The Anointing Of God For Serving Others

The word “anointing” is one of the most misunderstood and misused words in the church. It is often taught as if the anointing is something that people can “feel” when the “anointing” is in the room. People go to “spiritual” teachers who have declared they have a special “anointing” and, therefore, have earned the exclusive right to become a kind of mediator between God and man in order to impart “power” and “fresh revelation” to others.

The Purpose of the Anointing

Jesus did not start His earthly ministry until He was 30 years old. He entered a local synagogue, read a passage from the Book of Isaiah, and proclaimed;

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV)

The passage He read embodied the very essence of His ministry and defines the purpose of the anointing. By reading Isaiah, He was announcing that He was the Christ, the “Anointed One” sent by the Father to earth as 100% fully God and 100% fully human at His birth. However, He did not start His earthly ministry as the “Anointed One” until after His Baptism. Jesus is the Head of the body. He is the High Priest, and the anointing flows from His head over the body that is under His leadership, and that is dressed in Him because of His blood (Rom 13:11).

At one point during His ministry on Earth, Jesus was approached by the Disciples about the end of the world. They asked:

“when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus answered: "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.” (Matt 24:3-6 NIV)

Jesus told them that the primary sign that signified the end of the world was that many would come in His name claiming they were “anointed.”

The Anointing Defined

There are two words in the Bible that are translated “anointing.” The first is the Hebrew word “mashach,” which means to actively rub or smear with oil, to paint, to cover over and make it a part of you, to set apart or consecrate.

The second is the Greek word “chiro,” which means to anoint, to cover over, to rub with oil. It is always used of rubbing or sprinkling with oil in a religious sense. Both words for anointing used in Scripture pertain to the sacred or divine and to things (or persons) consecrated or devoted to God.

Consecrate Them

In the Old Testament, two primary elements were present in times of worship. They were blood and oil. The blood was for cleansing, and the oil was used for anointing.

The first instance of the use of oil was the anointing of the stone by Jacob (Gen 28:18; 35:14). This was designed to be a formal consecration of the stone for a sacred purpose. Under the Mosaic Law, persons and things set apart for sacred purposes were anointed with the "holy anointing oil" (Ex 30:23-25, 30-33).

In the Old Testament, the principle of anointing was revealed in the bestowal of supernatural ability on people through various methods and symbols. When a new High Priest or King was anointed in Israel, the prophet would take a horn full of oil and pour it over his head. The anointing oil flowed down the hair and beard then onto his garments, but it did not touch the flesh. The symbolism was that this person was "set apart" or consecrated to be God’s vessel or instrument. They were now considered “holy” by God, spiritually qualified, divinely empowered for service, and separated for His use (See Ex 30:29-30; 1 Sam 10:1,6; 16:13-14). Each of these “set apart” people were given specific roles in ministry.

God gave explicit instructions that all the furniture, the wood, the metal, the clay, and the stones used in the Tabernacle had to be anointed for service as well before they could be used. When the Anointing Oil was applied, those ordinary items used as furniture were no longer “ordinary;” they were “set apart” to God.

The anointing is the symbolic expression of God’s goodness and love, and the transmittal of His power to be used for His glory. King David wrote,

“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Ps 23:5-6 NIV)