I am just trying to do a bit of a study on the use of oil in the old and new testament. From the way I understand it, it looks like in the old testament, oil was symbolic of something. I have heard that it was symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Though, in Nu 5:15 it was required that NO oil be used: then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. He shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, an offering for remembering, for bringing iniquity to remembrance."
Anyway, in the new testament, one verse in particular is in James concerning the sick.
My own interest here is in "dedicating" my home. I read a devotional by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, and she talks of praying over your home and "dedicating it" to God. I am just wondering if the use of oil would be inappropriate. From the way I understand it, it would be symbolic. Not as though the oil would be some sort of talisman, but only, in a way, consecrating or setting apart this house for God.
I was hoping to have more to present here, but these days I am seriously busy! And i am the only Christian in our house. Well.. really in this whole family! I am also the only mama here LOL. I just wish I had more time for study. I guess that's why I love this forum.
I don't have any wisdom or insight to share with you on this subject, but I want to commend you for your desire not only to study these things out, but to search for biblical soundness and appropriateness in such things. We all need to be Bereans and test the truth of all teaching against the infallible Word of God and to guard ourselves from false teaching.
Trust the past to God's mercy, the present to God's love and the future to God's providence." - St. Augustine Hiraeth
I can understand your desire to consecrate your home, but I am afraid that the idea of anointing your house with oil would be more superstitious than biblical. God has already consecrated your house because you are His child. You are to pray for your family and live before them in a way that glorifies Him and in this way you are blessing your family.
Thank you Susan and thank you Gotribe for such encouragement <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
We know that in the old testament, things were but a shadow..
Colossians 2:16-23 16 So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
So now I am wondering more specifically then, what did the oil represent in the old testament? I did the search for oil, and mostly it was used for light in the temple. There are of course many other uses, but since the temple was a shadow, or a copy for lack of a better word.. it had to have a meaning. I think maybe it represented something?
I probably won't use oil in our home, but I will still pray in it. I guess I don't see anything wrong with that.. but I guess I am still intersted in what the oil represents.
but I guess I am still intersted in what the oil represents.
Anyway, any thoughts?
Excellent question, my sister.
Oil has various uses and significations as some have already alluded to in posts or links, but to me the most obvious and significant is it's symbolic use as representative of the Third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, whom to blaspheme, or literally "speak against", is the unpardonable sin.
What a blessing that we are privileged to have a relationship with Him through the operations of the "Comforter", "Sanctifier", "Illuminator". In his recent work on the assurance of salvation, J. R. Beeke quoted Thomas Goodwin as follows with respect to the work of the Holy Spirit (shedding that light you saw figuratively used in the Temple) in revealing a persons salvation to him:
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There is, first, an assurance by sense, by conditional promises, whereby a man, seeing the image of God upon his heart, to which promises are made, cometh comfortably to believer that he is in the estate of grace. But then, secondly, there is an immediate assurance of the Holy Ghost, by a Heavenly and divine light, of a divine authority, which the Holy Ghost sheddeth in a man's heart...whereby he sealeth him up to the day of redemption...The one way is dicoursive, a man gathereth that God loveth him from the effects as we gather there is fire because there is smoke, But the other is intuitive, as the angels are said to know things... There is light the cometh and overpowereth a man's soul, and assureth him that God is his, and he is God's...and the other which comes from an immediate light of the Spirit's sealing up that light, and the taste of it, and revealing God's heart and mind in itself towards us. This is so transcendent, as it works joy unspeakable and glorious; it is intuitive, not so the other. The Quest for Full Assurance, J. R. Beeke, pg 259 & 264.
As literal oil gives both light and heat, so figuratively the Holy Spirit in his precious operations on the soul of the elect gives light, or understanding, of the glory of God and the Gospel of Christ, and in that which naturally follows, having seen and tasted that glory and the elect childs interest, particularly, in it and Christ's saving work in his behalf, those same operations do give off heat or warmth in the form of intense love to the Savior, and the peace that passeth all understanding for His having covered our sins and adopted us into His Family, forever.
While there are, I think, many other applications, and I think differences between OT and NT functionn of the HS in believers, that's what oil, in both the Old and New Testament, preeminently, means to me.
So then, Susan is right.. in that the oil was used inside the temple.. and we have the Holy Spirit in us. And we are to be salt and light eh? So in effect.. I am the "oil lamp" or Light in our home.. and so in fact, our home IS consecrated to God, because I am His child. So.............. I should bang my head on all the door frames??
John 16:7-15 7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."
John 3:20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
This may be another element to what is going on here.
So.. I guess, if I get even more tedious.. if we are the lamp figuratively, the "oil" being the Holy Spirit.. it makes the parable of the foolish vs. wise virgins more interesting. I'm gonna go read that <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
I think y'all understand this, but I didn't mean that I am "the Light." I just mean that I have the Holy Spirit.. hope that didn't come across wrong... <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/moron.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bingo.gif" alt="" />
it makes the parable of the foolish vs. wise virgins more interesting.
Yes, the parable of the Ten Virgins is spot on. Remember, they were virgins, had a lamp, were waiting on the Lord, but they were still foolish, and their end was with the damned, and why? because they had no oil in their lamps, and they tried to buy some at the last minute but it was too late. Food for serious thought. T. Shepherd wrote on this extensively and J. Edwards qouted from this work more than any other in his Religious Affections, a work on the nature of true religion.
I'll write something later on consecrating your house with oil as I don't have time right now, but just briefly, the symbolic oil of the temple in the OT was made to exact specifications given by God and the command was also given at the time not to make any counterfeits. Not a big deal perhaps taken in its context, as all scripture must be to be understood properly, still, something to think about when thinking of buying that "anointing" oil you see sold in "christian" bookstores and used indescriminately for who knows what all purposes.
Yes, I noticed that there was a certain recipe for the oil. I was just gonna take the olive oil I use to cook with LOL. I betcha that the ingredients in that recipe had meaning too eh? I noticed in the link provided by another here.. (I'm so sorry, I don't remember your name! please forgive me eh..) that the oil that was prepared for religious ceremonies is closer to the way that they would prepare it in the regular home.. and not commercially.
Anyway...Hope I don't sound mean, but I would never ever give money to someone capitalizing off of "oil." It seems the Christian book stores are just as apostate as any place.
I would very much like to hear what you have to say. As as this is a calvinist/reformed board, would like to know what is the position concerning the foolish vs the wise virgins. What I had always learned was that those foolish virgins had been saved, but were foolish in not keeping themselves "filled" with the Holy Spirit, and lost their salvation, and then when Jesus came for them, it was too late.
I wish I had more time.. maybe a bit later I will go and read the things around that particular passage and see which ohter parables are there.
It's so funny, because so much of my bible reading before consisted of "understanding' a certain passage, and then having to skip over the entire context, because it didn't make sense. So this is neat.
Anyway, thanks for all the info so far. I look forward to your next post!
I agree that the oil in both the OT and the NT is symbolic of the work of the Holy Spirit. While reading your post and noting how the oil had a practical use as well as religious significance, it made me wonder if the same was true in the NT Church. I was thinking in particular of James 5:14-15 where the sick are told to call on the elders of the church so that they can pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Did the oil that the elders used in this case have a double significance (being religiously symbolic as well as a practical aspect) as it did in the OT? Could the oil used in the anointing have been thought of as having a medicinal value?
If so, then how do we apply this passage to our lives today. Should the elders anoint the sick with oil out of obedience to James 5, while viewing the oil as being purely a symbolic element used for a religious observation. Or, could we look at it as a command for elders to pray for the sick while taking a more hands on approach to assisting them with their physical, (medicinal) needs--such as helping them to the Dr. or ensuring that they remember to get prescriptions filled and take their meds on time. I wonder how many reformed churches still observe this in any manner?
I am a little reluctant to repy to your questions, not because I don't think they are excellent, because I do, but because I fear having what I said microdiscected and misinterpreted, mischaracterized and then when I attempt to respond/defend myself to have the discussion abruptly cut off, but be that as it may, I will attempt to respond as best I can as follows:
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Did the oil that the elders used in this case have a double significance (being religiously symbolic as well as a practical aspect) as it did in the OT? Could the oil used in the anointing have been thought of as having a medicinal value?
I recently read J. Adams discussion on this subject in his Competent to Counsel and as I understand his interpretation, I believe he would answer yes to both questions, with an emphasis, in Adams opinion, on the natural rather than the supernatural use of the oil. Oil being a base for a variety of medicinal salves, ointments and preparations in the time of James writing. Again if I understand Adams correctly, and I don't have him on line so I can't quote without typing out what he said word for word, but if I understand his position correctly he believed the elders were to assist with the natural treatment as well as to pray for healing, which is the answer that he seems to be giving for a modern application as you addressed in the the following question:
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Or, could we look at it as a command for elders to pray for the sick while taking a more hands on approach to assisting them with their physical, (medicinal) needs--such as helping them to the Dr. or ensuring that they remember to get prescriptions filled and take their meds on time.
I agree with Adams' approach for the most part, but he doesn't leave a lot of room for the prayer of faith being answered supernaturally, which the context of the verse seems to clearly imply, as it refers to Isaiah's prayer for rain being withheld and then fulfilled in a supernatural way. I agree that this must be handled very carefully and that we are to resort to the means that God has provided in the Medical community, but the temptation is to rely more on science than on God in that process, at least in my view. It must also be remembered that James wrote in a time where the miraculous was more common, and more needful, as medicine, which the Lord has provided as a means, for those that can afford it that is, is a more modern provision of the Lord's providential hand.
My own view is that the Lord most often uses extraordinary means according to the need of the situation and ultimately He is absolutely Sovereign in this as in all things. For example, I believe He uses extraordinary means to teach lessons that can't be learned other ways or He wants to make a particular point, or He may use extraordinary means when the medical means are not available.
He will not, however, ever use extraordinary means to promote error, or anything that contradicts the plain teaching of scripture, nor will He use such means frivolously, or for whim, casual interest or (the word disgusts me in this context) entertainment sake ("they sought a sign") for His holy actions in these areas are in my opinion, just that, Holy, Sacred, Precious and never to be trivialized but held in the highest respect and reverence. Likewise all such actions, in my opinion, always, and invariably, point to the source, to Him, as the ultimate and only objective, and it is His Love and His Glory that is primary, not the actions themselves.
One of the most interesting parts of Adams discussion on this subject was his drawing connections scripturally to sickness and sin. He points out that scripture clearly does not indicate that all sickness is due to sin, and in fact it denies such an assertion. He goes on to make a very cogent case for the fact that scripture clearly does connect sin and sickness in many cases however, and he points out how this is rarely mentioned in the church today, nor explored as a possible source of sickness. Very helpful balanced approach in my view.
I think it is our natural tendency to go to the MD (medical diety) first and then if that fails, or to augment this, to seek God, all the while telling ourselves that we are trusting God. But perhaps we have the order reversed, or at least out of balance.
I am a little reluctant to repy to your questions, not because I don't think they are excellent, because I do, but because I fear having what I said microdiscected and misinterpreted, mischaracterized and then when I attempt to respond/defend myself to have the discussion abruptly cut off, but be that as it may, I will attempt to respond as best I can as follows:
Pray tell what is THAT all about? Man... that's really bizarre, IMHO.
As to your reply to Stucco, I couldn't agree more.... so what's up? Jay Adam's view on this topic I believe is right on the money. And as for a biblical view of supernatural vs. divine healing, this series is marvelous: Miraculous Healing, by Henry Frost.
Man... that's really bizarre, IMHO.![[Linked Image]](http://www.the-highway.com/pilgrim/pil_sig2.gif)
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