The image of Anointing Oil

Anointing and the use of anointing oil have a deep spiritual meaning. And by spiritual, I mean Spiritual. It is not ‘an’ image, but ‘the’ image of empowerment by the Holy Spirit. It is a symbol of the Holy Spirit within us. The anointed ones are referred to as sons of oil, those with a shining face, the fiery ones, the bright ones, and as ‘God's greats’. The big question that naturally remains is what exactly that is supposed to express? When I read those terms and descriptions regarding anointing, I am reminded of the following verses.

The sight of the glory of the LORD on the top of the mountain was like a consuming fire in the eyes of the Israelites.
Exodus 24:17

And it came to pass, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai – the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses' hand when he came down from the mountain – that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had spoken with Him. So when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.
Exodus 34:29-30

And He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light.
Matthew 17:2

When the glory and holiness of God are revealed, this is what happens. I have heard and seen that these kinds of events are still taking place today, just as the fact that the miracles of the Bible are still taking place. Yes, all the miracles, and more. God has never changed. Jesus has never changed. If we begin to move in the same faith as the disciples, if we proclaim the same gospel as they did, and if we pay the price they paid, then the signs and wonders that followed them will follow us too. Not through our own strength or through our own efforts, but through the power of our best Friend, Comforter, and Companion, the Holy Spirit. All things are possible if we have faith.

When people used anointing oil, their faces would shine and glisten with the oil. That is the image of God with us, an image of being constantly in the presence, glory, and holiness of God. Moses had to climb a mountain to enter the presence of God. Jesus is God, but still climbed a mountain, taking His disciples with Him to let them be witnesses of that glory and holiness. When the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place, this went to a whole new level. From that moment on, it was no longer just God with us, but it also became God in us, just as God intended. It can be compared to oil lamps, which are filled with oil and burn, spreading light. In the same way, we can be filled with the Holy Spirit, burn for Jesus, and shine His Light to the nations.

The image of the Anointing and the Holy Spirit was already visible among the prophets, kings, and priests of Israel in the Old Testament. It was a precursor to what would happen in the future. When a prophet, king, or priest was anointed, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit followed. This can be seen, for example, in the anointing of Saul and David.

Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head, and kissed him and said: Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over His inheritance? (Verse 1)
Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. (Verse 6)
1 Samuel 10:1, 6

Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:13

Empowerment by the Holy Spirit was not something that happened to ordinary people in those days. It only happened to prophets, kings, and priests. So the fact that Jesus was empowered by the Holy Spirit was already something very remarkable to the people of that time. At one point, Jesus quoted a passage from the book of Isaiah, chapter 61, which was a very well-known passage for the people of that time and place. That is the passage where a clear connection can be seen between the Anointing and the Holy Spirit. He said: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me.” Immediately thereafter, He also explains why: “because He has anointed Me.”

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
Luke 4:18-19

How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
Acts 10:38

Some translations say that the Spirit was upon Jesus because He was Anointed, but the remarkable thing is that in this case, it is exactly the other way around. The source text says that the Spirit was upon Jesus, which caused Him to be anointed. As you can see in the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came after someone was Anointed by order of God (never on their own initiative). But Jesus, the Christ, the Anointed One, already had and still has the identity of ‘being Anointed’. He is God, the Source of the Anointing! Not only does this show the clear connection between the Anointing and the Holy Spirit, but it also shows what the purpose of the Anointing is. That is to preach the gospel, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to give sight back to the blind (physically and spiritually!), to set the oppressed free, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

All earthly objects and all people on this earth are unholy by nature. When the Tabernacle was made, none of the materials were holy. The people who were to become priests were not yet holy either. Everything became holy through the Anointing. Whatever was Anointed was, from that moment on, holy. Here is an example of that principle.

And you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it; and you shall hallow it and all its utensils, and it shall be holy. You shall anoint the altar of the burnt offering and all its utensils, and consecrate the altar. The altar shall be most holy.
Exodus 40:9-10

So holiness came because of the Anointing. In the same way, it is the Holy Spirit who makes us holy because of the Anointing of Jesus. It is through His Word, through His Spirit, that we are transformed into holiness. The more time we spend in His Word, with full attention to what the Holy Spirit wants to teach us through it, the more we are transformed into holiness. There was a season in my life when the Holy Spirit kept saying exactly the same thing to me, over and over, every day, multiple times a day, for months on end. What He said to me was this: “Only the Word of God has the power to change you.” It was because of that Word that my love for the Word of God began to grow even more. I began to see, recognize, and acknowledge its value. It was a message that was so simple, yet probably one of the most powerful messages He ever taught me.

How different this was in the life of Jesus. He did not need an Anointing to make Him holy. He was already holy. For that reason, the Anointing was upon Him. When He spoke the passage from Isaiah 61, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me”, that was the revelation of Himself as the Messiah. In those times, the title “messiah” was not exclusively reserved for the Savior. As I mentioned earlier, “messiah” simply means “anointed”. It was a title used for all prophets, who were also called messiahs in those days and throughout the Old Testament. That was probably the reason why so many people addressed Jesus as a messiah.

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Matthew 16:13-14

Most likely they said: “a messiah” or “a christos”. As you might recall, the term “messiah” is a Hebrew word, which can be translated as “christ”. By addressing Jesus with that title, we are actually only saying that He is an Anointed One, just as all the prophets were Anointed. So although addressing Him as Christ or Messiah is an acknowledgment of the Anointing of God, it is nothing more than that. There are other religions, including major religions like Islam, that also recognize Him as Christ. That might sound confusing, but the difference lies in the statement that Peter made when Jesus asked him who He was (and is).

Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ.
Matthew 16:16-20

Although various other religions recognize Jesus as Christ, it is only Christianity that recognizes Him as the Son of the living God. No other religion will recognize Him as the Son of God. That is the big difference. Although the prophets were also addressed as “messiah” or “christ”, they were all ordinary people, unclean and unholy by nature, but made clean and holy by the Anointing. There was only One who could say that He was already clean and holy, which is why God Anointed Him. That person is Jesus. The Only One who lived His entire life without sin. That did not make Him a messiah; it made Him THE MESSIAH, the Son of the living God. And the only way to arrive at that revelation and recognition is through a revelation from the Father, through the Holy Spirit. By calling Jesus THE MESSIAH, we call Him “God's Greatest”, which He is. It is because of His Anointing and because of His sacrifice that the presence of God left the temple and tore the veil, to thus choose man as His dwelling place, through His Holy Spirit. That is the image of the spiritual Anointing and what anointing with Anointing Oil symbolizes. It is the Holy Spirit within us, as the seal of our salvation.

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Ephesians 1:13-14

As I always say in my teaching, the goal of God is always to save, to heal, to deliver, and to restore. So when the Holy Spirit begins to work in and through us, the fruits will correspond with salvation, healing, deliverance, and restoration. Anything and anyone that works against these things works against God, against the Anointing, against the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and for the agenda of the enemy. But when the Holy Spirit is truly in control, and when the church fully submits to God and lets Him have His way, you will see it in the fruits. A lack of fruits means a lack of the Spirit. A beautiful image of the restoration of God's people can be seen in 2 Chronicles, where the people of Judah were set free and restored to honor, through the Anointing.

Now the men who were designated by name rose up and took the captives, and from the spoil they clothed all who were naked among them, dressed them and gave them sandals, gave them food and drink, and anointed them; and they let all the feeble ones ride on donkeys. So they brought them to their brethren at Jericho, the city of palm trees. Then they returned to Samaria.
2 Chronicles 28:15

The image of the Anointing can also be seen in prayers for healing. When someone is sick, their face does not really look happy or radiant. The Anointing ensures that the face begins to shine again in the natural, as an image of what is happening in the spiritual world, provided the prayer for healing is done from and in faith. According to the customs of that time, Anointing was also a visible sign to show the end of a mourning period. The following verse speaks of the purpose of the Anointing of Jesus Christ.

…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3

A ‘spirit of heaviness’ is a possible translation, but a ‘darkened spirit’ or ‘tempered spirit’ is more accurate. This refers to despondency and depression. The Bible verse speaks of God's promise to take away the spirit of despondency and depression and to give the Holy Spirit and the Holy Anointing in its place. Although this translation speaks of oaks, I cannot really find that back in the Hebrew. I also cannot find which tree it would refer to, but I suspect this is an olive tree rather than an oak, given that the olive tree bears the Anointing Oil in its fruit. The oil of joy this verse speaks of is the oil of Jesus Christ Himself, which Hebrews 1:9 also refers to. The Spirit of Jesus Christ as the oil of exaltation or the oil of gladness (literal translation).

You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.
Hebrews 1:9

The final image of Anointing Oil that I see is the following. No one can touch oil without leaving traces on their hands. In the same way, no one can be touched by Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, by the Anointing, and leave empty-handed.