A Hot Oil Treatment

 

T

elevision commercials will always be with us.  No matter the generation, no matter the trend, and no matter the products, commercials influence and impact the way we go about our daily lives.  Sometimes, the more eccentric, the more outlandish, and the more bizarre commercials are, the more likely we are to remember them and change our buying habits. After all, that is the very goal of the commercial, to grab our attention and make us see things in a new and innovative way. 

 

I can still remember commercials from my childhood and in some instances the same companies are still advertising the same products but, in a way, more conducive to today’s consumer.  However, some commercials I remember from long ago are no longer splayed across TV or computer screens, yet I can still recall them and play them verbatim in my head. 

 

One such commercial advertised a unique treatment for hair and scalp.  It involved placing a vial of oil into a glass of hot water and then applying the warm oil directly to the head.  This rejuvenated the scalp and provided luster and rich body to the hair.  I can still see the models as they applied the product to their heads and then spent the next 15 seconds whirling around as their long hair danced cascaded over their shoulders. The message was clear:  hot oil treatments were good for your hair and therefore an essential part of life. 

 

Would it surprise you to discover the concept of the hot oil treatment in the Old Testament?  Well, it is there although it is not an advertisement for healthier hair and scalp but it does speak to the importance of God’s Holy Spirit and its direct application to the life of the believer. 

 

Leviticus 8:30 simply reads, “Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood from the altar and sprinkled them on Aaron and his garments and on his sons and their garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments and his sons and their garments.” 

 

Blood and oil don’t sound like very good advertising elements, do they?  And yet, in order for Aaron to become God’s priest, these elements were absolutely essential.  This passage is taken from the ordination of Aaron as Israel’s first high priest.  Moses, his brother, has dressed Aaron in the priestly garments, garments made at God’s direction, garments that set him apart from all other. 

 

And then, as Aaron stands there in these new clothes, Moses proceeds to pour oil and blood on him.  What is the message here?  What was God’s purpose in this ceremony?  How can we apply that to our lives today? 

 

I’m glad you asked.  We get too caught up in our time with outward appearances, paying far too much attention to how people look instead of seeing them for who they are.  Although Aaron was dressed in the holy garments, without the pouring on of blood and oil, God’s presence was not on him.  Without these elements, Aaron would have been just a man in nice clothes, but he would not have been God’s messenger. 

 

What a lesson this is for us today.  So many of us tout the fact that we are Christians, so many of us point to our good deeds, to the fact that we are in church every time the doors open, and we say over and over again what good people we are.  But do we have the blood of Christ applied to our lives and is the oil of the Holy Spirit covering us from head to toe?  This is the real question, isn’t it?  Our lives are an advertisement. What reason are we giving those around us to believe in God?  Is the oil of God’s Spirit covering you today?  Has it been poured into your life, permeating every aspect of your being?  Do you need a hot oil treatment today?