The anointing oil has been used for many centuries to conduct rituals to install kings and priests, bury the dead, and cleanse the lepers. Even the coming of the Messiah was characterized by an anointed spiritual being (Acts 4:27; 10:38; Hebrews 9:11).
God requires us to cover ourselves with anointing oil all the time, so His Spirit can walk in our presence, and give us an understanding of His Word. The Bible equates our spirits to lamps. The Holy Spirit is a fuel that keeps the fire burning, illuminating our spirits, saving us from darkness and enabling us to understand God’s Word.
The Bible mentions “oil” more than 200 times and olive oil 20 times. The terms “olive oil”, “oil of olive” or shemen zayith, appear interchangeably to represent different sources. The oil comes from the fruit of the olive tree. Tekoa and Ragab areas of Palestine produced the best quality of olive oil.
The Bible mentions two types of oils: pure and beaten (Exodus 27:20; 29:40; Leviticus 24:2; Numbers 28:5). Of these types, virgin oil was of superior quality, because it was pure, fine and sweet, and didn’t turn rancid. Virgin oil wasn’t adulterated, neither did it contain cottonseed oil. The unsaturated acids made up the glycerides. To prove that olive oil is pure or unadulterated, add nitrous acid, and it’ll quickly solidify.
We see the importance of anointing oil in the bible. When Hezekiah lost priesthood, oil was brought as part of tribute (2 Chronicles 31). To crown David the king, northern tribes brought oil, wine, figs and raisins to celebrate the ceremony (1 Chronicles 12:40). God even gifted the Babylonians with oil, fine flour and honey, substances which were considered a luxury in a land where people starved, despite their unfaithfulness (Ezekiel 16:15; Revelation 18:13).
Purposes of the Anointing oil From Israel
But oil wasn’t just food, as in Leviticus 2:4-5, where “Fine flour mingled with oil”, it served many purposes. Fine flour symbolized Christ and oil the Holy Spirit. God anointed Jesus’s spirit, which should nourish us spiritually.
One of the most popular and ancient uses was applying the oil externally. People could apply oil on hair, limbs and clothes for religious and secular reasons.
There were several ways oil was applied externally:
- For cosmetic or toilet purposes. Fresh oils were preferable to inferior oils, because they didn’t turn rancid (Psalms 92:10)
- For medical and medicinal purposes. We see healing power of oil in the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:34).
- For consecration of kings, high priests or holy things (Exodus 29:7-2; Leviticus 21:10; Numbers 35:25). Whoever or whatever was anointed was dedicated to serve only God (Leviticus 10:7). Leviticus 21:15 refers to this dedication as “the crown of the anointing oil”.
- For performance of rituals to bury the dead (Matthew 26:12; Mark 14:3-8; Luke 23:34; John 19:40). The purpose is to revive membership and increase the size of the heart, as the eye of Horus gave rise to olive tree.
- For lighting using lamps. Pure olive oil didn’t produce soot, but it ran out quickly. Despite this shortcoming, temples and tabernacles used it for lighting, as was the case of Eleazar (Exodus 27:20; Leviticus 24:2; Numbers 4:16).
- For food. The widow of Zarephath used oils to make cakes, keeping her family from starving during famine (1 Kings 17:12). Usually, women who’re unfaithful to their husbands would add oil to the food (Ezekiel 16:13). You also had to partake of oil before you offer tithe to the Lord (Deuteronomy 12:17). Manna, food which fell from heaven, had a taste comparable to oil (Numbers 8:11).
- People also offered meals containing oils to spirits and deities. In the Bible, we see oil’s use as a day-to-day sacrifice (Ezekiel 29:23), priest’s consecration-offering (Exodus 29:2-3; Leviticus 6:15, 21), meal-offering (Leviticus 7:10), Levites’s consecration-offering (Numbers 8:5), renewal of the Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:15), offer to cure leprosy (Leviticus 14), and special offering to build a tabernacle (Numbers 7). We also see situations where people offered oil to cleanse sin and deal with jealousy (Leviticus 5:11; Numbers 5:15).
Rituals and ceremonies required lots of oil. As much as 100 baths (nearly 820 gallons of oil) were consumed (Ezra 7:22). The priests used oils of highest quality (Numbers 18:12), because they communicated with spirits and deities.
But What did People use to Contain the oil?
In the books of 1 Samuel 16:1-10 and 1 Kings 1:20, we see Zadok and Samuel using a horn. When Samuel anointed king Saul, he used a vial (1 Samuel 10:1). We also see a prophet using a vial of anointing oil to install Jehu (2 Kings 9:1). A widow used a cruse to hold the oil (1 Kings 17:13).
And in the book of 2 Kings 4:2, a widow whose husband was a prophet, used a pot to hold oil, which prophet Elisha blessed. We also see a vessel being used to carry oil in the parable of the virgins.
Metaphorical use of oil in the Bible
When oil poured out of a flint rock, as in Deuteronomy 32:13 and Job 29:4, it signified abundance. To draw an oil from a flint rock, there were two ways:
- Use olive to squeeze a stone press
- Tap a slope where the olive vegetation grew.
For someone to be blessed with plenty of oils, as in Asher (Deuteronomy 33:24), s/he soaked his/her feet wet with oil. In abundance, comes extravagance, and so the Bible cautions us against wastage, because when oil runs out, poverty sets in (Proverbs 21:17, 20).
The anointing oil also symbolizes the Holy Spirit, which fuels the illumination of our spirits, freeing us from darkness. And since we are the lamps, light originates from within us. The illumination is the understanding of God’s Word (Psalm 119:18).
And just as Aaron did to the lamps, we need to keep dressing ourselves with oil (Exodus 30:7, 8). We should always do that in preparation to meet the Holy Spirit, just as Esther did with myrrh oil before meeting her husband, King Xerxes. Oil opens up the way for the Lord to move in our midst.
Anointing oil from Israel is used for secular and religious purposes. We see in the Bible secular purposes of oil in the anointment of kings and priests by prophets, treatment of diseases, food preparation and application for cosmetics and toilet. We see religious purposes of olive oils in rituals to consecrate kings, priests and prophets, bury the dead, and offer meals as a way of seeking healing, sacrifice and construction of a tabernacle.