Series: Exodus
Title: Holy
Anointing Oil
Text: Ex 30:22-33
Date: Aug 9,
2020
Place: SGBC, NJ
God commanded a holy anointing oil be made from the very best,
costly spices and olive oil—Exodus 30: 22: Moreover the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, 23: Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh
five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even
two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and
fifty shekels, 24: And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the
shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 25: And thou shalt make it an
oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it
shall be an holy anointing oil.
God chose and commanded what
was to be anointed with this oil—26: And thou
shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the
testimony, 27: And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his
vessels, and the altar of incense, 28: And the altar of burnt offering with all
his vessels, and the laver and his foot. 29: And thou shalt sanctify them, that
they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. 30: And thou
shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister
unto me in the priest’s office. 31: And thou shalt speak unto the children of
Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your
generations.
God also gave
prohibitions concerning this oil—32: Upon man’s flesh shall it not be
poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition
of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33: Whosoever
compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a
stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.
Proposition: This oil typifies the Holy Spirit and his work of
making his people holy.
God
is holy—essentially holy—holiness is his nature, essence. God is himself holiness. God is perfect, pure, separate, higher than
all. He is unlike any sinner, unlike any
idol created in the minds of a sinner.
Hosea 11:
9:…I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee:…
Isaiah 40:
25: To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.
God is “glorious
in holiness” (Exodus 15:11)—all his perfections and all his works are glorious
because all are done in holiness—holiness is God’s glory and makes all he does
glorious.
Deuteronomy
32: 4: He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are
judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.
Unholiness is every
sinner because we fell in Adam—and come forth with a fallen, corrupt, unholy
nature—a nature evil and obnoxious to God.
God is
Habakkuk
1:13…of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:
In order for a sinner to be holy, God
has to make us holy: the Lord God who commands, “Be ye holy, for I am holy”
(Leviticus 20. 26) is the One who makes chosen sinners holy. It is this work of God the Holy Spirit that is
portrayed and typified in this “holy anointing oil.” This holy anointing oil typifies the Holy Spirit
and his work of making his people holy.
Divisions: 1)
The ingredients 2) The anointing 3) The prohibition
THE INGREDIENTS
Exodus 30: 22: Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 23: Take
thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels,
and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels,
and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, 24: And of cassia
five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil
olive an hin: 25: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment
compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.
The Holy anointing oil was made of four principle spices compounded
together with olive oil. The word “principle” means “head”: the most excellent
spices, the absolute best. They were measured
in exact amounts by cost according to the exact shekel of the sanctuary. God the Holy Spirit is most excellent, most
valuable. His anointing is most excellent,
the most valuable thing a believer has. In
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is the measure of perfect
holiness!
Since the Holy Spirit was
poured out on Christ without measure, in these ingredients we not only see the
Holy Spirit but Christ’s spirit. God the
Father said to Christ,
Psalm 45: 7: Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness:
therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy
fellows.
Isaiah 11:
1: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch
shall grow out of his roots: 2: And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the
spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD; 3: And shall make him of quick
understanding in the fear of the LORD: and he shall not judge after the sight
of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4: But with righteousness
shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and
he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his
lips shall he slay the wicked. 5: And righteousness shall be the girdle of his
loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
Psalms
45:8: All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out
of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.
First, pure myrrh
means myrrh that came from the tree freely of itself. It distilled from the tree of itself. Myrrh was bitter and fragrant. Christ did all his work willingly—freely
of himself. He willingly became servant
to God under the law. He willingly
obeyed God. He willingly laid down his
life and brought his Father and people together in HIM through his precious blood—“no
man taketh my life, I lay down of myself.”
He freely, willingly drank the bitter cup of God’s wrath—"he hath made
him sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” He bore the wrath of God in the room and
stead of his people willingly, freely of himself. By his blood he justified his people, taking
away our sins which made us a stinking abomination to God and Christ made
us fragrant to God in his righteousness.
Sweet
Cinnamon comes from a word meaning “to
erect.” Christ Jesus through the Spirit
of God is the builder of God’s house. Sweet
cinnamon is really hot to the taste. Christ’s
zeal was not cold or lukewarm. He was zealous
for the honor and glory of God. He always
pleased the Father. God is satisfied with
Christ’s obedience unto the death of the cross.
By his righteousness upon us he describes his church as a garden of cinnamon.
Song of Solomon 4: 12: A
garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. 13:
Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with
spikenard, 14: Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of
frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
Calamus is from a fragile reed and full of fragrance. God’s people are described as the bruised
reed and the smoking flax. Christ knows
that the flesh is weak by being made one with us. So he deals gently with his people, never
breaking the bruised reed, never quenching the smoking flax. Instead, he gives us his fragrance and his strength..
Cassia
grows bends over low to the ground
because of its large crown. Christ’s
Kingly Crown of glory is seen in that he came low from heavens glory. He humbled himself and became a servant of
God. Our Lord was lowly in heart submitting
to God the Father in perfect submission and obedience. And he did it as Head of his people so that what
Christ did we did! He that is least in
the kingdom of heaven is the greatest therefore Christ wears the Crown because
none ever stooped so low in love for his Father and his people.
Olive oil is made from bruising the olive. The Holy Spirit is called the Oil of gladness. The Holy Spirit is sent and anoints each of God’s
elect drawing us irresistibly to Christ in faith. This work is through Christ’s cross where he
was bruised under the justice of God in our room and stead.
Isaiah 53: 5…he was bruised for our iniquities:
He said that if he went away
to the bruising of the cross then he would send the Holy Spirit. So it is through Christ being bruised in
place of his people that he sends the Oil of the Spirit with all the principle
spices of grace.
Titus 3: 5…the washing of regeneration, and renewing
of the Holy Ghost; 6: Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our
Saviour; 7: That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs
according to the hope of eternal life.
So in these ingredients, we
behold Christ our Holiness of perfection.
God’s people were in him as our Head.
What he did, we did and who he is, we are. Christ is the holiness of his people at God’s
right hand and Christ in you is our holiness.
Every believer is given a measure of the Oil of gladness. Christ our Holiness is formed in us. Thus we have a new holy nature which is like
Christ in measure: willing, zealous, humble, gentle, kind. The new man is created after God, renewed in
knowledge after the image of Christ that created him. Christ in you is the hope of glory because
Christ is that holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
THE ANOINTING
Exodus 30: 26: And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the
congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, 27: And the table and all
his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, 28:
And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his
foot. 29: And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever
toucheth them shall be holy. 30: And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and
consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. 31:
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy
anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
God commanded
that all that he choose be anointed with the oil. God
said, “And thou shalt anoint…” then God declared what and who he chooses
to be anointed.
God the Father separated, sanctified, his people in divine
election. He made us holy and accepted.
Ephesians 1:4: According as he hath chosen us in him
before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame
before him in love:
In the fulness of time, Christ
came forth and finished the work.
Hebrews 10:10: By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once…14:…for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
But we only know this when
the Oil of gladness, the Holy Spirit, regenerates us and “of God is Christ made
unto you sanctification!” Then we cease
looking at our works for holiness. Christ
becomes our sanctifier and our sanctification.
Ephesians 5: 25…Christ also loved the church, and gave
himself for it; 26: That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of
water by the word, 27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and
without blemish.
As
Prophet Christ is the Holy One: so the faith he delivers to those he sanctifies
is most holy faith. As Priest he is the
Holy One: holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, who offered himself
without spot to God—so his intercession for his saints is holy and accepted of
God by his righteousness and holiness alone.
As King his is the Holy One: all his administrations are purity and
righteousness; the Holy One shall “judge the world in righteousness”.
And
all who are sanctified by Father and Son must and shall be made holy, separated
and consecrated unto God by the Holy Spirit in the new birth and shall be
perfected in the resurrection. God
required everything in the tabernacle, including the tabernacle, its vessels, their
instruments, as well as the priests be anointed with the holy oil. Of the tabernacle
and its furniture God required—"thou shalt sanctify them, that they may
be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy.” Of the priests God required—"thou
shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister
unto me in the priest’s office.”
God’s people by
nature are impure, imperfect sinners: no purity, only spots, stains, and
darkness. We cannot make ourselves holy. We cannot make ourselves priests. We cannot minister before God or be accepted. But the triune God is holy, perfect, pure. Therefore, the Father sent Christ who sends
the Holy Spirit to his elect who through this gospel—"sanctifies them,
that they may be most holy…[he] anoints…and consecrates them, that they may
minister unto [God] in the priest’s office.”
This holy oil was essential
to the worship of God. All who approach
holy God must be holy to be accepted and worship holy God. Only God can make us holy: God the Father, Christ
the Son and God the Holy Spirit. That goes
for every chosen sinner in every generation pictured in that God required this oil be used throughout their generations.
THE
PROHIBITION
Exodus 30: 32:
Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other
like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be
holy unto you. 33: Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever
putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his
people.
This
oil was not to be used commonly. At feasts
they would commonly rub oil on guests. God
says this oil is not to be used commonly.
Nothing about grace is common; it is particular. The anointing, the unction of the Holy
Spirit, is for God’s elect alone. It is
for Christ’s blood bought people alone. It
shall not be upon strangers as common oil used upon the flesh of all men.
Nothing
about this sanctifying work is in our sinful, fleshly nature. Christ said, “that
which is born of flesh is flesh.” He
said, “The flesh profiteth nothing.” The
sin-nature is not getting better but worse.
We shall one day put off this body of death. God shall raise us with a new holy body.
Also,
this work of making us holy is so much of God alone that God said if anyone
tries to imitate it—making a compound like it or to put it on a stranger other than who God
set apart to be sanctified then they shall be cut off from his people.
Brethren, our
triune God in Christ gets all the glory for making us holy and for keeping us
holy. We cannot boast in our
sanctification. God the Father sanctified
us in election in Christ. Christ
perfected forever those God sanctified by his one offering. The Holy Spirit sanctifies by regenerating and
forming Christ our Holiness within us making a holy, new man within and at last
raising a glorified holy body in resurrection.
Of God alone is the “Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.” Anyone who imitates it or any who calls is
common or applies it to any stranger shall be cut off.
Revelation 15: 4: Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and
glorify thy name? for thou only art holy
God
says to you who are his saints,
1 John 2:20: But ye have an
unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21: I have not
written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and
that no lie is of the truth. 22: Who is a liar but he that
denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and
the Son. 23: Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the
Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. 24:
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If
that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall
continue in the Son, and in the Father. 25: And this is the
promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. 26: These things
have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. 27: But the
anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that
any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is
truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Amen!