What does the Bible say about anointing oil?

The practice of anointing is frequently spoken of in scripture. The holy oil was largely used in the Jewish worship. Their prophets, priests and kings were consecrated and inaugurated with it. It formed an important ingredient in the offerings; even the vessels of the tabernacle were to be anointed with the "holy anointing oil." As compounded according to divine directions (Ex. 30) it was, no doubt, an expressive type of the Holy Spirit in His many and various operations; and in its noiseless flow through the golden pipes (Zech. 4) may represent His silent, unseen working in the soul.

mashach, χρίω, 'to spread over, to anoint' for an office, etc. Kings were anointed: Saul, David, Solomon, Joash, Jehu, and Hazael are examples. Prophets were anointed; for Ps. 105:15 should read 'anointed ones;' and cf. 1 Kings 19:16. Special oil made according to God's directions was used for the anointing of the priests. Ex. 30:30; Ex. 40:13. With the same oil the tabernacle and its vessels were anointed. Ex. 40:9-10. The meat offering was anointed with oil, Lev. 2:1, 4, typical of the pure humanity of the Lord Jesus, and of His being sealed by the Holy Spirit. The cleansed leper was anointed with oil. Lev. 14:17-18.

Whether this last anointing refers to persons or things and whether the oil is that specially prepared or common oil, the sanctification and power of the Holy Spirit is invariably typified thereby. Anointing with oil for consecration to office is not now enjoined on believers, for they are anointed with the Holy Spirit, and are also priests to God. John reminds even the babes in Christ that they have an unction from the Holy One, and the anointing (the same word, χρίσμα) abideth in them. 1 John 2:20, 27. Thus, as in the O.T., the kings, prophets, and priests were anointed as set apart for God, so the Christian is by the Holy Spirit sanctified for God, both as to his position and service. See THE ANOINTED.

Except in Ex. 30:25 (where the Hebrew words are mishchah and roqach, and may be translated "an oil of holy ointment, a perfume"), and in 1 Chr. 9:30; Job 41:31 (where the words are derived from roqach), the Hebrew word is shemen, which is constantly translated 'oil.' It is used for 'fatness, oil, spiced oil,' and hence 'ointment,' with which on joyful occasions the head was anointed, Ps. 133:2, and is elsewhere called the 'oil of gladness.' Ps. 45:7: cf. Prov. 27:9, 16; Ecc. 7:1; Ecc. 9:8; Amos 6:6. As an emollient it was applied to wounds or bruises. Isa. 1:6. In the N.T. the word is μύρον, 'oil mingled with fragrant spices:' with such Mary anointed the Lord, and its perfume filled the house, John 12:3, 5; it was also used by a woman 'which was a sinner.' Luke 7:37-38. The ointment would be more or less costly according to the ingredients.

This was compounded of pure myrrh, sweet cinnamon, sweet calamus, cassia and olive oil. With it was anointed the whole tabernacle with all its vessels. Aaron and his sons also were anointed and consecrated to the priest's office. No one was allowed to make or to use such an ointment. After speaking of Aaron arid his sons, this remarkable injunction is given: "Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured:" that is, not upon man as man, only upon Aaron and his sons as priests. Ex. 30:22-33. It is typical of the Holy Spirit, with whom only the Lord Jesus and believers are anointed. Acts 10:38; 1 John 2:20, 27; cf. Lev. 8:24, 30.

In the description of the goodness of the land of promise one of the advantages mentioned is 'a land of oil olive'; and among the blessings enumerated with which God would endow His obedient people is that their oil should be multiplied. Deut. 7:13; Deut. 8:8. It was an article of value, and the people had their olive yards as well as their vineyards. Oil was employed for various purposes. It was used as food, 2 Chr. 2:10, 15; 2 Chr. 11:11; Ps. 55:21; for anointing the kings, etc., 1 Sam. 10:1; 1 Sam. 16:1, 13; in the sacrifices of the meat offering, Lev. 2:1-16; as an ingredient in the holy ointment, Ex. 30:24-25, see OINTMENT; as a cosmetic, Ps. 23:5; Ps. 92:10; Luke 7:46; to give light in the lamps, Ex. 35:8, 14; as an emollient, Luke 10:34. Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. Matt. 25:3-10; Heb. 1:9.

If they asked for it, not else. Oil was a sign, that is all. It is the prayer of faith that saves, not the oil; the faith of the elders.

Anointing with Oil

The apostles in the course of their ministry "cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them." The circumstance of the anointing is only mentioned in Mark, but the healing of the sick is also associated with oil in the Epistle of James: "Is any among you sick? 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, and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up" (James 5:14).

It is known that oil was used throughout the East as a remedial agent. Not to make reference beyond the Bible, the Good Samaritan administered oil as well as wine to the wounded man (Luke 10:34). Isaiah refers to the mollification of wounds with oil (Isa. 1:6). Is it not therefore reasonable to suppose that the disciples and the elders of the church applied oil to sick persons, as a natural remedy, this being a simple specific within the power of those lacking medical knowledge and skill? And they did so, relying on the power and blessing of the Lord to make the means efficacious. Further than this we have no warrant for imitating their example in these days.

inasmuch as "the anointing with oil" seems to be the point most stressed by divine healers, we shall examine this first. What does it mean? Here we must remember the Jewish character of the Epistle. We have shown before that the believers who in James addresses were still closely identified with Judaism, hence they practised many things peculiar to Judaism. Anointing with oil was extensively used in the ceremonies of the Jews. Kings and priests were anointed, oil being liberally poured upon the head, denoting outwardly the fact of consecration to office, and symbolically the Spirit of God, which they needed for the exercise of their functions. Furthermore, oil was also very widely used for health and comfort. It was and is still a great remedial agent in the Orient.

The Good Samaritan poured into the wounds of the man who had fallen among the thieves oil and wine. Oil was used in cases of fever and most generally in skin diseases. Anointing the sick with oil was a general practice, as can be shown from talmudical literature. In Mark 6:13, we read, "And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed them." Would they not have been healed if they had not been anointed with oil? The anointing with oil was an old custom which the disciples made use of, but the Lord in commissioning them in connection with the kingdom message did not tell them that they should anoint the sick with oil; they did it, for such was the universal practice. If James commands these Jewish believers who were sick to be anointed with oil he reaffirmed therefore this old Jewish custom. Oil is something beneficial to the body, a remedy, just as wine is recommended by the Spirit of God as a remedy for the ills of the body (1 Timothy 5:23). It is therefore an open question whether oil may not stand here also for legitimate means to be used in case of illness. Divine healers carry with them a small bottle of oil and daub the forehead with a drop of oil, but this is not the anointing commanded here. Where is the authority to say that a drop of oil must be put on the forehead?

But it is very striking that apart from this passage, in this transition Epistle, nowhere else in the New Testament (except in Mark 6:13), do we read anything about this anointing with oil in case of sickness. Why did not Paul write to Timothy, who often had infirmities, "Call the elders, let them anoint you with oil," but instead of it, the divinely given remedy, "a little wine," is urged upon him. And Paul was sick himself, suffered with his eyes, which probably was the thorn in the flesh. Trophimus was sick in Miletus. But nowhere this Jewish ceremony, anointing with oil, is mentioned. The Epistles which are the high water mark of divine revelation, are the Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians; we find nothing in these Epistles about healing of diseases by anointing and prayer. Nor is it mentioned in any of the other Pauline Epistles. In Corinthians the gift of healing is found among the gifts of the Spirit, but he who possessed that gift had no need of using oil besides. Our conclusion, then, is that the anointing with oil in this passage is something customary with the Jews, which is not meant to be perpetuated in the Church, for if such were the fact the Holy Spirit would have stated it elsewhere.

We pass over the question as to true elders, which are to be called. Many of those who go about as divine healers are women. Who has ever heard of "women elders"? In fact, in the public healing services which have become such a common thing in our days, the question of elders is entirely ignored. Big advertisements appear in the papers that services for the healing of the sick are to be held. As a result hundreds come and are ready to do anything, to believe anything, if only some hope is held out that they might be cured. They readily submit to the ceremony of having a little oil put on their foreheads, but the command, that the sick person, is to call for the elders of the church, those of authority, is ignored. The question is, "Do we still have the elders in the apostolic sense?" These are matters which are completely set aside by modern faith healers.

The word, anointing, as a symbolic word carries with it a definite meaning. There were three classes anointed in Old Testament times—priests, prophets, kings. Of course they were anointed by oil being poured upon their heads. But though it was a rite in Old Testament times, it carried with it a definite result. This is plainly indicated in 1 Samuel 16:13: “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him [David] in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.” Scripture thus links anointing with oil with the bestowal of the Spirit. With the priest, it was to enable him to take the priestly position and service; with the prophet the prophetic position and service; with the king the kingly position and service.

In the New Testament there is no anointing with oil in this connection, but that which anointing with oil typifies takes place, viz., the bestowal of the Holy Spirit as the anointing, enabling the believer to take up the Christian position for walk, worship and service.

Oil was one of the most useful of the products of the land of Israel, both for domestic and sacred purposes. There were three general uses to which it was put: for food, for light, and for anointing. Thus the widow of Zarephath had "but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse" (1 Kings 17:12); the virtuous woman was well supplied with oil — "her candle goeth not out by night" (Prov. 31:18); David, after the death of his child, washed and anointed himself (2 Sam. 12:20). These are examples of the domestic uses to which the oil was put, and the sacred uses were similar. Thus the meat-offering, when baked, was made of "fine flour mingled with oil," or anointed with it (Lev. 2:4). Its use for light we are now considering in the lamps of the sanctuary; and it was constantly used in anointing or consecrating persons, places and articles. So priests were anointed (Ex. 28:41); the tabernacle and its various articles of furniture (Ex. 40:9); David and all the kings of Judah were anointed (2 Sam. 2:7; 1 Kings 1:34); Elisha the prophet was to be anointed (1 Kings 19:16). A striking case is that anointing of the pillar at Bethel by Jacob (Gen. 28:18; Gen. 31:13), where he set apart the place as "the house of God," a kind of anticipation of the tabernacle. As is well known, Messiah means "the Anointed," and the "Lord's anointed" is constantly used as designating the king, and was the recognized title of our Lord; "Christ" being but the Greek equivalent for Messiah, "the Anointed" (Ps. 2:2; Ps. 18:50, Ps. 84:9; Dan. 9:25-26).

As to sickness the Apostle's instructions are equally plain. It is viewed as being God's chastening hand upon the saint, very possibly in the form of direct retribution for his sins. In this the church would be interested, and the elders of the church should be called in. They, at their discretion, pray over him, anointing him with oil in the Lord's name and he is healed, his sins being governmentally forgiven. It is evident from such a scripture as 1 John 5:16 that the elders were to exercise their spiritual discernment as to whether it was, or was not, the will of God that healing should be granted. If they discerned it to be His will then they could pray the prayer full of faith and confidence, which would be without fail answered in his recovery.

Is this all valid for today? We believe so. Why then is it so little practised? For at least two reasons. First, it is not an easy matter to find the elders of THE church though the elders of certain religious bodies may be found easily enough. The church of God has been ruined as to its outward manifestation and unity, and we have to pay the penalty of it. Second assuming the elders of the church are found and that they come in response to the call, the discernment and faith on their part, which are called for if they are to offer such a prayer of faith as is contemplated, are but very rarely found.