshua’s blood
  • Sacrifices and Torah rituals were a pattern of a more perfect redemption to come
  • Flesh of animals could not redeem us, we need Yeshua’s flesh in order to enter into the heavenly tabernacle before YHWH
  • The Mikva/Baptism is symbolic of being born again and makes us clean and able to enter the Kingdom of YHWH

 

The Yom Kippur ceremony is showing us how those who are separated from YHWH, with corruptible flesh, can enter once again into YHWH's presence and live.

Leviticus 5: 1And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.  2Or if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase of an unclean beast, or a carcase of unclean cattle, or the carcase of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty.  3Or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever uncleanness it be that a man shall be defiled withal, and it be hid from him; when he knoweth of it, then he shall be guilty.

Leviticus 10: 9Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:  10And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;  11And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

Leviticus 11: 30And the ferret, and the chameleon, and the lizard, and the snail, and the mole.  31These are unclean to you among all that creep: whosoever doth touch them, when they be dead, shall be unclean until the even.  32And upon whatsoever any of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein any work is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.

Leviticus 12:1And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,  2Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean.  3And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.  4And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.  5But if she bear a maid child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her separation: and she shall continue in the blood of her purifying threescore and six days.  6And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest:

It is interesting to note that it was after 3 millennial days that Yeshua appeared at the temple and that after 6 millennial days His bride will appear also.  What is the tie between giving birth and leprosy?  Both make one unclean and requiring purification.

Leviticus 13:3And the priest shall look on the plague in the skin of the flesh: and when the hair in the plague is turned white, and the plague in sight be deeper than the skin of his flesh, it is a plague of leprosy: and the priest shall look on him, and pronounce him unclean.  4If the bright spot be white in the skin of his flesh, and in sight be not deeper than the skin, and the hair thereof be not turned white; then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven days:  5And the priest shall look on him the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague in his sight be at a stay, and the plague spread not in the skin; then the priest shall shut him up seven days more:  6And the priest shall look on him again the seventh day: and, behold, if the plague be somewhat dark, and the plague spread not in the skin, the priest shall pronounce him clean: it is but a scab: and he shall wash his clothes, and be clean.  7But if the scab spread much abroad in the skin, after that he hath been seen of the priest for his cleansing, he shall be seen of the priest again.  8And if the priest see that, behold, the scab spreadeth in the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean: it is a leprosy.

The loss of seed from a male or female emission is a loss of life, the loss of blood from a menstruation is a loss of life, leprosy is skin that is living death.  All of these Torah requirements are teaching us about the restoration of life to moving, dead, corruptible flesh.  Read the story about Naaman for a recap on healing dead flesh.  So if these Torah requirements are about restoring life to dead flesh, might not the offerings and sacrifices be about the same issue?  The rectifying the state of our dead flesh. 

Exodus29: 1 "This is what you are to do to consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests: Take a young bull and two rams without defect. 2 And from fine wheat flour, without yeast, make bread, and cakes mixed with oil, and wafers spread with oil. 3 Put them in a basket and present them in it—along with the bull and the two rams. 4 Then bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting and wash them with water. 5 Take the garments and dress Aaron with the tunic, the robe of the ephod, the ephod itself and the breastpiece. Fasten the ephod on him by its skillfully woven waistband. 6 Put the turban on his head and attach the sacred diadem to the turban. 7 Take the anointing oil and anoint him by pouring it on his head. 8 Bring his sons and dress them in tunics 9 and put headbands on them. Then tie sashes on Aaron and his sons. [a] The priesthood is theirs by a lasting ordinance. In this way you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.  

Exodus29: 10 "Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 11 Slaughter it in the LORD's presence at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. 12 Take some of the bull's blood and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out the rest of it at the base of the altar. 13 Then take all the fat around the inner parts, the covering of the liver, and both kidneys with the fat on them, and burn them on the altar. 14 But burn the bull's flesh and its hide and its offal outside the camp. It is a sin offering.  

Exodus29: 15 "Take one of the rams, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 16 Slaughter it and take the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides. 17 Cut the ram into pieces and wash the inner parts and the legs, putting them with the head and the other pieces. 18 Then burn the entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma, an offering made to the LORD by fire.  

Exodus29: 19 "Take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on its head. 20 Slaughter it, take some of its blood and put it on the lobes of the right ears of Aaron and his sons, on the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet. Then sprinkle blood against the altar on all sides. 21 And take some of the blood on the altar and some of the anointing oil and sprinkle it on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. Then he and his sons and their garments will be consecrated. 22Also thou shalt take of the ram the fat and the rump, and the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder; for it is a ram of consecration: 23And one loaf of bread, and one cake of oiled bread, and one wafer out of the basket of the unleavened bread that is before the LORD: 24And thou shalt put all in the hands of Aaron, and in the hands of his sons; and shalt wave them for a wave offering before the LORD. 25And thou shalt receive them of their hands, and burn them upon the altar for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour before the LORD: it is an offering made by fire unto the LORD.

 Exodus29: 26And thou shalt take the breast of the ram of Aaron's consecration, and wave it for a wave offering before the LORD: and it shall be thy part. 27And thou shalt sanctify the breast of the wave offering, and the shoulder of the heave offering, which is waved, and which is heaved up, of the ram of the consecration, even of that which is for Aaron, and of that which is for his sons: 28And it shall be Aaron's and his sons' by a statute for ever from the children of Israel: for it is an heave offering: and it shall be an heave offering from the children of Israel of the sacrifice of their peace offerings, even their heave offering unto the LORD.

Those who are going to serve in the tabernacle and its precincts are ordained, consecrated, and a sin, peace, and a heave offering is made for them.  Please note that some of the blood of the ram is applied to their earlobe, their hands, and on their feet, and on their garments.  Yeshua also likely had His blood spilt on His ear, hands, and feet.  After this was completed they were able to enter into the Tabernacle of YHWH.   They were to partake in the sin offering by eating its flesh.  It is in this tent of meeting that YHWH talks with His people.

Exodus 29: 42 "For the generations to come this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before the LORD. There I will meet you and speak to you; 43 there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory.  44 "So I will consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar and will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve me as priests. 45 Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God. 46 They will know that I am the LORD their God, who brought them out of Egypt so that I might dwell among them. I am the LORD their God.

The purpose of Aaron and the priest going through these ordination ceremonies is so that YHWH may meet and speak with them there and that YHWH would then be able to dwell in the midst of His people.  Notice that on Aaron's forehead was an inscription.

Exodus 28: 36 "Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal:HOLY TO THE LORD. 

He was marked with YHWH's mark and all for the purpose of restoring the Image of YHWH on him so that Aaron might meet and speak with YHWH.  He was given new garments made of precious things, he is separated from the people and  a sin offering is burnt on his behalf and he partakes of it, all so that he might meet and speak with YHWH.  This what YHWH desires for His entire nation, a kingdom of priests all in fellowship with Him.

Exodus 19: 5Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:  6And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.  7And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.

The goal has never changed, just as YHWH never changed.

Revelations 5: 9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;  10And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.  11And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

And how did He make us a kingdom of priests?  By Yeshua's blood as our sin offering, our Passover sacrifice.  We eat of His flesh, His sacrifice, and become one with His flesh, taking on His identity.  Leviticus 16 gives us the powerful connection between the sin offering for Yom Kippur and the need for Mikva (baptism).

Killing the offering:

Leviticus 16: 1And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died;  2And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.  3Thus shall Aaron come into the holy place: with ayoung bullock for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.  4He shall put on the holy linen coat, and he shall have the linen breeches upon his flesh, and shall be girded with a linen girdle, and with the linen mitre shall he be attired: these are holy garments; therefore shall he wash his flesh in water, and so put them on.5And he shall take of the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering. 6And Aaron shall offer his bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make an atonement for himself, and for his house. 7And he shall take the two goats, and present them before the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.  8And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and the other lot for the scapegoat.  9And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering. 10But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.  11And Aaron shall bring the bullock of the sin offering, which is for himself, and shall make an atonement for himself, and for his house, and shall kill the bullock of the sin offering which is for himself:  12And he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the LORD, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail:  13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not:  14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. 15Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, nd do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat:  16And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.  17And there shall be no man in the tabernacle of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy place, until he come out, and have made an atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the congregation of Israel.

Sprinkling the blood of the offering:

Leviticus 16: 18And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make an atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about.  19And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.  20And when he hath made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat:  

This ends the reconciling the holy place, the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar.  It requires the sacrifice of the bullock and the goat and both are sprinkled on the altar and on and before the mercy seat.

Sending the Goat into the Wilderness:

Leviticus 16: 21And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:  22And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited: and he shall let go the goat in the wilderness.  

Mikva of Aaron & Burning the offerings:

Leviticus 16: 23And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy place, and shall leave them there:  24And he shall wash his flesh with water in the holy place, and put on his garments, and come forth, and offer his burnt offering, and the burnt offering of the people, and make an atonement for himself, and for the people.  25And the fat of the sin offering shall he burn upon the altar.  

Mikva of Fit Man who leads Goat into the Wilderness:

Leviticus 16: 26And he that let go the goat for the scapegoat shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward come into the camp.  27And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offerin, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.

 

Mikva of Man who burns the offerings:

Leviticus 16: 28, And he that burneth them shall wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp.  29And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:  30For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.  31It shall be a sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statute for ever.  32And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to minister in the priest's office in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:  33And he shall make an atonement for the holy sanctuary, and he shall make an atonement for the tabernacle of the congregation, and for the altar, and he shall make an atonement for the priests, and for all the people of the congregation.  34And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses.

How clear it is now that the lot that falls for YHWH gets offered as the sin offering.  And the lot for the scapegoat gets presented alive before YHWH.  When the High Priest comes before YHWH in the Holy of Holies, he comes with incense from the coals from the altar and sprinkles the blood seven times on and before the mercy seat.  Yeshua's blood is applied to the throne of YHWH for the purpose of making atonement for the uncleanness of Israel.  How is Israel unclean?  Their flesh is corrupt and dead, moving but dead, cut off from YHWH.  The blood is then used to cleanse the altar.  Once he reconciles the Holy place, he brings the live goat, lays his hands on it confessing all the peoples sins and sends it away via a fit man, to an uninhabited land.  The High Priest then removes his clothes and baptizes himself in a Mikva.  The fit man who let the goat go in the wilderness does the same, baptizes in a Mikva (this is a believer in Torah and Yeshua).  All the flesh and blood of the sin offering is carried outside the camp and is burned completely.  The man who does this baptizes in a Mikva and washes his clothes too. 

All of this is for the purpose of cleaning YHWH's people of their uncleanness.  They are unclean because of their flesh and their transgressions.  The atonement is for the holy sanctuary, the tabernacle, the congregation, the altar, the priests, and all the people of the congregation.  This is the whole work of YHWH and it is the whole work of the Messiah Yeshua to redeem His people from their unclean flesh and their transgressions.  As this was done in the Tabernacle, it has also been done in the heavenly temple.   The one goat (Yeshua's body and flesh) makes atonement for the holy place due to Israel’s uncleanness and our transgressions.  The other goat (our fallen bodies) are led to the wilderness and a place not habited bearing the sins of the people.  But each man associated with that goat comes back and is baptized into a new flesh and a new body, YHWH's flesh, being made clean by these acts.

Hebrews 9: 22And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  23It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  24For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:

So how does the Mikva (baptism) relate to being born again?  Why must we be born again?  How is this connected to our being cleansed from sin and death?  Lets look at John 3 again.

John 3: 1There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 9Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? 10Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? 11Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. 12If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 13And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. 14And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16For God so loved the world, that he gave his ONLY begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3: 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 22After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. 23And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. 24For John was not yet cast into prison. 25Then there arose a question between some of John's disciples and the Jews about purifying. 26And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. 27John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven. 28Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him. 29He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. 30He must increase, but I must decrease. 31He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all. 32And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony. 33He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. 34For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. 35The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Then Yeshua appears before the Mercy Seat seeking forgiveness for His people as occurs in the Yom Kippur ceremony seeking forgiveness on behalf of the people of Israel, cleansing us of sin and fallen flesh.  He is freeing the prisoner, giving wealth to the poor, sight to the blind, release to the oppressed.  How does he do all this?  By appearing before the Mercy Seat on our behalf, by serving as the sacrifice, by giving us His flesh.  When declaring this in the synagogue, everyone immediately tries to identify whose flesh is standing before them.  “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”  No it wasn’t, it was YHWH’s son, YHWH’s flesh, the Unleavened and Uncorrupted flesh of YHWH.  To be someone’s son, is to be that person’s flesh.

The Mikva/Baptism is symbolic of being born again and makes our flesh clean and we are able to enter the Holy of Holies.  Yeshua is clear to Nicodemus on what must happen in order to see and be in the Kingdom of YHWH

John 3: 3,“Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  

Nicodemus doesn’t understand how one is born into YHWH’s Kingdom.  Yeshua explains how.

  • “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” 
  • “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
  • “Ye must be born again.”
  • “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:”
  • “he gave his ONLY begotten (uncorrupted flesh) Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
  • “hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

(We must believe on Yeshua, the only uncorrupted flesh of YHWH).

“and baptized “(into Yeshua's flesh/body).

This is equated with being married to Yeshua. “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom.”  They are one flesh.

  • “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life;”
  • "and no man receiveth his testimony.”

Obviously Yeshua’s own testimony is an immediate stumbling block for many who hear Him.

Yeshua tells Nicodemus that you need to be born of the Mikva (water and spirit) in order to see the Kingdom of YHWH.  He further tells Nicodemus that he will be able to tell who is born into the Kingdom of YHWH by what he hears them say (testimony), just as you hear wind but can’t tell where it comes from.  Israel had the same problem with Yeshua’s testimony.  It was powerful but they couldn’t tell where He came from or who gave him His authority.  That is because they could not see the Kingdom of YHWH.  He then tells Nicodemus if he doesn’t understand the Mikva, he won’t understand the Son of Man, the Image of YHWH, the Bread of Heaven being lifted up for the healing of Israel and the giving of eternal life.  After His meeting with Nicodemus he immediately goes to Judea to Mikva/Baptize people into the Bridegroom’s flesh, so they might enter the Kingdom of YHWH and have eternal life.

This is Yeshua's testimony.  We must be Mikva’d/baptized into His flesh, become one flesh with Him in marriage (via Mikva/baptism), conform to His image, so that we might have flesh/life incorruptible.