clothes which would then make
them holly and anointed to be
the priests of God. If we take a
look at this and then understand
that in Exodus 30 the type of
oil that was to be made for this
type of ceremony was to be an
oil filled with spices and herbs
which would carry the sweet
aroma of incense that Exodus 25
speaks about. The oil was to be
made in the same manner that
medicines were made, spices
and herbs ground into pulp and
then added to the anointing oil.
The purpose of this, I believe,
was so that when the anointed
individual would walk away from
the ceremony, they would smell
of the sweet anointing for hours,
and quite possibly for days.
Everyone they would come in
contact with would know that they
had been and were anointed.
After God instructed on how
the oil was to be made He went
a step further and commanded
that this be an anointing oil for
all generations to follow. The
key that must be understood is
that the anointing oil was meant
for the tabernacle only and was
therefore very sacred and holy.
If this same oil can be taken and
poured on a man and sprinkled
on his clothes to make him set
apart and able to be a priest
for God then when everyone
would recognize the scent of the
anointing they would know that
that individual was anointed.
We fast forward and see the
anointing of David, I am not
talking about the King David, but
the boy David who still smelled
like sheep dung for it was on
his clothes and was on his skin
due to his profession. After he
was anointed what a marvelous
wonder that must have been for
those around him to smell the
sweet savoury of the anointing
and yet have no understanding
as to why God choose this
shepherd boy; this boy that even
his own father didn’t believe
deserved to be brought before the
prophet. Yet this is the one who
left the meeting with the prophet
with a sweet scent emitting from
his hair, clothes and body. David
came out of the field smelling
like sheep and went back to the
field changed so much that he
not only looked different from
having oil poured on him but he
also smelled different. One could
definitely see the transformation
that had taken place with using
more than one of their senses.
Maybe by looking at these Old
Testament examples we can
catch a glimpse of the anointing
of God and what it might look like,
feel like, and maybe even smell
like. It is amazing how we can go
through life and a smell will catch
us by surprise with a reminder
of a scent of the past. Maybe
a person smells like grandma,
or a home smells like a home
that you grew up in, a smell that
uses one sense and takes us
back mentally to a point in time
when we had the experience
of that smell before. Taking this
into account what a thrill it must
have been in the Old Testament
for an individual to be anointed.
The scent of the anointing oil
would have been experienced
in the temple, God’s house, and
then as they passed by David
they would immediately be taken
back to where they went to offer
sacrifices or back to the place
that they experienced God, if
you will. God set in motion a plan
that His people could identify
who had been anointed by a
prophet by the sweet smell of
their clothes after the ceremony
of the anointing took place.
Moving onward to the New
Testament, we no longer have
tabernacles where we burn
incense and have the sweet
smell of anointing oil to be
experienced. So what does
the current day anointing smell
like, look like, feel like, and how