Anointment
- This article should be merged with Anoint.
Anointing is the religious practice of applying specially consecrated oil to someone in order to transfer the magic inherent in the oilto consecrate them to a particular task or role, such as that of a priest or ruler.
For example David was anointed as king by the prophet Samuel:
1 Samuel 16:13
Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
According to the Jewish Bible, whenever someone received the anointing, the Spirit of God came upon this person, to qualify him or her for a God-given task. However it was not always required to become anointed in order to receive the Spirit of God.
In the New Testament, people received the Spirit of God on and inside of them, usually after being baptised in water, but sometimes even before.
The Spirit of God residing in a Christian is also referred to as the anointing.
1 John 2:20
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
"Unction" is another term for anointing.
Anointing is also known to Christians as "the burden removing, yoke destroying power of God". This comes from the following verse:
Isaiah 10:27
And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.
In early Christian times, sick people were anointed for healing to take place:
James 5:
14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord:
15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.
Sometimes it is also said during Christian meetings that "the anointing is at work" or "the anointing is flowing". This means that the Holy Spirit is at work at such moments.
See also chrism, Extreme unction
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