I’m not a big
fan of olives. Won’t eat them, and since
I find their flavour gets into the food it touches, I won’t take them off and
eat what’s left (like on pizza). In
fact, my hubby can’t even kiss me if he’s been eating them. Yuck.
Mind you, I don’t mind olive oil.
I don’t find the flavour as bad- go figure. Olive oil has been used for millennium, and
has been picked and oil produced by various methods.
Command the sons of Israel
that they bring to you pure olive oil, beaten, for the light, to cause the
lamps to burn continually. Aaron shall order it from evening until the morning
before Jehovah forever outside the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of
the congregation. It shall be a statute
forever in your generations. Lv. 24:2,3 (also Ex. 27:21)
It’s
interesting that the Lord wants the Jews to use pure olive oil made by the
beating method for lighting the lampstand in the tabernacle (later the
temple). This means that the olives are
hand picked unripe, then the pulp and flesh is ‘beaten off’ by a mortar and the
oil squeezed out. This pure olive oil
will be clean and colourless producing bright light with little smoke. (The other method would be to crush the
flesh, pulp and nut.)
If we are to
be a light to the world (Mt. 5:14), then we should be from pure oil, not from
ripe fruit that is fallen and bruised, but carefully picked by our Lord’s hand
and crushed by Him in a way to keep the impurities out so that we can produce the
brightest light possible with the least smoke (symbolic of judgment,
desolation, destruction). As the start
of the day began in the evening,
fresh oil was poured into the lamps which were then lit at the beginning of the
day. So we also need to be filled by the
Spirit at the beginning of our day in order that our light should shine.
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power… Ac. 10:38
"The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me. Because of this He anointed Me… Lk. 4:18 also Is. 61:1
It is like the
precious oil on the head that ran down on the beard, Aaron's beard, going down
to the mouth of his garments; Ps. 133:2
As high
priest, Aaron was to be anointed with oil (Lv. 8:12)
for service in the Lord’s tabernacle/ temple.
Ex. 30:24,25 says how the oil was made (with a base of olive oil and
spices) and was poured on Aaron’s head; flowing down his beard and onto his
clothing. This is no little dab, but a
pouring on. So we should also not be
satisfied with a dab of the Spirit, but should want the oil to fill all the
cracks and crevices of our lives with His presence.
Of interest- Oil is used in healing.
Lk. 10:34- a man uses oil and wine to help heal a man.
Jm. 5:14- anointing oil for the sick.
Lk. 4:18- Jesus’ anointing allowed Him to heal,
emotionally and physically.
