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What is up with the oil?
have to admit that I do not fully understand anointing with oil. My human mind cannot understand how oil can affect sickness. I don’t get it, but God does. He instructed Moses to anoint the Tabernacle of God (the place God dwelt):
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin of olive oil. Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil. Then use it to anoint the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the table and all its articles, the lampstand and its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, and the basin with its stand. You shall consecrate them so they will be most holy, and whatever touches them will be holy. – Exodus 30:22-29
God no longer dwells in the Tabernacle. Today he dwells in us:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? – I Corinthians 3:16
So, although I (we) may not fully understand anointing with oil, can we rest in the reality that God understands it? Can we ask for anointing even if our human minds cannot understand it?
Mike, thank you so much for your thoughts on this verse.
Anointing oil is a spiritual mystery to us. It’s one of those places where Spiritual is united with Physical, like Communion or Baptism. We lose sight of the mystery of the Spirit, Christ and God, in our culture especially. All I know is that James 5:13-14 absolutely “works”. I know this because my son was healed when we obeyed it.
When he was 18 he caught meningitis and encephalitis. He was in a coma for seven days. The doctors kept telling us that he would come out of it. In spite of all they did, he would not, and they could not figure out why. Gayle and I split nights and days at the hospital. I remembered James 5 and we called the elders at our church to come anoint him. Instantaneously, at the very split second I hung up the phone, he woke up. He was out of the hospital in two days.
Skeptics will say that he would have woken up anyway, and that this was all just a coincidence, or that it was the medicine that “finally worked.” To them there is no power in God or oil. They are the same ones who denied the miracles of Jesus. But there’s no “finally worked” with God. The inescapable fact is that immediately when we called on God to anoint, he was healed.
Is there power in oil, wine and bread, or water? In God’s economy there is. Anoint me anytime!
Thanks Mike. I would answer your last to questions with, “YES”. Also I would love to have a debate with you about who has the greatest wife in the world.
I may not understand anointing with oil but I surely felt it when I was prayed over by the CCC Elders and friends. It was the most amazing experience for both Bill and me. And when I was touched with the oil, I knew God was there with us. We are so grateful for the experience and opportunity to follow God’s word through CCC.
Will I be healed? That’s up to God and I pray for the Grace to accept His Will but I do know that I have the “peace of God” that transcends all understanding. (Phil 4: 7) So for me understanding is not the issue but faith and acceptance is.
Norma
PS: Mike I have thoroughly enjoyed the Fuel messages these past few weeks….You have a good team and I’m sure a good group. We will pray for you and Fuel.
Thanks Mike for your words of encouragement and willingness to lead the next generation. You are a great example.