What Is the Significance of Anointing Oil?

Both the Old Testament and the New Testament talk a lot about oil for anointing. Even though anointing oil isn't magical on its own, using it is a sign of your faith in God and in His ability to make things clean and holy.

You might ask, "Why does that symbolic part matter? Isn't anointing oil for healing just for church leaders?"

Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit's presence and power.

In the time of the Old Testament, oil was a well-known and important part of culture. But the oil used to anoint people wasn't just a part of a ceremony. It was also a sign of what the Holy Spirit would do in the New Testament.

The real power comes from God, just like it does with all other spiritual tools. To put it simply, anointing oil is a sign that the Holy Spirit is coming to heal, strengthen, and bless us.

What Other Lessons Does Anointing Oil Hold For Us?

In Exodus 30, the five ingredients of anointing oil were listed: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, cassia, and olive oil. There are a lot of anointing oils on the market today, and some of them may not follow the recipe exactly. For example, they might have frankincense (another spice mentioned frequently in the bible).

But when we look at the spices that make people buy the best oil of healing, we should care less about how accurate it is and more about what we can learn from how each spice is different. When you put it all together, it's almost like a recipe for how to live a blessed life.

Myrrh was used as an embalming fluid and a purifier. To our old man, it means a life and death that are clean (Rom 6:6). The most important thing for a blessed life is to be humble and submit to God's will. Jesus was given myrrh when He was born and when He died. He didn't take the myrrh to ease the pain on the cross. His love for us will pay the full price!

Cinnamon comes from a very straight-growing tree. Christ is The Straight One and a pleasant smell. Song of Solomon, verse 3 People say this cinnamon grew so straight that it didn't have any bends. An upright life is a sweet aroma to the Lord (2 Cor 2:14) (2 Cor 2:14)

The reed Sweet Cane (Calamus) grows in swamps. Calamus has a very pleasant smell when it is dried and ground up. This shows how a humble life bends down low. Humility is a sweet taste to the Lord. He dwells with the humble. (Isa 57:15)

Cassia makes a leaf that is still used to clean the inside of the body. "He is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap," says Malachi 3:2. The cassia herb needs to be planted in a swampy area near a river bank because its branches hold on to water. This signifies that we can’t survive without the Spirit. Cassia in the Hebrew language also means to bow down the head, signifying surrender and prayer.

Olive oil. The process required to get olive oil is intense, signifying that it’s costly to get the anointing oil! The parable of the virgins in Matt 25 tells us that the oil must be purchased. The “vehicle” by which the spices are carried in the oil. Holy Spirit makes Jesus real and through us diffuses His fragrance in every place!