Exodus 30:31-3831And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. 32Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. 33Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people. 34And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: 35And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: 36And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. 37And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. 38Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people. (Exodus 30:31‑38)
GOD gave Moses two warnings in connection with the holy anointing oil. First, “Upon man’s flesh shall it not be poured.” The Spirit of God cannot rest or dwell in the natural man, fallen and in his sins. However, it is beautiful to see that Aaron and his sons were anointed after the blood had been applied to them first. One must be first cleansed by the precious blood of Christ before he can be indwelt by the Spirit and bear fruit for God. How many there are who are still unsaved and yet are trying to serve God! Still in their sins, they have not faith to trust in Christ, and we know that “without faith it is impossible to please God.” The first thing a sinner can do to please Him is to confess to Him his sin and guilt and to be cleansed in the precious blood of Christ.
We were saying last week that these sweet spices in the anointing oil speak of the graces and loveliness of Christ. “All Thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia.” Psa. 45:88All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad. (Psalm 45:8). There we see Him, as it were, fragrant with all these lovely per fumes; and surely if we are near to Him and are filled with the Spirit, we shall be enjoying these precious things that radiate from Himself.
Something of these graces will be seen in us too, for we shall carry away something of the fragrance of His Person.
The second warning was that there was to be no imitation of this ointment made, and if any one attempted to make one like it he was to be cut off from his people. It is a solemn thing to try to imitate the work of the Holy Spirit — this is of the enemy. What a warning to any who would attempt to imitate His work by fleshly excitement and other means.
This anointing then had to do with fitting the priests for drawing near to God, and this why, as believers, we need the Holy Spirit. To be born again, to have a new nature and to be brought into a new position before God in grace, are all His work, but a new nature or place do not enable us to do the will of God. A new nature may make us feel what we ought to be and do, but in itself it does not give us power to do it. The Spirit of God given to the believer is the power which enables him to fulfill the desires of that new nature. God “hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
The Lord’s our Rock, in Him we hide;
A shelter in the time of storm;
Secure whatever ill betide:
A shelter in the time of storm.
A shade by day, defense by night:
A shelter in the time of storm;
No fears alarm, no foes affright:
A shelter in the time of storm.
O Rock Divine, O Refuge dear:
A shelter in the time of storm;
Be Thou our helper ever near,
A shelter in the time of storm.
ML-12/20/1970