Message 160
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Scripture Reading: Exo. 30:23-30; Gen. 1:2; Judg. 3:10; Luke 1:35; John 7:39; Rom. 8:2, 9; Acts 5:9; 16:6-7; John 14:17; Phil. 1:19; 1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:18; Heb. 10:29; Rev. 1:4; Rom. 8:16; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 2:7; 22:17
The holy anointing oil described in 30:23-30 is a compound ointment. In the Scriptures the Spirit of God is first typified by oil. This oil is one element, one entity, without any compounding, mingling, or blending. But in Exodus 30 the oil is compounded with four kinds of spices: myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia. These four spices, precious and fragrant, were blended, mingled, compounded, with the oil. As a result, the oil becomes a compound ointment.
According to the Bible, these spices have much to do with the Lord Jesus. Both at His birth and at His burial, myrrh was used by those who gave honor to Him. In the Song of Songs certain spices have a spiritual significance either with respect to the Lord Himself or to the one seeking Him.
The record concerning the compound ointment in Exodus 30 is extremely significant. The Lord’s charge to Moses to make the compound ointment is very important. This charge was given after both the tabernacle with all its furniture and utensils and the priesthood had been revealed. This means that before the description of the ointment we have two entities. The first is the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place; the second is the priesthood, God’s serving ones.
First Peter 2 speaks of both God’s dwelling place and the priesthood. According to this chapter, God desires two things. First, the Lord Jesus is the living stone. As those who come to Him, we also are living stones, being built up a spiritual house and into a holy priesthood. Here we have the spiritual house, God’s dwelling, and also the priesthood, a body of serving ones. Actually, these two entities, the spiritual house and the priesthood, are one entity in two aspects. On the one hand, we are God’s dwelling place; on the other hand, we are God’s priesthood. We are a house for God to dwell in, and we are the priesthood to serve God. God needs a dwelling place on earth for His expression. At the same time, He also needs a serving priesthood. God wants to express Himself, and He wants to be served. Therefore, He desires a spiritual house and a holy priesthood.
The revelation concerning the compound ointment was not given in chapter one of Exodus. It was not given even in chapter twenty-nine, but toward the end of chapter thirty, after God’s dwelling place and the priesthood had been revealed. This indicates that the compound ointment is solely for the purpose of anointing God’s dwelling place and His priesthood. According to 30:26-28, the ointment was used to anoint the tent of meeting, the ark, the table and its utensils, the lampstand and its utensils, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and its utensils, and the laver and its base. Furthermore, verse 30 says, “And you shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and you shall sanctify them to serve as priests to Me.” These verses make it very clear that the compound ointment was strictly for the purpose of anointing the tabernacle and the priests.
In the book of Exodus there is a great deal of enjoyment. For example, the Passover was an enjoyment for the children of Israel. It was a feast that eventually was made an ordinance. Every year the first of the feasts was the feast of the Passover. The focus of this feast is the lamb, which typifies Christ as our Redeemer. This indicates that Christ is the initial enjoyment of God’s chosen people. Even while the children of Israel were still in Egypt, they could have a good enjoyment of the Passover lamb. Not only did they apply the blood to the lintel of the door, but they ate the flesh of the lamb. Hence, that lamb was for their enjoyment.
After the children of Israel came into the wilderness, they began to enjoy the manna and the living water out of the cleft rock. The children of Israel, therefore, enjoyed at least three things — the Passover, the manna, and the living water. It is important for us to realize that they had all this enjoyment before the tabernacle and the priesthood were revealed. This means that even without the tabernacle and the priesthood, they could have the enjoyment of the lamb, the manna, and the living water.
If we are clear concerning the situation of the children of Israel, we shall be able to see where today’s Christians stand. Where are most Christians: before the revelation of the tabernacle and the priesthood, or after? No doubt, the majority of Christians are before the revelation of the tabernacle and the priesthood. This means that the situation of today’s Christians is one without God’s dwelling and without God’s priesthood. At best, most Christians enjoy the Passover lamb, the manna, and the living water. However, the number of those who enjoy the living water is actually very few. When I was young, I heard much talk about the Passover lamb and also about the manna, but I did not hear nearly as much concerning the living water out of the cleft rock.
We need to ask ourselves where we are with respect to the enjoyment of Christ. Do we have only the enjoyment that comes before the revelation of the tabernacle and the priesthood, that is, the enjoyment of the Lamb, the manna, and the water? Where are you concerning the enjoyment of Christ? Are you before the revelation of the tabernacle and the priesthood, or after? This question is extremely important. If in your enjoyment of Christ you are before the tabernacle and the priesthood, then you cannot have any share in the compound ointment. This ointment can be enjoyed only after God’s dwelling place and the body of serving ones have come into existence. It is not for God’s chosen people to enjoy apart from God’s dwelling and His priesthood.
When asked whether your enjoyment of Christ is before or after the tabernacle and the priesthood, you may find it difficult to answer. You may hesitate, not knowing whether to say yes or no. However, I have the assurance that the vast majority of us have had at least some experience of the compound ointment. What we have enjoyed in our experience is not only the oil but the ointment.
Whereas the oil is simple, containing just one element, the ointment is rich. As we have pointed out again and again, it is a compound produced by blending four spices with olive oil. It is extremely significant that in Exodus 30 we have a record of the divine revelation concerning this compound ointment. The elements and the quantity of these spices are also significant. Although there are four kinds of spices, there are actually only three complete units of five-hundred shekels each.
In the record concerning the compound ointment, we have the numbers three and five. In the Bible, when the numbers three and five are put together, this combination is related to God’s building. God’s first building was the ark of Noah. In the description of the ark there are multiples of the numbers three and five: “The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits” (Gen. 6:15). Furthermore, the ark was to be made “with lower, second, and third stories” (Gen. 6:16). God’s second building was the tabernacle. The tabernacle was of three sections: the outer court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. With the tabernacle, the number five occurs frequently. For example, the tabernacle was made with ten curtains of fine linen. According to Exodus 26:3, five curtains were joined to one another, and the other five curtains were also to be joined to one another. Furthermore, the curtains in the outer court were squares each measuring five cubits by five cubits. Also, the altar of burnt offering was five cubits in length and width, and three cubits in height. Therefore, with God’s second building we have the numbers three and five.
In the Bible the number three signifies the Triune God in resurrection. Resurrection, as we know, was on the third day. Therefore, the Triune God and resurrection are both signified by the number three. As we have mentioned several times, in the Bible the number five, formed of four plus one, signifies responsibility. Therefore, the numbers three and five together signify the Triune God in resurrection bearing responsibility for His people. This is for the building.
Some may complain that to say that the numbers three and five signify the Triune God in resurrection bearing responsibility for His people and that these numbers are related to God’s building is too much allegorization of the Word. However, what they regard as allegorization is simply recognizing what is revealed in the Bible. We may compare this allegorization to reading and pronouncing a word. Suppose the word “availability” is spelled out like this: a-v-a-i-l-a-b-i-l-i-t-y. As we read this word, we need to pronounce it correctly and know its meaning. This process is comparable to what we do when we allegorize the Scriptures in the proper way. The Lord Jesus and the apostle Paul both allegorized the Bible, for they recognized the significance of the spiritual alphabet contained in the Word. We may regard the four spices in Exodus 30 as letters of the spiritual alphabet. Furthermore, the measurements of the spices are also letters in this alphabet. The way to read and understand these letters is to allegorize them.
When I was a young man, I worked for a corporation that daily received telegrams. Unlike today, fifty years ago international trade depended upon communication by way of telegram. Sometimes a telegram contained just one word written in ciphers. At first, I was not able to decipher this kind of telegram. Eventually, by studying a code book that explained the meaning of the different ciphers, I was able to read a message written in ciphers. Many times two letters represented a long sentence. I came to understand that, when deciphered, a code word of ten letters could actually be a long message.
The best way to study the Bible is to learn to decipher it. To decipher the Bible simply means to untie the Lord’s word. If we do not know how to decipher the Bible, we shall be like someone reading a telegram written in ciphers who does not know how to decode what he is reading. For many Christians today, the Bible is like a word written in ciphers that they are not able to decipher. Such is the superficial situation among Christians concerning God’s holy revelation. Virtually every chapter of the Word contains something that they cannot decipher. For example, 1 Peter 1:2 says that we have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctification of the Spirit unto the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ. What does all this mean? Someone may have been a Christian for over forty years and yet not be able to understand this verse.
I am deeply concerned about the situation among Christians today. On the one hand, daily I am happy in the Lord. On the other hand, when I consider the situation of the believers and pray about it, I am very sad. Often I am sad even when I consider the situation of all the saints in the local churches. Not many of the saints have truly been brought into the depths of God’s revelation. Rather, many have been drugged and are in a spiritual stupor. Because they are in such a stupor, they are satisfied with their condition, even though that condition is far from satisfactory. Moreover, those who are satisfied with their condition are not so seeking after the Lord. Oh, we need to treasure the Lord’s word and appreciate it! In particular, we need to seek to touch the depths of the divine revelation concerning the compound ointment in Exodus 30.
For more than fifty years I have been reading books written by others to see how they interpret the type of the compound ointment. The Brethren teachers have paid more attention to this than other Bible teachers have. They have been almost the only ones to touch this matter. They all agreed that the oil signifies the Spirit of God. Some even related the compound ointment in Exodus 30 to John’s word regarding the anointing in 1 John 2:20 and 27. However, although they had some light, they did not say definitely and in detail why the Spirit of God needed to be compounded.
First the Bible uses oil to typify the Spirit of God. But after the revelation of the tabernacle and the priesthood, God gave a formula for the compounding of oil and spices to make an ointment. Why did God require a compound, instead of pure oil with only its own element, after His dwelling place and His serving ones came into existence? Why is the compound ointment not revealed before this? Realizing that this is an important matter, I studied it for years. As a result, I was able to touch the depth of the truth in the Word concerning God’s Spirit. By His mercy, I began to understand little by little the divine revelation regarding the compound Spirit.
Immediately after I was saved, I began to seek the experience of being dead to sin. I knew what Romans 6 said, and I wanted to be delivered from the bondage of the law of sin. I was told to reckon myself dead. But as I have pointed out elsewhere, this reckoning did not work in my experience. Gradually, through more experience, I learned that the energy, the strength, and the effectiveness of Christ’s death dwell in the Spirit. Then I heard Brother Nee say that the subjective aspect of the death of Christ can be experienced only by the Spirit in Romans 8. His word conmfirmed what I had discovered in my experience, and I was very happy to know that the subjective experience of Christ’s death is possible only through the Spirit. I was helped to know that something is included in, or mingled with, the Spirit of God. I learned from experience that the death of Christ presented in Romans 6 is implied or mingled with the Spirit in Romans 8.
As I spent more time to study the Old Testament and the New Testament, one day the Lord showed me from Exodus 30 that here we have a compound of oil and spices and not merely oil as a single element. Then I began to study the spices. I knew from past study that in typology myrrh refers to the Lord’s death. I went on to study the other spices and their measurements. I began to see that here we have three units of five hundred shekels and that the middle unit is divided into two parts. Then my eyes were opened to see that this signifies the Triune God. It was in this way that the revelation came concerning the compound ointment and the compound Spirit.
In the next message we shall consider the different titles of the Spirit found in the Bible. One of these titles, mentioned in Hebrews 10:29, is the Spirit of grace. In the New Testament two matters are crucial: the sanctifying blood and the Spirit of grace. Actually, the New Testament is composed of the blood that sanctifies us and the Spirit of grace, the Spirit who supplies us with the Triune God.
In the Bible we have thirteen titles of the Spirit of God: the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:9, 14; 1 Cor. 2:14); the Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of the Lord (Acts 5:9; 8:39; 2 Cor. 3:17); the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6; Rom. 15:13, 16); the Spirit of reality (John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13); the Spirit of Jesus (Acts 16:7); the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9); the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Phil. 1:19): the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2); the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45; 2 Cor. 3:6); the Lord Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18); the Spirit of grace (Heb. 10:29); the seven Spirits (Rev. 1:4); and the Spirit (Rom. 8:16, 23, 26, 27; Gal. 3:14; 5:16-18, 22, 25; 1 Pet. 1:2; Rev. 2:7; 14:13; 22:17). The Spirit of reality has all the further elements promised in John 14:17; 15:26 and 16:13. The Spirit of Jesus has the elements of humanity, human living, and crucifixion. The Spirit of Christ has the element of resurrection. The Spirit of Jesus Christ has the bountiful supply of all the elements of humanity, human living, crucifixion, and resurrection. The Spirit of life has the riches of the divine life. The life-giving Spirit is for the impartation of the divine life. The Lord Spirit has the elements of ascension and lordship. The Spirit of grace is for supplying us with the divine riches as our enjoyment. The seven Spirits are for the sevenfold intensification. Finally, the Spirit includes all the elements of the foregoing titles. Hence, the Spirit is the all-inclusive Spirit. This means that the Spirit is the aggregate, the totality, of all the aspects of the Spirit of God.
We need to turn from the traditional Christian teaching concerning the Spirit of God and come back to the divine revelation in the pure Word of God. Why does the Bible give us the type of the compound ointment? Why does the Bible contain so many titles of the Spirit? In Genesis 1 the Spirit of God moved upon the surface of the waters. But in the last chapter of the Bible we are told, “The Spirit and the bride say...” (Rev. 22:17). Why does the divine revelation proceed from the Spirit of God in Genesis 1 to the Spirit in Revelation 22? We also need to know why, in between these titles of the Spirit, we have the Spirit of Jehovah, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of reality, the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of life, the life-giving Spirit, the Lord Spirit, the Spirit of grace, and the seven Spirits. We should not take these matters in the holy Word for granted. We need to get into the depths of the divine revelation concerning the Spirit, we need to understand the type of the compound ointment, and we need to know how to apply in our experience the marvelous compound Spirit.
