“ANOINTING OIL – THE BEGINNING and THE END”
By PST. Toks OSHOKOYA
Exodus 30: 22 – 38
“Moreover the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take thou also unto thee PRINCIPAL SPICES, of ♧ pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of ♧ sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of ♧ sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of ♧ cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of ♧ oil olive an hin:
And thou shalt MAKE IT an OIL of HOLY OINTMENT, an ointment COMPOUND after the art of the APOTHECARY: it shall be an HOLY ANOINTING OIL.
And thou shalt ANOINT the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt SANCTIFY them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.
And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and CONSECRATE them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an HOLY ANOINTING OIL unto me throughout your generations.
Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
“WHOMSOEVER COMPOUNDED any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a STRANGER, shall even be cut off from his people”
And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet SPICES, ♤ stacte, and ♤ onycha, and ♤ galbanum; these sweet spices with pure ♤ frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a PERFUME, a confection after the art of the APOTHECARY, TEMPERED TOGETHER, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you MOST HOLY.
“And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye SHALL NOT make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord”
Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
Commentary:
Vs. 22-38. Directions are here given for making the holy anointing oil, and the incense to be used in the service of the tabernacle.
To show To show the excellence of holiness, there was this spiced oil in the tabernacle, which was grateful to the sight and to the smell.
Christ’s name is as ointment poured forth, Song of Solomon 1:3, and the good name of Christians is like precious ointment, Ecclesiastes 7:1.
The incense burned upon the golden altar was prepared of sweet spices.
When it was used, it was to be beaten very small; thus it pleased the Lord to bruise the Redeemer, when he offered himself for a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor.
THE LIKE SHOULD NOT BE MADE FOR ANY COMMON USE AGAIN.
Thus God would keep in the people’s minds reverence for his own services, and teach us not to profane or abuse any thing whereby God makes himself known. It is a great affront to God to jest with sacred things, and to make sport with his word and ordinances. It is most dangerous and fatal to use professions of the gospel of Christ to forward worldly interests.
23-33. Take thou also … principal spices, etc.
–Oil is frequently mentioned in Scripture as an emblem of sanctification, and anointing with it a means of designating objects as well as persons to the service of God. Here it is prescribed by divine authority, and the VARIOUS INGREDIENTS in their SEVERAL PROPORTIONS described which were to compose the oil used in consecrating the furniture of the tabernacle.
myrrh–a fragrant and medicinal gum from a little known tree in Arabia.
sweet cinnamon–produced from a species of laurel or sweet bay, found chiefly in Ceylon, growing to a height of twenty feet: this spice is extracted from the inner bark, but it is not certain whether that mentioned by Moses is the same as that with which we are familiar.
sweet calamus–or sweet cane, a product of Arabia and India, of a tawny color in appearance; it is like the common cane and strongly odoriferous.
cassia–from the same species of tree as the cinnamon–some think the outer bark of that tree. All these together would amount to one hundred twenty pounds, troy weight.
hin–a word of Egyptian origin, equal to ten pints. Being mixed with the olive oil–no doubt of the purest kind–this composition probably remained always in a liquid state, and the strictest prohibition issued against using it for any other purpose than anointing the tabernacle and its furniture.
34-38. the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices–These were:
stacte–the finest myrrh;
onycha–supposed to be an odoriferous shell;
galbanum–a gum resin from an umbelliferous plant.
frankincense–a dry, resinous, aromatic gum, of a yellow color, which comes from a tree in Arabia, and is obtained by incision of the bark. This incense was placed within the sanctuary, to be at hand when the priest required to burn on the altar. The art of compounding unguents and perfumes was well known in Egypt, where sweet-scented spices were extensively used not only in common life, but in the ritual of the temples. Most of the ingredients here mentioned have been found on minute examination of mummies and other Egyptian relics; and the Israelites, therefore, would have the best opportunities of acquiring in that country the skill in pounding and mixing them which they were called to exercise in the service of the tabernacle. But the recipe for the incense as well as for the oil in the tabernacle, though it receives illustration from the customs of Egypt, was peculiar, and being prescribed by divine authority, was to be applied to no common or inferior purpose.
Lev 24: 1 – 4
WHAT IS THE OLIVE OIL FOR?
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.
Without the vail of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations.
He shall order the lamps upon the pure candlestick before the Lord continually.
Commentary
The golden lampstand was described by Moses as to its design (Ex. 25:31-39), its construction (Ex. 37:17-24), and its placement (Ex. 40:24-25).
THE FUEL for its LAMPS was to be CLEAR OIL of pressed olives (cf. Ex. 27:20-21; it was purer and of better quality than boiled olive oil), which was to be provided in such a way that the lamps would be kept burning continually since they provided the only light in the holy place.
NOTE!!!!
Ordinary Olive Oil (no matter how pure it is) was never made or accepted as Anointing Oil.
Anointing Oil in the Bible was more than just Olive Oil.
Do not be deceived!
In this dispensation we do not follow shadows but the real person, The Holy Spirit in person by faith.
Have faith in God and His Word and not in any paraphernalia – water, oil, black currant drink called the blood, etc.
However if anyone still wants to stick to those, you are NOT condemned but soon you will see that THE SPOKEN WORD, now written, IS THE SEED OF GOD!
What God instituted as “The Anointing Oil” is a SPECIAL COMPOUNDED MIXTURE!
The Olive Oil (alone) was only used for FUEL for the lamp stands and NOT for anointing please!
Do not join modern day pentecostal preachers to make merchandise of people’s faith.
Many of them either have factories that make these olive oils, or have a franchise deal with negotiated commissions with the manufacturers or the importers.
That is why they continue to perpetuate this imperfect doctrinal practice.
They make lots of money from selling or marketing the oils.
Do not partake in SHORT-CIRCUITING men and women’s faith because of MONEY!!! Remember the word of caution which says “JUST BECAUSE IT SEEMS TO HAVE WORKED DOES NOT MAKE THE ACT, METHOD OR THE MEANS TO BE RIGHT”
“Just because it works does not make it right”
You can (and must) argue with “results” if the means is unscriptural!!
Just because you become a millionaire does not justify your being a drug peddler and murderous gangster leader!
Just because you became known on CNN as news maker does not justify your being a leader of terrorists groups!
Just because Moses gave them water out of the Rock does not justify striking the same Rock twice!
I The Liteman, have done my own bit. Amen