Where has the Anointing Oil gone?

Anointing Oil has been used throughout the ages for many reasons. It was used to anoint the tabernacle and all its vessels along with the priests that would serve there. It was used to anoint the heads of the Kings of Israel. Anointing Oil was around even before there was a Tabernacle and priests and it was used during and after Jesus’s life here on earth. You will find in Exodus 30:23-33 a description of a special Anointing Oil that was to be used ONLY on the Tabernacle, vessels of the Tabernacle and the Priests “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,[24] And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:[25] 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.[26] And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony,[27] And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense,[28] And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot.[29] And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.[30] And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office.[31] And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.[32] 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.[33] Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.” What is also interesting is this is not to be made for any other purpose than the Tabernacle and Priests and if it is made and used for anything other than what The Almighty has commanded those people would be cut off, killed. Anointing Oil had great significance to The Almighty and His people, yet today that same significance seems to be lost. Of course I myself would not make any based exactly upon the ingredients mentioned in Exodus. I would rather be obedient to His words than risk His anger for blatant disobedience.

There seems to be one ingredient common to all Anointing Oil and that is Olive Oil and Olive Oil seems to be connected to the representation of the Holy Spirit. Does all Anointing Oil have to have spices or can it be just Olive Oil? Psalms 23:5 mentions only the oil, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”, so no I don’t believe it has to be anything other than Olive Oil. What is important about Anointing Oil is that it should be prayed over before using it. You will find in James 5:14-15 that they would pray over the people and anoint them in the name of the lord, “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:[15] And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” Through pray and even fasting you impart the Holy Spirit into the Anointing Oil as you use it for healing, casting out demons or even for protection. Jesus had his disciples use Anointing Oil as in Mark 6:13 “And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them.” As I mentioned earlier that Anointing Oil was used before there were Kings of Israel or even a Tabernacle. Genesis 31:13 speaks of a time when Jacob anointed an area where he had made a vow unto The Almighty, “I am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred.” When we see Anointing Oil being used throughout the Bible and by Jesus’s own disciples, why than is it rarely used in churches today or even spoken about? Why have Christians been disarming themselves of a very important weapon in the spiritual battles we face every day? Has the Church grown so complacent that it no longer thinks that Satan and his forces are a threat? Our fight is far from over and just because Jesus came and died for us does not change the fact that we are down here in a world ruled by Satan. It is frightening to think that there are million upon millions of Christians that actually believe that Satan is a toothless lion and has no power or that in our modern world he just doesn’t exists. I pray that those that truly believe will think on this and rearm themselves with the armament of Anointing Oil again.

There were a couple extra things that I had found while studying about Anointing Oil that I would like to share with you all. First one is found in Ruth 4:3-4 “Wash thyself therefore, and anoint thee, and put thy raiment upon thee, and get thee down to the floor: but make not thyself known unto the man, until he shall have done eating and drinking.[4] And it shall be, when he lieth down, that thou shalt mark the place where he shall lie, and thou shalt go in, and uncover his feet, and lay thee down; and he will tell thee what thou shalt do.” Not only did Ruth anoint herself calling upon the LORD to bless her, but she also anointed the place where Boaz was going to lie down. She anointed it to ask for the LORD’s blessing and protection for what she was about to do. Anointing Oil can be used for many things, such as getting The Almighty’s blessing on something you’re about to embark on like Ruth had done.

Second one I found was in 1 Kings 1:39 where we see what type of Anointing Oil was used to anoint the Kings of Israel, “And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon.” This was the same Anointing Oil that was command by The Almighty to be made by the Priests that was to be used for the Tabernacle and Priesthood.

Lastly I had found something else out that was interesting while studying about Anointing Oil and it can be found in 1 Samuel 9:15-16, “Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,[16] To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.” What we know of as Kings is not the case for in the beginning the LORD anointed men to be Captains not Kings over His people. So when we speak of the Kings of Israel they are really only captains, men given charge over the LORD’s people. It would be Jesus later on down the road and in the future who will be our first and only King over us. It was man that decided to call them Kings, but it was never the case in the beginning.