The Anointing

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary Anointing

ANOINTING (מָשַׁח, mashach). People in the Bible are often anointed in recognition of the Lord’s divine calling upon their lives; the anointing was a physical recognition of their particular role (or office), such as king, prophet, or priest.

The Practice of Anointing in the Ancient World

In the ancient Near East, the ritual of ceremonially covering a person or object with scented oil or another liquid symbolized a transfer of sanctity from a deity to that person or object; it was thus considered a sacramental or consecrating act (McCarter, I Samuel, 178). However, ancient peoples also performed non-ritual anointings, which included rubbing their shields with oil or applying oil to their bodies for cosmetic or healing purposes (Hamilton, “Anointing,” 1255a).

Several ancient Near Eastern cultures in addition to the Israelites practiced ritual anointing. For example, the Amarna letters speak of kings in Syria and Palestine being anointed as vassals of the Egyptian pharaoh. Although the Egyptians did not anoint their pharaohs, they did anoint high officials (de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 104). The Hittites anointed their kings with “the holy oil of kingship”—a ritual that became part of the king’s official title (e.g., “Tabarana, the Anointed, the Great King”; de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 104). In Mesopotamia, great men and rulers often had a statue or inscribed stone made in their honor, which their successors were to anoint (Dalley, “Anointing in Ancient Mesopotamia,” 20–21). This seems to have been a means for the anointer to both honor the dead and to incur some of the blessing of the gods associated with that person’s life.

Overview of Anointing in the Bible

The Hebrew verb for “anoint” (מָשַׁח, mashach) refers to the spreading or smearing of a liquid (Holladay, Lexicon, 5188). Robert Bergen proposes that anointing in the Bible signifies that God was “staking a claim” on the anointed and/or that God was pouring out His Spirit upon the anointed (Bergen, 1–2 Samuel, 126–27).

When Jesus sent out the disciples they were told to preach and teach and (Mark 6:12).

"anoint with oil" those that were sick

James 5, verses 13 and following, tells early Christians that if any are sick they are to call for the elders of the church "and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the

Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and prayfor one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a right-eous man has great power in its effects.

Olive oil had symbolic meaning for the Jews. In the Old Testament it represented God's election. The kings were anointed when they took office. They knelt down and oil was placed on their heads to symbolize that God had chosen them to serve him and the people (1 Samuel 10:1, 15:1, 16:1-13,2 Kings

11:12).

The term Christ or Messiah meant " anointed one.'. Jesus was one chosen by God to be his anointed one. Psalm 23 says:"He anointeth my head with oil, my cup overflows" (v. 5).Oil also represented healing.

The story of the Good Samaritan tells of the Samaritan tending to the wounds of the victim along the road, pouring on oil. (Luke 10:34) " Me service of anointing as shared by Christ was practiced by the Christian church until the eighth century and then lost. It began to be observed only as last rites for the dead.

When Pope John XXIII threw open the windows of his Roman Catholic Church and Catholic scholars began to open the Scriptures in a new way, they became convinced that anointing as shared in the New Testament was not a service for the dead but a service for healing and life, and they began to recover that ancient practice.

Anointing Today

As practiced by Brethren, a person who is sick or who faces serious surgery may ask to be anointed. A pastor or deacon or lay person may participate in the service. On occasion anointing may be done at a public service, but usually the service is very personal and includes only close friends or the immediate family.

A scripture is read: Psalm 23 or Psalm 139 which says that God has made us and knows us better than we can know ourselves, or Romans 8:18-39 which reminds us that " in every-thing God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose," or the passage from James 5.

The person in charge may share what anointing means. Those present may talk about experiences which they or others have had. Opportunity is given for the one to be anointed to share any feelings. Sometimes the question is asked, "Is there anything in your life that might prevent healing? Are there concerns you have or fears or burdens that you carry or sins which you feel have not been forgiven?"

Sometimes the sick person asks everyone but the person in charge to leave the room and then shares a particular burden which has been carried within. After this time of sharing, a few drops of olive oil are placed on the leader's hand. With a few fingers dipped in the oil, the oil is then placed on the forehead of the one anointed. The leader says, "I anoint you for the forgiveness of sin," placing the oil on the forehead, "For the increase of faith," placing oil again on the forehead, "And for the restoration of

health," " again placing oil on the forehead. Then the leader and another person lay hands lightly on the

forehead and each offers a prayer. The prayer lifts up the special needs of the person. It may ask

that all that prevents healing be swept away. It places the person's life fully in the hands of God, to trust God for healing and strength. Toward Wholeness

The Greek word for "salvation" means wholeness. To be saved is to be whole, healed, well. Sometimes wholeness comes to a sick person's life even though that person may die physically. But there is complete peace and acceptance within. I shared one time in the anointing for a person who had been

a Christian leader. He was near death. When the time for sharing came, he asked everyone else to leave the room. Then he shared some deep bitterness which he had carried in his heart for many years. The bitterness had gnawed away at him and sapped his strength. After he shared and emptied out the spiritual poisons, we talked and prayed together. He knew that his life was now free of that pain. He knew that he was right with God. He was at peace. As a matter of fact, he died within a matter of weeks. But he died whole and well before God. If we hold a straw parallel to the Gulf Stream, the mighty Gulf

Stream will flow through it. If we get our lives in line with the will and power of God, the very love and power of God will flow through them. When we face an operation, we may be tense and under-

standably nervous. Nurses can give us medicine to make us sleep. But they cannot relax the worried mind and the tense muscles. A woman in her eighties during her life had been operated

on many times. Before each of these operations she experienced the anointing. Surgeons who never knew her commented later that they never operated on anyone who was so relaxed.

Doctors do not heal us. Doctors and medical science play an important role in healing: God gave us minds and expects us in use them. But doctors do not heal.

* Doctors can create conditions where healing can take place. They can set a broken bone. They can stitch torn skin. They can remove a tumor. But the knitting of the bone or the healing of the cut or the restoring of the body after the removal of a growth is something no doctor, however skilled, can do.

God gives the healing. Medical science now knows that there are factors within us which can prevent healing. There is garbage in our lives which prevents the free flow of God's healing power. We are each one person, body, mind, and soul. Physical illness can affect the mental outlook. Sometimes people who are dying a slow, painful death find their whole world is clouded. Once-kind people can sometimes become impatient and angry. Spiritual problems and mental turmoil can affect physical health. In our time of physical need we must draw on all the resources made available to us. We need all the understanding which medical science can give us. We need all the insights into the human mind and its workings that are available. We need to draw on the rich spiritual resources which God

puts in our hands. Anointing is visualized prayer. It is a way of outwardly symbolizing the great strength that can be ours. It is not magic. It is a spiritual gift- similar to baptism and communion. Anointing is not the same as "faith healing" which attempts to make medical science unnecessary.

Accepting the Blessings And yet miraculous results sometimes come from anointing. Doctors simply say that they have done all they can. And good doctors acknowledge that there is more than their limited minds can know.

A young mother with rheumatoid arthritis was growing progressively worse. Her husband was an alcoholic and had left her many times. She was living alone with her small children. The medical outlook was that she would become progressively crippled and unable to care for her children. There was

fear, loneliness, anxiety, and anger In the anointing service, she shared her feelings openly and honestly. There was a sharing of fear and of faith. The prayer was not for simply physical healing but for healing first within the heart and mind. The woman opened her life to God in trust and love. A few days later the attending physician remarked that he did not know what had happened but it seemed that the sick-

ness was reversing itself. Within a matter of weeks the woman seemed totally well. The poisons within herself, the emotional and spiritual block-ages, were swept away. She was able to receive the healing

which God had for her. God wants for us far more than we want for ourselves. God loves us far more than we can love ourselves. The need is not to come to God to beg or plead. The need is to empty our hands, to let go of the things we cling to so tightly, in order that our hands and our lives will be open to receive the wonderfully amazing gifts God has to give. The gifts are there. The blockage comes from within us.

TO do: This week trust God in your life in one area where before you had held tight control.

Some scriptures . .

Christ sends out the disciples to anoint--Mark 6:12

The early church practiced anointing--James 5:13-16

God has made us and knows us -Psalm 139

God wills the best for us -Romans 8:18-39

GOD ANOINTS PEOPLE OF PRAYER

E. M. Bounds says in his classic book, The Power of Prayer:

"Men are God's method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men...What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use--men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men--men of prayer."

“Gods anointed vessels are not entertainers, comedians, soothsayers, nor are they stylish. They are real, broken, humble vessels who are sanctioned and empowered by God..” Matthew Skariah to share His unsearchable riches to a lost and dying world. When God breaks us, we become equipped, energized, filled, thrilled, enlightened, tried, purified, electrified, trained, and tempered. Gods refining process is unilateral”