The Holy Spirit in Figures
By Jerry Batson, Th.D.
Special to The Alabama Baptist
The association between oil and the act of anointing is deeply rooted in the Bible. In the Old Testament, prophets (who spoke for God), priests (who interceded with God) and kings (who ruled for God) were anointed to their offices with oil. The anointing was a symbolic act of setting the individuals apart for their special offices.
A connection between an anointing with oil and the presence of the Holy Spirit can be seen in 1 Sam. 16:13 in the case of David’s anointing to the kingship of Israel: “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward.”
In the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus returned to Nazareth where on a Sabbath day, He applied to Himself a prophetic word from Isaiah. Jesus began His declaration with the announcement, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me” (Luke 4:18). He then elaborated that His anointing had in view preaching, healing, proclaiming and liberating.
Much later, the Apostle Paul made the connection between anointing and the Holy Spirit in his second letter to the Corinthians: “Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (1:21–22).
What distinguished those who were kings, priests and prophets from other men in Israel was their anointing with oil, which signaled the special role they were then to have in their nation’s life.
Believers in Christ all received the Holy Spirit at the time of conversion. In fact, stated negatively, the Bible says that if anyone does not have the Spirit, he does not belong to Christ (Rom. 8:9). The indwelling of God’s Spirit distinguishes Christians from all other people. As 1 John 2:20 says, “But you have an anointing from the Holy One.”
Humility
As anointing oil set apart Israel’s kings, priests and prophets from all others, so the indwelling of God’s Spirit sets Christians apart, not to foster feelings of superiority but to humble us that God would send His Spirit to dwell in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is God’s seal of our belonging to Him.
As Jesus’ anointing with the Spirit enabled Him to serve God’s purposes, so the Holy Spirit is our enabling power to serve God in whatever He calls us to do.
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