The Compound Spirit of God
Exodus 30:23-25
23 You also take the finest spices: of flowing myrrh five hundred shekels, and of fragrant cinnamon half as much, two hundred fifty shekels, and of fragrant calamus two hundred fifty shekels, and of fragrant calamus two hundred fifty shekels,
24 And of cassia five hundred shekels, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil.
25 And you shall make it a holy anointing oil, a perfume compounded according to the perfumer's art; it shall be a holy anointing oil.
This Spirit is mysterious and glorious, but very difficult to describe in words. This is the reason the Bible affords us the picture of the compound ointment in Exodus chapter thirty. In this chapter the olive oil represents the Spirit of God, and the four spices represent humanity, God's creature. The myrrh, cinnamon, calamus, and cassia all have a special significance. In the Bible myrrh signifies the sweetness of Christ's precious death, and cinnamon signifies the sweetness of the effectiveness of that death. Calamus signifies the rising power, the resurrection of Christ. Cassia was used in ancient times to repel snakes. If we put all these items together, we must admit that they no doubt portray the details of the compound all-inclusive Spirit.
In this Spirit we have God and the proper humanity. In this Spirit we have the effectiveness of the death of Christ and the power of the resurrection of Christ. Whatever Christ is and whatever He has done, obtained, and attained are all included in this Spirit. The Lord has shown us the significance of the myrrh, the cinnamon, the calamus, and the cassia; the reason the two middle items are each half of a full quantity; and the fact that these four spices together make three complete units of five hundred shekels each. The hin of olive oil was compounded with the four spices into one ointment. This signifies the mingling of the unique God with His creature, man, to form one compound unit. The tabernacle with all its furniture and vessels and all the priests were anointed with this compound ointment, not merely with olive oil. Today we are not under the anointing of the Spirit that includes only divinity; we are under the anointing of the compound Spirit.
When the Apostle John used the term, the "anointing," in 1 John 2:27 for the Spirit's move, no doubt he thought of Exodus chapter thirty, the source of the word anointing. The word "anointing" was not used firstly by John; rather, it had been used already in Exodus thirty. The anointing that abides in us is the compound Spirit as the life-giving Spirit indwelling our spirit.
The Spirit and the Body,39-40, by Witness Lee.
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