And of the rest of the oil that is in his hand shall the priest put on the tip of the right ear of him that is to be cleansed, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the great toe of his right foot, upon the blood of the trespass-offering.
The priest has already put the blood of the guilt offering on the healed leper's right ear, thumb, and big toe. Now he adds oil to those same three spots, on top of the blood: first a sacrifice, then the Spirit, then a whole life claimed for God.
The oil never touches bare skin. It goes only where the blood already is, and that order never changes.
You must get blood before you get oil, and the oil may come immediately after the blood, as in the case of the leper. When I am cleansed by the blood of Christ, then the Holy Spirit can come and dwell in me.
The verse names whose blood the oil goes on: "the blood of the guilt offering." Older translations call it the trespass offering. One writer compares that sacrifice with the one used to consecrate priests. They are not the same.
The blood put on the leper's ear, thumb and big toe was the blood of a trespass offering, because what is pictured there is the cleansing of a sinner. But it was the blood of a communion offering that consecrated priests for the service of God.
The priest marks three body parts: the ear, the hand, and the foot. A person listens, acts, and walks with these. Each one now gets a new purpose.
Not only are our members cleansed by the blood of Christ, but also consecrated to God, in the power of the Spirit. God's work is not only negative, but positive. The ear is no longer to be the way defilement gets in, but to be "swift to hear" the voice of the Good Shepherd. The hand is no longer to serve as the instrument of unrighteousness. It is now to be stretched out in acts of righteousness, grace, and true holiness. The foot is no longer to walk in folly's paths, but to run in the way of God's holy commandments. And, finally, the whole person is to be dedicated to God in the energy of the Holy Spirit.
The ear comes first in the list. That has a practical edge for anyone God has cleansed:
Those who are saved by grace and sealed by the Spirit are warned again and again about what they allow into their ears. … The precious blood claims the ear. The Spirit pictured by the oil is the power God gives, so that the ear may be used in a way that pleases Him.
The oil rests on blood, never on bare flesh. So the anointing is not an improvement of the man as he was.
Note well that the blood was first placed on the leper's ear and hand and foot, and afterwards the oil (Lev. 14:17). The Spirit's power is not something added to what I am as a mere natural man. The work of Christ must be grasped, its results formed in the soul.
The verse speaks of "the oil that remains in his hand." The priest has already sprinkled oil seven times before the LORD, and there is still more. The next verse pours the rest on the man's head.
It is lovely to see the way that oil never fails. The priest sprinkles it before the Lord seven times, and puts it on the ear, thumb and toe of the leper, and there is still more left. It reminds us of the word, "God gives the Spirit without measure" (John 3:34). Whatever need we have for His power and energy, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is more than enough for our every need. … Those in Israel who were anointed were the priests, the kings, and, in one case at least, a prophet — and the cleansed lepers! What a wonderful company he is brought into.
- Order — Blood first, then oil. The Spirit comes after the sacrifice, never before it.
- Ground — The oil rests on the blood of the guilt offering. That sacrifice cleansed a defiled sinner; a different one consecrated priests.
- Reach — Ear, hand, foot: hearing, acting, walking. The cleansing is not abstract; it lands on the exact parts of life a person uses.
- Power — The anointing is not added strength for the natural man. It is God's own power making real what the blood has already secured.
- Overflow — The oil never runs out. The priest pours the rest on the man's head. That marks his whole person, and sets a former outcast among the anointed of Israel.
And the remainder of the oil that is in the priest's hand he shall put upon the head of him that is to be cleansed, and the priest shall make atonement for him before Jehovah.
A healed leper comes back on the eighth day, and the priest empties his hand: the last of the oil goes on the man's head. The questions are why any oil is left, why it goes there, and why a rite so full of oil ends with the word "atonement."
One writer sees the oil left over as a supply that never runs out, and notices who else in Israel ever had oil poured on the head:
It is lovely to see the way the oil never fails. Although it was sprinkled before the Lord seven times, and put on the ear, thumb and toe of the leper, there is still more left. It reminds us of the word, "God gives the Spirit without measure" (John 3:34). Whatever need we have for His power and energy, we may be sure that the Spirit of God is more than enough for our every need. … Those in Israel who were anointed were the priests, the kings, and, in one case at least, a prophet — and the cleansed lepers!
Ear, hand and foot were each touched on their own. Commentators read the head in two ways. One links each place the oil touches to a power the Spirit gives:
The oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit. He is the power by which the ear takes in the truth. He is the power that puts a person's actions right and corrects the walk. Put on the head, it shows the mind coming under the power of the Spirit.
Another notes that the oil went only where the blood had already gone:
These parts of the body were already marked with blood. So the oil was put on the blood… The rest of the oil was poured on the head of the cleansed leper, a picture of the whole man being claimed for God.
The head is the one place blood never touched. One writer takes that omission as a picture of Christ Himself.
No blood is put upon the head itself, but the remainder of the oil is poured on it. "The head of every man is Christ," and when Christ personally is pictured, He is anointed without blood, for He was personally sinless and needed no expiation. So when the high priest is consecrated on his own (Lev. 8:6-12), he is bathed and then the oil is put on him straight away. It is the same as when our Lord was baptised in the Jordan. He was "anointed by the Holy Spirit" when the divine Spirit came down on Him at once in the form of a dove. Had it been anyone else, atonement would have been required before the anointing could take place.
One writer sets this moment beside the day the high priest himself was anointed.
Here the high priest himself could say: "After Moses sprinkled the anointing oil seven times on the altar and its vessels, he poured it on my head" (Lev. 8). How remarkable the likeness here. The leper who had been shut out and the high priest both had oil poured on their heads at the door of the tent of meeting. Under the ceremonial law, only these two had the oil poured on the head… The astonishing ordeal the healed leper went through certainly pictured the amazing place the believer is now brought into, through and in Christ.
The verse ends with atonement. One writer asks what actually made that atonement:
It was not, I think, the oil that made the atonement, but the blood of the trespass offering. In Leviticus 17:11 we read, "it is the blood that makes atonement by the life." Blood, not oil, makes atonement. Blood alone can cover sins. But this statement comes at the end of verse 18. It closes the section that includes both the trespass offering and the oil. So it shows us how closely the Spirit of God is connected with the offering of our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 9:14).
The rite echoes the consecration of priests, yet its starting point is not the same.
In the case of the leper, it is different from the consecration of the priests. This is not consecration to God first of all… The first thought is cleansing — consecration from defilement. Yet we do reach up to the anointing oil, and here it is poured on the head of the cleansed one. He is seen on his own as one who shares in the Holy Spirit before God.
- Blood first. The atonement named at the end of the verse rests on the trespass offering, not on the oil; blood alone covers sin.
- Oil after. Where the blood had gone, the oil followed — the Spirit's power for the ear that hears, the hand that serves, the foot that walks.
- Oil over. There is always a remainder, because the Spirit is not given by measure.
- Oil on the head. The head takes oil and no blood; commentators read it as the mind brought under the Spirit, or the whole man claimed for God.
- Oil that lifts. Only two men in Israel had oil poured on the head: the high priest and the cleansed outcast. The man shut out ends the day where the highest in Israel stood.