Anointing Oil
How to Make Anointing Oil Part 2
There is nothing mystical or magical about “Anointing Oil.” It is not required for a pastor, priest or clergy to pray over oil to consecrate it. It does not have to come from a specific place. It does not have to be a special kind of oil. It doesn’t make your prayer more powerful. It’s not necessary. But if you’d like to use it, you can make it yourself. All that is required to bless oil is to simply pray over it. Here is an example:
“Father God, I pray that you anoint this oil in Your heavenly name. I pray that You cleanse it of any defilement that may be in or upon it, and you make it holy for the work of Your glory in the name of Yeshua ben Yahweh. ”
There is much confusion and misunderstanding concerning anointing oil in the church today:
The Old Testament (OT) anointing oil directed in Exodus 30 was only for use by Moses for consecrating Aaron and his family - not for other people - and the spice (or essential oil) combination was to never be reproduced by another. God declared that oil holy. In miraculous OT fashion, God blessed the Exodus 30 oil so that the oil made objects of the tabernacle and the priests holy. The Exodus word for anointing is the Hebrew ‘mishchah’ which means to smear, anoint, ointment.
The New Testament (NT) ‘anointing’ oil used by disciples was just plain olive oil or olive oil with spice, but it was not declared holy as was the Exodus holy anointing oil, it was not used to make objects or people holy as was the OT anointing oil in Exodus. In the NT, when referring to ‘anointing oil” variations of the greek word aleipho is used. Aleipho simply means to rub or smear, so in the NT, when we read the English translation, anointing with oil simply meant to rub oil on a person. It was physical only, be it for the custom of apply olive oil on the face to refresh a guest, applying oil to the feet to show honor, or used as a topical medicine when mixed with botanicals.
In the NT, the greek ‘aleipho’(and it’s variations) for anointing with oil, should not be confused with the greek ‘xrísma’ (and it’s variations) for anointing of the Holy Spirit. Xrisma refers to the teaching ministry of the Holy Spirit, guiding the receptive believer into fullness of God's preferred will. This anointing functions through faith - i.e. God inwardly persuading the believer of His preferences.
If the reader does not study the bible in the original Greek, it’s easy wrongly apply the spiritual significance of the Xrisma anointing of the Holy Spirit with the Aleipho anointing of rubbing of plain olive oil for refreshing & honor - which is symbolic only and in itself has no spiritual significance. This is how ‘anointing with oil” is often misunderstood to mean a spiritual experience when it is biblically only symbolic.
With the understanding that in the NT oil was rubbed on the body for physical reasons or symbolically for honoring others, it becomes clear that we have all witnessed oil being used in very unbiblical ways. Many churches attach magical or unintended spiritual powers to the oil - that the oil itself is healing or delivering someone, which is introducing witchcraft into the church & into the lives of the congregation.
A warning against buying anointing oil:
- If anyone tells you that a specific clergy needs to pray over anointing oil with specific magical words, then I challenge that they do not know the bible well enough, or that they are just trying to financially profit by selling oils. All Christians can appropriate the authority of Christ & move mountains with their prayers – which includes praying over oil. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people in this world who love to make money off the misinformed. There is absolutely no need to buy any special oil, from any special place. There doesn’t need to be essential oil in it (remember, God didn’t want the Exodus recipe reproduced). Just grab any oil out of the kitchen and pray over it.
- We don’t know the people praying over the oil. They might serve another God. They might not be praying over the oil at all. Or they could be a God-loving Christian, but as all of us sin and have spiritual struggles to some degree – when they pray over the oil, demonic spirits can attach themselves to the oil, which can then affect you. It’s always safest to pray over your own oil.
- People who sell ‘anointing oil’ with essential oils in it often don’t do their research in essential oil safety. There are many essential oils that are toxic & shouldn’t be used (even diluted). There are many that are dangerous for pregnant women. When using essential oils that are toxic in an anointing oil blend, it can cause hallucinogenic reactions – making people think that they are having a really groovy Holy Spirit experience, which is completely false. A personal experience: guests intercessor prayer / prophetic speakers were at my study group using anointing oil with almond essential oil in it. Pretty soon people were “Drunk in the Holy Spirit”. I refused the oil & explained to the guests & our group leader that almond oil is toxic, unsafe to use on the skin & hallucinogenic, and to my huge disappointment, no one cared. I believe they were too focused on experiencing manifestations to care that those manifestations were false & not from the Holy Spirit at all.
If you are wanting to add essential oils to you oil to make it smell nice, please research safe v.s. toxic essential oils and only add 3 drops of essential oil per tablespoon of carrier oil.
So to sun up: Anointing oil is not needed for prayer. It is just symbolic. Please don’t make an idol out of your oil.
“Holy Water”
There is only one obscure reference to holy water in the OT: Numbers 5:17, "[A]nd the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water." There is no explanation of what is happening here. We don’t know how or why the water was made holy, or how the priest was meant to use this mud. As far as we know, biblically, holy water was only to be used by Levitical priests to make mud!
The ‘holy water’ we know today in catholic and orthodox churches (and vampire movies) was introduced in the 9th century. As admitted by catholic officials, ‘holy water’ and its purposed properties came from pagan rituals. (one such reference is Cardinal John H. Newman’s 1878 Essay on the Development of the Christian Doctrine). The catholic proposed magical powers of ‘holy water’ being able to heal, protect you from evil, force demons to leave & cleanse you of sins are not biblical.
Be blessed in Christ and pray with great power and authority. It is your inheritance. Wield your sword well :)
The original anointing oil article
