|
Notes On The Holy Anointing Oil
|
Notes on the spices and ointment: |
| |
a) |
The calamus, cassia, cinnamon, and myrrh were combined with the
olive oil for the anointing of the furnishings and Arron on the
day of his consecration. (Ex. 30:23-33) |
| |
|
|
| |
b) |
The spices themselves are all called “principal spices”. (Ex.
30:23) |
| |
|
|
i) |
It
is only the cassia that is measured after the shekel of the
sanctuary. (Ex. 30:24) |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
c) |
The combination has several descriptive terms: |
| |
|
|
i) |
Holy ointment (Ex. 30:25) |
| |
|
|
ii) |
Holy anointing oil (Ex. 30:25) |
| |
|
|
iii) |
Composition (Ex. 30:32) |
| |
d) |
The oil of the holy ointment (Ex. 30:25) sanctified the vessels
of the Tabernacle and consecrated Arron (Ex. 30:29-30), the
result being that whoever touched them (the holy vessels) was
holy (Ex. 30:29). |
| |
|
|
| |
e) |
Since they are blended with the olive oil they indicate the Holy
Spirit in the life of our Lord and how they were manifested. |
Calamus
Calamus was a spice with a sweet spicy intense fragrance. It is similar
to the following roses: “Constance Spry, Distant Drums, and White Pet”.
Sweet
|
Calamus and cinnamon are both called “sweet” (Heb. “besem”) and
is translated “sweet odours” (2 Chron. 16:14; Est. 2:12) and
“sweet smell” (Isa. 3:24). |
| |
a) |
In 2 Chronicles 14-16 there is the record of the life of King
Asa. He was a man who began well but finished sadly. At the
beginning of his reign he stood against all that was evil. This
included taking away the high places, breaking the groves and
images, and commanded Judah to seek the Lord (2 Chron. 14:2-3).
Adding to this he removed his mother from being queen because
she was an idolator (2 Chron. 15:16). In the time of conflict
against Zerah, he did not rely on the flesh but on God (2 Chron.
13:11), and the Lord gave him a great victory (2 Chron.
14:13-15). |
| |
|
|
i) |
In these He is like our Lord in three aspects: |
| |
|
|
|
|
1. |
He stood against the evil. |
| |
|
|
|
|
2. |
In the time of conflict he prayed to God. |
| |
|
|
|
|
3. |
And God gave the victory. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
b) |
In contrast to the Lord, he made a league with Ben-hadad, the
King of Syria. This was a very serious sin and when Hanani the
seer came and told him his wrong, he was wroth and began to
oppress some of the people (2 Chron. 16:10). Our Lord could
never be reproved for any wrong He had done, but instead He
challenged humanity to show one iota of sin He had committed. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
c) |
In death he was laid on a bed of “sweet odours”. (2 Chron.
16:14) |
| |
|
|
i) |
With Asa, death had left its stench and sweet odours were
needed, but the body of the Lord, whilst bound in sweet spices,
did not need them to nullify the smell of death, for His body
knew no corruption. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
d) |
Esther with the young women had need of purification before
being brought before the king. Such was the purity of our Lord
that He never needed to bring a sin or trespass offering, nor
make any confession of sin before coming to God the great King.
(Est. 2:3, 9, 12) |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
e) |
Furthermore,
His life never became a stench as Israel’s did, but was ever a
sweet fragrance. |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Hebrew word (qaneh) has a number of translations and one of
the most interesting is “reed”. By this word the unwavering
steadfastness of Christ is seen in two ways: |
| |
a) |
As
a contrast to: |
| |
|
|
i) |
Israel, when under the judgment of God, was described as a “reed
shaken in the water” (1 Kgs. 14:15). There was nothing wavering
in the life of the Lord. His steps were deliberate, and with
ram like determination He moved on toward the goal of glorifying
God on the earth, finishing the works God gave Him to do. With
steady persistent footsteps He moved on toward Calvary, His
ascension, and the fulfillment of the purposes of God.
He could not be deterred by possibility thinking, personal
insult, or savage cruelty. |
| |
|
|
ii) |
The judgment of God on Egypt by either the Assyrians (Isa.
20:4),
or
Babylonians (Jer. 46:26), and due to the waters being turned,
the “reeds and flags shall wither” (Isa. 19:6). There was never
any withering of usefulness for God in the life of the Lord due
to sin. |
| |
|
|
iii) |
God’s description of Egypt was that of a “broken reed” (Isa.
36:6). How rich this is when we consider our Lord. His will
never had to be broken, but it was yielded to God (Lk. 22:42);
His spirit could never be broken, but His body was. (1 Cor.
11:24). (I
am well aware that there are those who say that the word
“broken” is not inspired. My understanding is that while “not a
bone of Him was broken” (Ex. 12:46; Num. 9:12; Psa. 34:20), yet
when all His bones were out of joint (Psa. 22:14), that was a
broken body.
Furthermore, the very breaking of
the bread symbolizes the broken body or else the symbol fails.)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
b) |
As
a manifestation of that which the Lord is: |
| |
|
|
i) |
“There was a man . . .the appearance of brass . . .and in his
hand, a measuring reed” (Ezek. 40:3) |
| |
|
|
|
|
1. |
The calamus in this context indicates the Lord as the criteria
by which God judges. In Revelation 5 He takes the book out of
the hand of the Throne Sitter, and from chs. 6-19 He is the
executor of judgment on all that is contrary to God. |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
c) |
The
word “qaneh” comes from the root “qaneh”, which is translated
“purchased” (Gen. 25:10); “redeemed” (Neh. 5:8). |
| |
|
|
i) |
The One who could not be made to waver, wither, or be broken,
has become the Redeemer of those who put their trust in Him. |
| |
|
|
|
|
1. |
Peter wrote: “ For ye were not redeemed . . . with silver or
gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pet. 1:18). |
| |
|
|
|
|
2. |
Paul wrote: “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law”
(Gal. 3:13). |
| |
|
|
|
|
3. |
John wrote: “Thou art worthy . . . for thou wast slain and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood” (Rev. 5:9). |
| |
|
|
|
|
4. |
Isaiah wrote: “Fear not, I have redeemed thee, thou art mine” (Isa.
43:1). |
Cassia
The word translated “cassia” (qiddah is used twice in the scriptures Ex.
30:24; Ezek. 27:19), the word translated “cassia” in Psa. 45:8 and is
only used on this occasion. The root word for “qiddah” is “qadad”) and
the first reference is: “And the man
bowed down his head,
and worshipped the Lord” (Gen. 24:26). It is repeated of this unnamed
servant in verse 48. Again, the children of Israel when they heard the
Lord had visited His people, they “bowed
their heads”
(Ex. 4:31). While it is used of one human to another, it indicates
respect as with Bathsheba (1 Kgs. 1:16), but more often it has to do
with the bowing and worshipping of the Lord (David and all the people 1
Chron. 29:20; Jehoshaphat: 2 Chron. 20:18; Hezekiah: 2 Chron. 29:30;
Ezra: Neh. 8:6). With this in mind, it is evident cassia indicates a
reverent attitude and worshipping God.
The question then becomes: “Under what circumstances did these
individuals and people worship the Lord?”
The unnamed servant had been sent to seek a wife for the son of the
father (Gen. 24:3, 40, 48). He had just seen how the Lord had moved
providentially, this young woman
from his masters family came at the precise time he had prayed. He had
shown the riches of the son and worships the Lord. In a very real way
the Lord depended on the providential activity of God. One instance was
when He told Peter to go and cast in a line and take up the first fish
and therein find the money for the temple tax. While we are not told He
worshipped, there can be no doubt He would have thanked God for not only
the provision, but also for the strengthening it was to the faith of
Peter and the other disciples.
For four hundred long years the children of Israel had suffered. Then
one day a man comes in from the wilderness and tells the elders the
words the Lord has spoken, and the
miracles He had given Moses for his authentication. For the first time
in many years there was a hope in the midst of the darkness, God was
going to deliver His people and fulfill His ancient promise to Abraham
(Gen. 15:13). With hearts lifted high they worshipped.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is mentioned four times in the scriptures (Ex. 30:23; Prov.
7:17; Song of Sol. 4:14 and Rev. 18:13). The word means “to erect as
upright rolls” and it was also a very sweet fragrance.
|
It is used in sharp contrasting ways: |
| |
a) |
That which delight to the heart of God as a sweet fragrance of
anointing oil (Ex. 30:23), and with man using that which is
precious to God for his own enrichment (Rev. 18:13). |
| |
b) |
It
is included in the expression of delight which the bridegroom
finds in his bride (Song of Sol. 4:14), and then it is connected
with corrupted affection with the “strange woman” (Prov. 7:17). |
| |
|
|
|
As meaning “erect or upright rolls”, it is a lovely illustration
of the Torah rolls as they lined the wall in the synagogue.
This was God’s rule for life, containing His statutes,
judgments, laws and decrees. When this is lifted up as a shadow
of our Lord, we see an interesting unfolding: |
| |
a) |
His life that was lived with the vertical dimension of ever
being
in fellowship with GOD, was constantly upright and unfolding the
mind of God in perfection. |
| |
b) |
Because His life was ever in fellowship with God, it was always
vertical and so able to perfectly unfold the mind of God. |
| |
c) |
His unfolding of the mind of God was because He was always
upright and in fellowship with God. |
| |
|
|
|
When the religious authorities of His day looked at His life,
they found fault in: |
| |
a) |
What He said: “My father worketh hitherto, and I work”. Double
emphasis (Jn. 5:17-18). |
| |
b) |
When He did things: healed on the Sabbath day (Jn. 5:16). |
| |
c) |
What He accepted the ointment and worship of the woman of the
city (Lk. 7:39). |
| |
d) |
What He did when censuring them, as when the woman was taken in
adultery (Jn. 8:7-9). |
| |
e) |
Questioning why He had not come, and indeed His ability to heal
Lazarus (Jn. 11:21, 32). |
| |
f) |
His
lack of learning (Jn. 11:37). |
They were not in fellowship with God, but were “of their father the
devil” (Jn. 8:44), therefore, their teachings were not the mind of God.
They were the servants of sin (Jn. 8:34). The glorious reason, they
could not convict Him of sin (Jn. 8:46), and Pilate three times over
declared: “I find no fault in this man” (Lk. 23:4; Jn. 18:38, 19:4, 6)
was because every thought, word, or deed was in fellowship with God. He
was
perfectly upright in all that He did, ever unfolding the mind and will
of God.
May God grant us good understanding as He, by His
Holy Spirit, deigns to guide us into all truth.
John 16:13
Copyright © 2012 by Rowan Jennings, Abbotsford,
British Columbia
|
