Continuing our series on the question 'What is a prophet?', Edmund Heddle unpacks the idea of prophetic anointing.

No one knows the origin of the custom of anointing with oil or for how long it has been practised. It is claimed that the oldest prescription for an anointing oil dates from about 4200 BC, so it is certainly an age-old practice. Anointing is mentioned in the Scriptures over one hundred times and in all periods of biblical history.

Anointing a Pillar

Genesis 28:18 records the first occurrence in the Bible when early one morning Jacob poured oil on the stone on which he had rested his head, as he set it up as a lasting memorial of his experiences. His action gives then impression of being the normal thing to do, rather than the introduction of a new custom. By pouring oil on the stone he sanctified it, in the sense of setting it apart for God, a meaning that is common to all Biblical anointings.

Secular Anointings

The Bible in Old and New Testaments refers to various secular uses of anointing. Part of an Israelite's daily toilet was to anoint oneself with oil, thus causing their faces to shine (Psalm 104:15)! This custom was only omitted during mourning (2 Sam 12:20, 14:2).

The anointing of the heads of guests was a courtesy that Simon the Pharisee neglected when he entertained Jesus to a meal. It is significant from the words used in Greek that whereas Simon did not get around to anointing Jesus with common olive oil, the sinful woman was not content with anything less that an expensively perfumed oil to pour on Jesus' feet.

In biblical times, anointing with oil was a daily activity, with uses ranging from personal vanity to social courtesy, to medicine."

The third use of oil was a medicinal one, in the story of the Good Samaritan, who poured on oil and wine (Luke 10:34, also Isa 1:6, Eze 16:9). From the story of the women at the Garden Tomb, we see it was a custom to anoint the bodies of the dead (Mark 16:1).

Priest's Anointing

Turning to the biblical accounts of sacred anointings, we note that priests were anointed into office by the pouring on of oil. In the Pentateuch there are some thirty references to anointings; all of these refer to the anointing of the High Priest and his sons, the tabernacle and its furniture (Ex 40:9-15). This act was in fact their ordination and accreditation, giving them authority to minister to both God and man (Lev 8:12).

Priests were anointed into office, giving them authority to minister to both God and man."

Special Formula Oil

The oil used in their consecration had to be made to a special prescription laid down by God himself. (Ex 30:32). The four spices were liquid myrrh, sweet-smelling cinnamon, aromatic cane and cassia. These were to be blended with olive oil by a perfumer. Two of these spices were rare and only obtainable from India and the Far-East.

This was to be the oil used for anointing the priests and the kings of Israel down the generations. It was forbidden to use this oil on the bodies of ordinary men (Ex 30:32) and it was forbidden to make up any oil to the same formula, on pain of exclusion from the people of God. This special oil was kept in a holy place (1 Kings 1:39) and in the care of the son of the High Priest (Num 4:16).

The oil used in the priestly anointing was made of a unique formula, written by God himself and forbidden for use on ordinary men."

Such careful regulations made this oil special and therefore an appropriate symbol of the Holy Spirit, throughout Scripture typified by oil and which cannot be poured out on those who are unredeemed.

Aaron's Anointing

Looking back over the centuries, the writer of Psalm 133 describes the precious oil poured on Aaron's head in such abundance that it ran down on to his beard and the collar of his robes (v2). So generously is the Spirit poured out, bringing the fragrance of Christ, the blessing of life and the brotherly unity of all who share the divine anointing.

In connection with his anointing, a gold plate was placed on Aaron's turban. The Hebrew word for this gold diadem is closely connected with the word for the Nazirite vow of separation (Num 6:21). By his anointing the High Priest was forbidden to leave the sanctuary and was not permitted to come into contact with the dead, even to attend the funeral of a close relative. All of this teaches us that alongside blessings of the divine anointing, stringent demands of holy separation are imposed on all upon whom the holy oil has been poured.

As with the priestly oil, so the Holy Spirit is poured out generously on believers, bringing the fragrance of Christ, brotherly unity and the blessing of life- but also the call to be holy and separate for the Lord."

Anointing of Kings

In the historical books of the Old Testament (Judges through 2 Chronicles), there are more than fifty references to anointing, and all but few are concerned with the coronation of kings. Saul and David, Absalom and Solomon and others after them received the 'coronation' of holy anointing oil. Very little is said about placing a crown on their heads, the vitally important thing was the anointing they received.

Holy anointing oil was also used at the coronation of kings; what mattered wasn't the crown placed on their heads, but the anointing they received."

This anointing resulted in their being described as 'the Lord's Anointed'. This term, which occurs a dozen times in the Book of Psalms, has an original reference to the kings of Israel and in a fuller, prophetic sense to the Messiah.

Kings were anointed over an area or kingdom (1 Sam 15:17); David was first anointed king over Lawrence OP / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 / see Photo CreditsJudah (2 Sam 2:4), and subsequently over Israel as a whole (2 Sam 5:3). Early on he had received a prospective anointing as the God-appointed successor to King Saul, whilst still a young lad (though no mention was made then of the territory over which he was to reign). Then, during the waiting period whilst Saul was still king, that David on two occasions had the opportunity to kill him. But this David refused to do because Saul was 'the Lord's Anointed' (1 Sam 24:6, 26:9-11).

When news came to him that Saul was dead, David discovered that his informant had dealt the final blow and for such a crime he was immediately put to death (2 Sam 1:14-16)- so heinous did David regard the crime of taking the life of the Lord's Anointed. From the anointings of kings we see the dignity and authority bestowed on them by the sacred anointing they had received. We should also note that charismatic gifts also resulted from the same anointing (1 Sam 10:6-13, 16:13).

Kingly anointing bestowed dignity and authority, and often resulted in charismatic gifts."

Were Prophets Anointed?

In spite of the fact that a number of Bible dictionaries state that priests, kings and prophets were anointed, there is no record in Scripture of any prophet ever being anointed with oil. It is true that Elijah was ordered to anoint Elisha as his successor in the prophetic office. But it was Elijah's mantle, rather than any oil, that came down on Elisha (1 Kings 19:16-19).

Alan Cole in his commentary on Exodus (p203) says: "the word (anointing) is used only in a metaphysical sense of the appointment of prophets". Psalm 105:15 describes the patriarchs as prophets, and God calls them 'my anointed ones', yet there is no suggestion that they had ever been anointed with oil. The prophet's anointing was and always will be 'with the Holy Spirit'; of which in the anointing of priests and kings the oil was the symbol.

Prophetic anointing was and always will be with the Holy Spirit."

Christ the Anointed

Jesus is 'the Anointed One'; priest, king and prophet, and for this we call him 'Christ', from the Greek word 'christos' meaning anointed. We also call him 'Messiah' or Messias, the Latin form of the Hebrew word 'mashiach', also meaning 'the anointed'. Isaiah's prophecy had been fulfilled in him and he could say: the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me' (Isa 61:1). It is important to notice that Jesus was not anointed 'by' the Spirit, but 'with' the Spirit. J Elder Cumming in his 'Through the Eternal Spirit' (p154) says:

The thought conveyed in these passages is that the anointing is the Holy Spirit himself. It is not that he is the agent in giving it, nor that he gives something that belongs to him which he makes over in the sense of a blessing or power. It is that he comes to be the anointing oil. Jesus of Nazareth was anointed not by him, but with him. The anointing is not a blessing, a gift such as grace, peace or power, but is a person, the Holy Spirit himself...

Peter explained to the Roman Centurion Cornelius that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, that he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38). Jesus' earthly ministry was made possible by his having been anointed with the Holy Spirit.

This anointing of Jesus had taken place immediately after his baptism by John in the Jordan, when the Spirit descended like a dove (Mark 1:9-10). The tempter immediately challenged this anointing, but Jesus stood firm against him and so returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit (Luke 4:14).

The Christian Anointing

There is no anointing for the believer to claim before he can rightly use the name 'Christian' (Greek christianos), meaning follower of Christ the anointed one. As Aaron and his sons were unfit to minister until the holy oil had been poured upon them, so Christians are unfit to discharge their office as priests, prophets and kings until they are anointed with the Holy Spirit, of whom the holy oil was the type.

Christians are unfit to discharge their office without the Holy Spirit, of whom the holy oil was a type. When we accept God's gift of the Spirit by faith, we receive an abiding anointing."

According to Paul's words to the church at Corinth (2 Cor 1:21), and John's letter (1 John 2:20, 27), Christians have been anointed, and the tense of the verbs they use indicates that this anointing is something which happens once and for all: it refers to a definite moment in the life of the disciple. It would seem, therefore, that the habit, prevalent in some circles, of referring to 'an anointing coming upon me time and time again' obscures the fact that what we receive when we by faith accept God's gift of the Spirit (Luke 11:13, Gal 3:14) is an abiding anointing.

Part of the answer to the question 'What is a prophet?' must be this: a prophet is someone who is aware that the Spirit has been poured out upon him and as a result he is enabled and impelled to speak the words of God. Without that experience, no man could ever be a prophet.

Meaning of Anointing

• To be set apart from unholy things;
• To be given authority to act as a crowned king;
• To be able to speak God's words and have those words confirmed by charismatic gifts;
• To spread abroad the fragrance of Christ;
• To be a unifying influence, and
• To promote spiritual life and vitality.

These are the characteristics of those prophets who have received the abiding anointing of the Holy Spirit himself.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 1, No 5, 1985.

Edmund Heddle looks at the deep symbolism behind the Spirit's descent on Jesus 'like a dove'...

We cannot answer the question 'What is a prophet?' adequately until we turn our attention to Jesus, the Prophet, and discover the secret of his prophetic ministry. Moses foretold the coming of a prophet like himself and yet greater (Deut 18: 15-19). The early church believed that Jesus was that prophet (Acts 3:22-23, 7:37). Jesus referred to himself as a prophet (Matt 13:57, Luke 3:33) and his contemporaries certainly regarded him such (Matt 21:11, Luke 7:16 and John 4:19).

Jesus and the Spirit

It is highly significant that Jesus' prophetic ministry did not commence until after the Spirit had descended on him, immediately following his baptism by John in the Jordan River. Jesus was the Son of God and the Word from all eternity, yet as man he had to receive and rely upon the Spirit of God to carry out his ministry as a prophet. If this was true of Jesus, how much more must it be true for us!

Jesus' prophetic ministry did not start until after the Spirit had descended on him. If this was true of Jesus, how much more must it be for us!"

Who saw the Dove?

What is the special significance in our being told that the Spirit descended on Jesus 'like a dove'? Some have been content to see this as a reference to the innocence and harmlessness of the Spirit, along the lines of Jesus' words in Matthew 10:16, "Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves". But there is a much deeper meaning in this phrase 'like a dove', if we let the biblical references fill out its meaning.

Who saw the dove? According to Matthew and Mark the dove was seen by Jesus (Matt 3:16-17, Mark 1:10-11). Luke mentions the descent of the dove but does not say who actually saw it. John's gospel however indicates that the dove was also seen by John the Baptist, and that this was the pre-arranged sign by which he would recognise the Messiah (John 1:31-34). It is to be noted that none of the gospels indicate that the dove was seen by the crowds standing by.

A Real Dove?

We need also to note that the gospels do not say that it was a dove, but that it was 'like a dove'. As on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit revealed himself like rushing mighty wind and like tongues of fire, so here it does not say that an actual dove flew down and alighted on the newly baptised Jesus. It was real to Jesus and his forerunner John, and deeply significant to these two, both of whom had minds that were soaked in the stories and teaching of the Old Testament.

The Spirit's descent 'like a dove' would have been deeply significant to both Jesus and John the Baptist."

The Brooding Dove

We have only to turn to the second verse of the Bible to read: "The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Some translators prefer 'brooding' to 'hovering', but both words describe the activity of a bird. The Talmudic comment on this verse reads: "The Spirit of God who moved on the face of the waters like a dove." Those who are familiar with Milton's Paradise Lost will recall the lines "...and with mighty wings outspread, dovelike sat'st brooding on the dark abyss".²

The descent of the dove on our Lord marks him out and qualifies him to be the one to bring mankind out of the chaos of a fallen world and into the "new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells" (2 Pet 3:13). The dove is symbolic of the mighty creative power of God, which rested in fulness on Jesus. Yet at the same time it reveals the quietness of such power; expressed beautifully by Dr Alexander McLaren in the words: "The Spirit of God was brooding over chaos and quickening life, as a bird in its nest by the warmth of its own soft breast."¹

Dove with Olive Branch

The second Bible reference to the dove occurs in the story of Noah's flood (Gen 8:6-12). Because of the spread of man's violence and the unheeded preaching of Noah, God's judgement fell on all except those who took the God-provided way of escape (Gen 6:11-13; 2 Pet 2:5). After the floodwaters had receded and the Ark had come to rest on Mt. Ararat, Moses sent out two birds. The raven, a bird of prey, flew off and stayed away, doubtless feeding on what had died. The dove returned to the Ark as the earth was still covered with water.

Seven days later the dove was again sent out and this time returned with a freshly plucked olive leaf. The dove bearing the olive branch was messenger of hope to the prisoners in the ark, telling them that judgement was past. The raven, in contrast, was too intent on gorging itself that it brought no message.

The dove's descent marks Jesus out as the One to bring order out of the world's chaos, hope out of despair, life out of death."

Augustine put it like this: "As the dove did at that time bring tidings of the abating of the water so doth it now of the abating of the wrath of God upon the preaching of the Gospel." The dove that comes to us with a leaf plucked from the tree of life is symbolic of the redemptive power of our Saviour and of the good news that through him we have escaped judgement and have been reborn into his new creation.

Poor Man's Sacrifice

In the Old Testament system of sacrifices, the only bird that was allowed to be offered was the dove. The rich were required to bring a bull or a lamb, but the poor man (as in the case of Jesus' parents) could bring a pair of doves (Lev 1:14-17, Luke 2:24). We know that doves were acceptable offerings from the stories of Jesus cleansing the temple and his overturning the benches of those selling doves (John 2:14-16, Matt 21:12-13).

St. Cyprian sums up his understanding of the doves' acceptability as a sacrifice in the following words: "A dove, a gentle joyous creature, with no bitterness of gall, no fierceness of bite and no violence of rending claws".³ The Spirit who came on Jesus was the Spirit of sacrifice, the Spirit that led him eventually to offer himself without blemish to God (Heb 9:14). The voice from heaven that accompanied the descent of the dove declared that Jesus after living thirty years in Galilee was totally acceptable to God.

Jesus' submission to baptism by John in the Jordan and the descent of the dove upon him are the negative and positive aspects of his Spirit of entire self offering; of his oneness and identification with the sinful race he came to save and of his complete consecration to achieve their eternal salvation cost what it might.

In the Old Testament, the dove was the only bird acceptable as a sacrifice. The Spirit who came on Jesus was the Spirit of self-sacrifice, leading him to offer himself on our behalf- an offering with which God was 'well pleased'."

Spring and Lovers

The Song of Songs tells us that the dove is the herald of spring and is associated with lovers:

Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come with me. See! the winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land...My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely (Song of Solomon 2:10-12, 14).

The Hebrew word for dove comes from the word yayin, which contains the ideas of effervescence and intoxication and refers to the warmth of doves' love-making. There is a 'twoness' about doves. The poor man's offering was a pair of doves. Doves live in pairs and lay a clutch of two eggs, "nurturing their young together; when they fly abroad hanging in their flight side by side; leading their life in mutual intercourse; giving in concord the kiss of peace with their bills; in every way fulfilling their unanimity" (to quote from St. Cyprian again⁴).

The coming down of the dove on Jesus symbolises our Lord as the lover of our souls, desiring to become one with his bride- the Church."

Their twoness becomes oneness, or as St Paul says to the Ephesians (5:31-32), "the two shall become one". Paul says he is referring to Christ and his bride, the church. The coming down of the dove on our Lord reveals him to be the lover of our souls who cannot be content until we respond to his eternal love-making.

The Dove Prophet

As well as the direct references to the dove in Scripture we have examined, there is a very instructive one, which is not immediately apparent. The Hebrew word for dove is 'Yonah' or 'Jonah': the name of a prophet who tried to escape from the responsibility of declaring God's message to the city of Nineveh. When Jonah was sent he disobeyed but the One on whom the dove came acted in absolute obedience, when his Father told him to leave heaven and travel to our earth with the message of God's pardoning love.

Jesus is the true and perfect Jonah, the final dove-prophet."

Sinful Jonah, when sent by God, disobeyed and found himself jettisoned into a storm of judgement. Yet in the incredible mercy of God he was saved by being swallowed up and vomited out! Sinless Jesus was completely obedient to God's instructions and yet found himself overwhelmed by the storms of judgement and death. But he rose again! Furthermore, the only sign he would give his generation was the sign of Jonah (Matt 16:4). Jesus is the true Jonah, the final dove-prophet, the missioner of God. It was when John saw the dove descend on him that he recognised his cousin to be nothing less than the Son of God, the Lamb of God and the Baptiser in the Holy Spirit (John 1:29-34).

Dove-Prophets Today

Those who are prophets today must be careful to make sure that the Spirit that is inspiring their speaking is truly the Dove.

A possible reaction to man's rebellion and violence and to its inevitable consequence of divine judgement and punishment, is that we become harsh in our attitudes, judgmental in our speech and separatist in our relationships. But we are not to manifest the spirit of the raven, but the Spirit of the Dove.

Those prophesying today must not manifest the harsh spirit of the raven, but the endlessly loving Spirit of the Dove."

Dove-prophets are to be endlessly loving, always seeking unity and togetherness. They must sacrifice their own plans and preferences for the greater joy of announcing forgiveness to those who would otherwise perish. They are to be ever hopeful; convinced that the last word is with the God who will yet have heaven and earth as he intends.

Commenting on the descent of the dove, Dr. Alexander McLaren said of Jesus: "Since he was a man, he needed the Divine Spirit. Since he was sinless, he was capable of receiving it in perfect and unbroken continuity."⁵ If he needed the Dove, so much more do we- and the thrilling truth is that our need has been met. Every Christian prophet today may by faith receive the Spirit in fullness; the Spirit that is 'like a dove'.

References

1 Commentary on Mark 1:9-10

2 Vol. 1.

3 Treatise 1, section 9.

4 See previous note.

5 See note 1.

First published in Prophecy Today, Vol 1, No 4, 1985.