Oil & Anointing
Objects & SymbolsOlive oil poured out to set people and things apart for God — a standing symbol of the Holy Spirit.
Olive oil was everywhere in daily life — food, lamp fuel, medicine, and cosmetic — but a specially compounded holy oil had a sacred use. Pouring it over a person or object “anointed” it: set it apart and consecrated it for God's service.
Priests, kings, and prophets were installed by anointing; David was anointed by Samuel, and “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.” The link became fixed — the outward oil signified the inward coming of God's Spirit, equipping a person for their calling.
The very titles “Messiah” (Hebrew) and “Christ” (Greek) mean “Anointed One.” Jesus opened his ministry by reading, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me,” and the New Testament says believers, too, have “an anointing from the Holy One.” Oil thus pictures the Spirit's setting-apart and empowering presence.