IS THE USE OF OIL TO ANOINT STILL APPLICABLE TODAY?
Sakkie Parsons
Translated from the Afrikaans Version: Is die gebruik om met olie te salf nog vandag van toepassing
Translator: Lynda Botha
Someone wrote to me and asked if I could write something regarding the use of oil to anoint and whether it is still applicable today.
This is how I view this matter and how I live it in my own life:
Firstly, just for interest sake:
In the Old Testament oil was used to separate the Lord’s chosen people for one or other reason. Considering the length of this letter I will only refer you to two examples:
LEV 8:30 “Next Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the altar, and he sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. In this way, he made Aaron and his sons and their garments holy.”
1 SAM 16:13 “So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.”
They also used oil to anoint objects:
EXO 25:6 “olive oil for the lamps; spices for the anointing oil and the fragrant incense;”
EXO 30 26-29:
26 “Use this sacred oil to anoint the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant,”
27 “the table and all its utensils, the lampstand and all its accessories, the incense altar,”
28 “the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils and the washbasin with its stand.”
29 “Consecrate them to make them absolutely holy. After this, whatever touches them will also become holy.”
There is also a recipe in the Bible that explains how the oil should be produced. I'm not saying that you now need to use this recipe to produce this oil to anoint someone or something. I just mentioned this to you as an interesting fact that such a recipe can be found in the Bible. We read in:
EXODUS 30:22-25:
22 “Then the Lord said to Moses,”
23 "Collect choice spices – 12½ pounds of pure myrrh, 6¼ pounds of fragrant cinnamon, 6¼ pounds of fragrant calamus,”
24 “and 12½ pounds of cassia – as measured by the weight of the sanctuary shekel. Also get one gallon of olive oil.”
25 “Like a skilled incense maker, blend these ingredients to make a holy anointing oil.”
Personally, I do not think that this or any other type of oil which was used, or are still being used today, creates in itself a supernatural power. Our Lord sees the faith and the obedience of the person together with the anointing deed and with His great love and mercy, contributes to the anointing that has taken place.
In the New Testament we read of 4 anointings with oil, namely:
MARK 6:12: “So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.”
MARK 6:13 “And they cast out many demons and healed many sick people, anointing them with olive oil.”LUKE 7:44-47:
44 “Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.”
45 “You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.”
46 “You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.”
47 “I tell you, her sins – and they are many – have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”HEBREWS 1:7-9
7 “Regarding the angels, He says, "He sends His angels like the winds, His servants like flames of fire.”
8 “But to the Son He says, "Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever. You rule with a sceptre of justice.”
9 “You love justice and hate evil. Therefore, O God, your God has anointed you, pouring out the oil of joy on You more than on anyone else.”JAM 5:14 “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.”
JAM 5:15 “Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.”
One can now for example ask:
Apply anointing with oil still today?
In other words – Do we have to anoint people and/or things still today?
Someone may even ask whether it might be wrong to do so still today.
My view on this and all the other requirements that are given in the New Testament to disciples / Christians / followers of Jesus Christ, are still as relevant today as then.
Yes, I know many of the requirements that were given to Jesus' followers, are dismissed by most denominations today, as if it no longer applies to us. Truth be told, when I look at everything which seems irrelevant to many denominations today, due to some or other new revelation or whatever they want to call it, it would seem like the Christians in those times were a totally different kind of human race. One could say a different race on another planet.
I look at "the anointing with oil," the same way I look at all the other requirements for Christians from the Word.
I believe with all my heart that Jesus came – to the second – on the right and perfect time. Our Lord planned, executed and placed everything exactly 100% for His Son's coming.
Let's go back in history, before the coming of Jesus, to Alexander the Great.
A young man Alexander the great stood up and conquered the whole historic civilized world, as well as a large part of the uncivilized world. Wherever he went, he left the Greek alphabet behind which enabled people to read and write.
Then a village Rome grew into the most powerful city in the world, whereby the Romans conquered the Greeks and all the other nations. Their knowledgeable skills enabled roads to be built all around the world which assisted the Gospel to spread over the entire world for everyone to read. With their culture they also brought execution by crucifixion.
Now you have the Greek alphabet, the Roman roads, the crucifixion laws, along with the Jewish culture with its customs and voila!
Then I understand when I read:
GAL 4:4 “But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”
When our Lord used something of that culture, when the right time came, and He states in His Word that I need to live that way, then I say:
"Praise the Lord!"
I will then try to live that way to the best of my ability.
Speaking of cultures –
A culture was created in the church, or should I say the culture originated in many denominations within the church by preaching the following:
"Times have changed. Back when the right time came, they did those things that way, but we don’t have to do it any more, even if it states so in the Word, because we live in a different time and times change."
In this regard I wish to begin by quoting the following from the Word:
2 TIM 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
2 TIM 3:17 “God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.”ROM 15:4-6
4 “Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.”
5 “May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.”
6 “Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Listen my dear friends –
HEB 13:7-9
7 “Remember your leaders who taught you the Word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives and follow the example of their faith.”
8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
9 “So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas..”
This Jesus who never changes, who came when the time in all aspects was exactly right – yes, also when all the cultures was just right, to teach us all about the Gospel what we needed to know and do – from the cultural execution law by crucifixion, to the culture where Paul wrote with the Greek alphabet, nothing has changed. He has not changed, and His Gospel did not change in any way.
These are just a few examples but everything, literally everything, was in my opinion correctly timed to be able to preach the Gospel the way the Gospel must be preached. How could it be otherwise? Was it not our Lord Himself, who has organized the planning and execution from the beginning of the proclamation of the Gospel?
GAL 4:4 “But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.”.
Even when our Lord organized the alphabet and roads to be in place when the right time came, shows how ridiculous that kind of argument is and I say this with all due respect.
Would He then have forgotten to have the right culture in place?
No! A thousand times no!
The implementation of the correct culture was done at the right time, at the perfect part of the world, to help our Lord's authors to write His Word precisely for all times.
So the whole Word, just like the alphabet, came at the right time, which gave us exact perfectionism for all times, I read:
2 TIM 3:16 “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.”
2 TIM3:17 “God uses it to prepare and equip His people to do every good work.”
I also read in the Scriptures:
HEB13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
HEB13:9 “So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas..”
If Jesus does not change, and I am not to be attracted by strange and new ideas, how can we regard ourselves so righteous to take something from His Word, which He drafted to me, and proclaim that it no longer applies to us today?
Especially since I explicitly remember:
1 PET 1:25 “But the Word of the Lord remains forever. And that Word is the Good News that was preached to you."
The church has over the years removed many things out of the true Gospel, as if it no longer applies today, and therefore the church also became increasingly weaker in my opinion, by exchanging their credibility to suit people's opinions and whims. Some people would rather preach a gospel that soothes people's itching ears but instead manages to weaken the church and portraying Jesus’s name as ridiculous within the Gospel to the eyes of the world.
Therefore it is no wonder, that great theologians preach that the virgin birth of Jesus Christ as well as His resurrection from the dead is untrue.
When the church began to point to the Word stipulating that this or that does not apply today anymore, they opened the way for anyone to remove what does not apply to him or her.
No wonder it’s written in the Word:
2 TIM 4:3 “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.”
2 TIM 4:4 “They will reject the truth and chase after myths.”
So, if someone for one or other reason tells you that to anoint someone in the faith no longer applies in today’s world, remember that our Lord inspired us to write, that the whole Word were given for teaching, admonition, rebuttal and providing instruction towards righteousness.
One thing we need to keep in mind is that when we anoint someone or something, for one or other reason, the oil being used is not a magical solution with supernatural power.
Only faith in our Lord and being obedient to what He requests in His Word for you to do is actually all what is required.
To this regard, we read:
JAM 5:14 “Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord.”
JAM 5:15 “Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. /and if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.”
How absolutely wonderful is it not, that we, as His children, received an anointing from our Lord with His Holy Spirit?
1 JOHN 2:20 “But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you His Spirit, and all of you know the truth.”
2 COR 1:21-22
21 “It is God who enables us, along with you to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us,”
22 “and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything, He has promised us.”
I hope that this doesn’t sound presumptuous, but I am asking that you read the Word, to live and proclaim it, as I endeavour to do.
I read the Word through child-like eyes. I wouldn’t write something that doesn’t appear in God’s Word and neither would I decide what in God’s Word is no longer applicable to us today. If we read God’s Word childlike, we do what Jesus tells us to do:
MRK 10:15 “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
If the crucifixion culture, which came into existence when the time was ready, would still apply to me as His disciple today,:
LUKE 14:27 “And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”
then certainly all of the other cultures, that came into place when the time was ready which applied to His children according to the Lord’s Word, surely still applies to me, His child, today.
With my human mind I surely haven’t got all the answers to what is written in the Word, but I know what it means to obey.
Believe me when I tell you that obedience is more acceptable to our Lord, than disobedient service.
1 SAM 15:22 “But Samuel replied: “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to His voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice; and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
1 SAM 13:23 “Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”
Greetings,
Sakkie