What Anointing Means

In our last post, we talked about how the Hebrew term HaMashiach means “the anointed one.” Scripture teaches that Jesus is this anointed one. So, what does the word “anoint” really mean?

The word “anoint” means to set apart or memorialize through the application of, typically, olive oil. The word is first mentioned in Scripture when Jacob anointed a stone pillar where God appeared to him. He had left home because he had gotten his brother, Esau, to relinquish his birthright to him and had deceived his father, Isaac, who at his elderly age had bad eyesight, to give him the birthright blessing rather than it going to his brother. Needless to say, Esau was pretty miffed at Jacob, so their mother, Rachel, insisted that Jacob go and stay with her brother who lived a long distance away—at least until his brother cooled off. That night, God appeared to Jacob and said that the promise he had given to Jacob’s father Isaac and to Isaac’s father Abraham would now be given to him. So, despite what Jacob had done, he was assured that God had not abandoned him. Because of God meeting him, Jacob anointed the stone on which he had slept and named the place Bethel (בֵּית-אֵל), meaning “house of God.”

More typically, anointing was used to recognize and appoint prophets, priests, and kings. Typically, olive oil, which represented the Holy Spirit, was used for this anointing process. It indicated these individuals were set apart by the Holy Spirit to live for and work on behalf of Yahweh (i.e., the Lord) himself. It was also a key component of the special anointing oil for the tabernacle and temple (Ex 25:6).

The first person recorded to be anointed as a prophet was Elisha, anointed by the prophet Elijah by God’s direction (1Ki 19:16); the first anointed priest was Aaron as the first high priest of Israel (Ex 28:41); the first anointed king was Saul by the prophet Samuel (1Sa 10:1). David was also anointed by Samuel once God rejected Saul as king (1Sa 16:13). Other kings were also anointed to be in their position (e.g., Solomon: 1Ki 1:39, Jehu: 2Ki 9:6, Joash: 2Ki 11:12, Jehoahaz: 2Ki 23:30). This was a way to show to the person, and to those onlooking, that this person was set apart unto God for service to Him.

The term Messiah means someone anointed for a special purpose. This one was considered even more special and set apart than any prophet, priest, or king. The reason for this is that this one termed the Messiah would hold all three positions: prophet, priest, and king. Yet he was not symbolically anointed with olive oil as a symbol of being selected by the Holy Spirit but would be anointed with the Holy Spirit himself (Is 61:1). Jesus proclaimed that he was the one to whom this prophecy pointed (Lk 4:18-21).

Jesus began his ministry once he was anointed by the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:16; Mk 1:10; Lk 3:22). John stated that he saw the Holy Spirit descend like a dove and remain on Jesus (Jn 1:32). This is when Jesus’ ministry began. There are no recorded miracles or anything about Jesus’ ministry until this event occurred. If Jesus felt the need of working with the Holy Spirit, we certainly need to be sure we are working with the Holy Spirit as well.

So, what were the people expecting of a Messiah? Like seeing a large mountain looming before them, the Jews expected a Messiah where all prophecies would be fulfilled at his coming. Biblical prophecy is event-driven and not time driven so there was nothing in Scripture that stated the timeline for the different events the Messiah would do. Therefore, the Jewish leaders who studied scripture expected this looming mountain, their Messiah, to reveal and fulfill all the prophecies about the Messiah at one time. It was like the Messiah would have three functions simultaneously.

Yet what they didn’t realize was that although Biblical prophecy does not have a time component, when prophecy is implemented, time does come into play. And there were hints in prophetic scripture of this fact, but that meant they had to be open to God’s leading to know for sure how to interpret such texts. They developed preconceived ideas of what a coming Messiah would do and act, so they did not let God’s interpretation of all these Scriptures to impact their thinking.

In reality, this looming mountain hid successive peaks behind it. The prophecies of the Messiah were placed into three different roles: prophet, priest, and king. These were in this order and when one understands their purpose and role, it is clear these cannot directly overlap.

Jesus came as a prophet during his first coming. He is now functioning as a high priest and mediator for us with the Father. And, one day, he will return and reign as King of kings and Lord of lords ruling from Jerusalem on David’s throne.

The Jewish leaders let their biases impact their thinking and thereby did not recognize their Messiah even when he was presented to them and even though he fulfilled various Scripture prophecies about the Messiah. Because he did not meet their expectations and did not praise them for the way they kept the Law of Moses, they let their pride rob them of the experience of accepting and working with the one they had proclaimed all their lives was coming. He had arrived, yet they rejected him.

May we not do the same but be humble enough to know that God may work in ways that we do not expect. We need to be on his page and not him on ours.

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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens