Anoint With Oil

ANOINT WITH OIL

By Rebecca Park Totilo

ANOINT WITH OIL

Copyright © 2014 by Rebecca Park Totilo

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission of the author.

Printed in the United States of America.

Published by Rebecca at the Well Foundation, PO Box 60044, St. Petersburg, Florida 33784.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise—without written permission of the copyright holder, except as provided by USA copyright law.

Disclaimer Notice: The information contained in this book is intended for educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for medical care or prescribe treatment for any specific health condition. Please see a qualified health care provider for medical treatment. We assume no responsibility or liability for any person or group for any loss, damage or injury resulting from the use or misuse of any information in this book. No express or implied guarantee is given regarding the effects of using any of the products described herein.

ISBN 978-0-9898280-3-1

INTRODUCTION TO ANOINTING WITH OIL

Introduction to Anointing with Oil

Anointing in the Old Testament Times

Purpose of Anointing with Oil

What is Anointing?

Who Was Anointed in the Bible?

How Do You Anoint?

Who Performs the Anointing Ritual?

Why Do We Anoint?

Anointing with Fresh Oil

What Fresh Anointing Brings

The Original Formula for the Holy Anointing Oil

Should Believers Make the Holy Anointing Oil and Use It?

What Type of Oil Should Be Used for Anointing?

What Oils did Yeshua Anoint With?

Healing Ritual for Guilt

Creating a Sacred Space with Anointing Oil

Other Books by Rebecca Park Totilo

Contact Information

INTRODUCTION TO ANOINTING WITH OIL

Throughout the Middle Ages, the church persecuted anyone who made ointments, oils, or unguents –calling them magic potions. Considered a capital offense, apothecaries mislabeled as witches were penalized for this crime by being burnt at the stake. However, this was not the way it had always been. The art of creating and using anointing oils and ointments extends back into antiquity. Since ancient times, the use of anointing oil has been an integral part of the ordination of the Levitical priesthood and the instruments used in the tabernacle/temple as recorded in Exodus 30:26.

During New Testament times, the early church continued the practice of anointing with oil for various reasons such as an act of hospitality and or for healing the sick, which will be further explored in this book. However, after the death of the apostles, the Christian Church’s practice of anointing with oil and burning incense was reserved as a devotional act during religious services only. It should be no surprise, then, that this ancient art has not been widely practiced for centuries and has lost much of its richness. It should be no surprise, either, that many in church are not walking in divine health or experiencing the miracles and healings that many in the first century church experienced.

Were you taught by church leaders that the practice of anointing with oil ceased during the Old Testament times with the prophets and Kings? Or, that anointing with oil is simply symbolic and has no special power or significance today? Some church dominations believe that the practice of anointing and miracles ceased after the death of the Apostles of the New Testament. Could it be they are simply missing an important element of how these miracles were performed and took place? Join me as we rediscover anointing oil’s divine purpose in your life and watch the miracles begin!

ANOINTING IN OLD TESTAMENT TIMES

The instructions God gave to Moses regarding which fragrances to use for the holy anointing oil are found in Exodus 30:22-31:

Moreover the LORD spake unto Moses saying, 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, and of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: 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. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may minister unto me in the priest’s office. And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

During the Mosaic period, a compilation of specific oils were designated by Yahweh for making the holy anointing oil in order to sanctify the Hebraic genealogy known as the Cohanim priests. The ritual anointing of these priests distinguished them not only for Temple service, but also, according to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, registered in the DNA of their cells which has continued throughout all generations.

Today, science is discovering essential oils’ ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and change the molecular structure of man. In an article entitled Lost Tribes of Israel, Nova Online reported on the existence of a distinctive Y chromosome in the DNA of Aaron’s descendants:

Genetic studies among Cohanim from all over the world reveal the truth behind this oral tradition. About 50 percent of Cohanim in both Sephardic and Ashkenazic populations have an unusual set of genetic markers on their Y chromosome. What is equally striking is that this genetic signature of the Cohanim is rarely found outside the Jewish populations.

Could it have been the essential oils used in the holy anointing oil that over the course of time altered the DNA of those members of the tribe of Levi? Soon, science may know the answer to that question.

Nova Online’s report also stated that rabbis at the Western Wall in Jerusalem were taking swab tests of Jewish males desiring to know if they are a part of the tribe of Levi in preparation for the third Temple.

PURPOSE OF ANOINTING WITH OIL

The primary purpose of anointing a priest or the objects used in the tabernacle or temple was to make them qodesh or set apart– most holy as described in Exodus 30:29.

While the Holy Anointing Oil was originally used exclusively for the priests and the articles used in the Tabernacle, later it was extended to include prophets and kings (1 Samuel 10:1).

Certain restrictions outlined in the Torah regarding its usage included:

It was forbidden to use the Holy Anointing Oil on an outsider (Exodus 30:33)

It was not to be used on the body of any common persons (Exodus 30:32a)

Israelites were forbidden to duplicate any like it, nor were they allowed to use the specific formula outlined in scripture for personal use (Exodus 30:32b)

Jim Lynn, author of The Miracle of Healing In Your Church Today (Trafford Publishing), states that the Tent of Meeting in Old Testament scriptures served as a type, or pattern and shadow, of the real Church to come (Hebrews 10:1). When God gave instruction for anointing the Tent of Meeting with specific essential oils, he was in effect giving instruction to anoint the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:29-30). Years later in the New Testament, when Mary anointed Yeshua’s body in John 12:1-8, she physically anointed what the Old Testament priests could only symbolically anoint, as the forerunner of Christ’s Body (1 Corinthians 6:15).

Under Old Testament law, no layperson could touch the holy oil used for anointing the Tent of Meeting because of its sacredness. Yet here is Mary, a layperson, anointing Yeshua with a whole jar of precious oil and wiping his oil-soaked feet with her hair.

Lynn states, "What Mary did, she did for herself. But God used the occasion to enjoin (bless) man’s flesh with the flesh of His own Son: Something that had not happened previously. Mary’s anointing of Jesus bonds all of humanity to the ultimate sacrifice Jesus Christ paid for our physical and spiritual healing (Isaiah 53:4-5).

God stipulated healing oils be used in the Tent of Meeting because He ordained them to be the natural counterpoint of Christ’s healing ministry (Acts 10:38). Israel (Jacob) called them the ‘best products of the land.’ When Jesus Christ, centuries later accepted Mary’s anointing of healing oil, He confirmed the sacred, healing role essential oils hold for us today.

Lynn believes that it is important for people who use essential oils to understand why they were acknowledged in Holy Scripture and used in the disciples’ ministry of healing the sick (Mark 6:13). Lynn writes, God has blessed essential oils and their use for healing, because they symbolically and physically bond mortal, corruptible human flesh to incorruptible, divine, eternal flesh in Jesus Christ and serve as a reminder that it is God who is our Healer (Exodus 15:26).

WHAT IS ANOINTING?

The Hebrew word for anoint is mashach, which means to smear, rub, cover, or massage with oil, and in some cases it means to pour oil over the head or body. Interestingly, the English word for massage is quite similar in meaning and pronunciation. Our English word anoint is derived from the ancient Latin word inunctus, which means to smear with oil. It shares the same root as the ancient Hebrew word mashiach for Messiah and the ancient Greek word kristos for Christ which literally means anointed one. In the New Testament, the Hebrew word Messiah only appears twice in John 1:41 and John 4:25, while the Greek word kristos or Christ which means anointed one is used 361 times. Other words and phrases used in the Scriptures such as anointing oil, ointment, spices, incense, perfumes, odors or sweet savors, aromas, or fragrances, all imply essential oils.

Yeshua (Jesus) was more accurately referred to as Jesus, the Anointed One, by his followers. In Acts 4:26 (NIV) it reads, The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.

In Jesus’ first public reading of the Torah recorded in Luke 4:18, he quoted Isaiah 61:1 in declaring Himself as the Messiah: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.

Other Hebrew words commonly used in reference to anointing include meshach which means oil, mishchah which means anointed or ointment and moshchah which means consecrated portion. The New Testament Greek words for anoint, arechrio, means to smear or rub with oil, and