Mark 1:1-4 detailed

1 The beginning* of the gospel** of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;

*G746 ἀρχή arche (ar-chee’) n. chief (in various applications of order, time, place, or rank).

**G2098 εὐαγγέλιον euaggelion (ev-an-ğe’-liy-on) n. the good news: of the kingdom, of God, of the grace of God, of Jesus Anointed, of His Son, of the Anointed One, of the uncircumcision (Gentile), of the circumcision (Hebrew), of your salvation.

²As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger* before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

(*G32 ἄγγελος aggelos (an’-ğe-los) n 1. a messenger. 2. (especially) an “angel” of God. 3. (of evil, Satan) a demon. 4. (by implication) a person carrying forth a message from God, i.e. a servant (a disciple, pastor, elder, prophet, etc.). 5. (also, by implication) a thing or event carrying forth a message from God, i.e. a hardship (pestilence, wind, etc.), or an animal (donkey, locusts, etc.).

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Psalm 5:8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies; make thy way straight before my face.)

³The voice of one crying in the wilderness*, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

(*G2048 ἔρημος eremos (e’-ree-mos) adj. 1. lonesome. 2. (by implication) waste. 3. Solitary.)

Isaiah 40:3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.)

⁴John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance* for the remission** of sins***.

(* G3341 μετάνοια metanoia (me-ta’-noi-a) n. 1. (subjectively) remorse and repentance for wrong doing, including as necessary, restitution. 2. (by implication) a change (reversal) of one’s mind (or the reversal of another person’s decision)

** G859 ἄφεσις aphesis (a’-fe-sis) n. deliverance, forgiveness, liberty.

*** G266 ἀμαρτία amartia (a-mar-tiy’-a) n. a moral failure, a wrong doing, a sin, an infraction, a misdeed.)

(1 John 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. )

A Mikveh or mikvah (Hebrew: מִקְוֶה / מקווה, “a collection”) is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion to achieve ritual purity. However, some impurities, require “living water”, such as springs or groundwater wells.

Living water has the further advantage of being able to purify while flowing/active. This is a part of the traditional procedure for conversion into a new belief system.

A mikveh must, according to the classical Rabbinical regulations, contain enough water to cover the entire body of an average-sized person; based on a mikveh with the dimensions of 3 cubits deep, 1 cubit wide, and 1 cubit long, the necessary volume of water was estimated as being 40 seah of water.

The exact volume referred to by a seah is debated, and classical rabbinical literature specifies only that it is enough to fit 144 eggs, one seah is 14.3 litres, and therefore, a mikveh must contain approximately 575 litres.

Significance for the believer today, the mikvah was required for a priest (Kohen) who was being consecrated and on Yom Kippur, Day of Atonement, after sending away the scapegoat to Azazel.

Hebrews 10:20 “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh”
Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Revelation 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.