"Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin:" [Ex 30:23-24]
In Exodus, God gave instruction regarding “an holy ointment,” which was to be used to “anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony.” [Ex 30:25-26] The LORD says regarding the ointment,
“This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations. Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall ye make any other like it, after the composition of it: it is holy, and it shall be holy unto you. Whosoever compoundeth any like it, or whosoever putteth any of it upon a stranger, shall even be cut off from his people.” [Ex 30:31-33]
It was an ointment, a perfume, which was to be holy – that is, set apart. It was completely reserved for God and the things of God; it was not to be used for personal effects neither anything not specifically mentioned. Moreover, along with the usage being highly restricted, so too the composition: for God commanded specifically what would go into it, and by implication, what would not. For example, The LORD directed “of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels;” and so neither Aaron nor another priest could alter the amount – 300 shekels was not permitted, nor 200, nor were they to substitute a different ingredient: but 250 shekels of calamus was to be used.
In Scripture, oil is often a symbol of The Holy Spirit. Seeing that The Holy Spirit is indeed God, and carries with Him all the power and attributes of God, being equal thereto, we can reasonably assume that He is just like God. That is, if God is love, so too the Spirit; if Jesus, who is also God, is patient and meek, so too “the Spirit of Christ.” [Rom 8:9]
Our God has many attributes: love, kindness, patience, grace, judgment, wrath, forgiveness, etc. Some of these are more prominent than others. Such is the relationship between judgment and mercy, for we read, “mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” [Jam 2:13] Likewise, it is written that “God is love” [1 Jn 4:8] – giving God love as His chief attribute. If we compare this to the ingredient list for the holy, tabernacle ointment, we receive some instruction. As The Spirit says of God, “add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar,” [Prov 30:6] so too He would warn us of the Levitical ointment. It was to be made in such a way as described. Yea further, so too it is of God’s character, which is described to us in His word. God’s character, we might say, contains 500 shekels of love, 250 of judgment, 350 shekels of mercy, and so on. If we begin, in contradiction of God’s revealed word, to substitute and change the composition of His character, we commit a grievous error. For as soon as the ointment was changed, it was no longer that good and useable ointment: it was thus marred, becoming something God had not prescribed. Moreover, once the character of God is shifted and molded and changed, to fit one man or another’s preferences, He is no longer the same God, and thus an idol is created.
Let us be very careful. Just as the Levites were to carefully construct the oil used in the tabernacle, so too we must carefully study God’s word, exalting His character as shown to us. We mustn’t mistakenly attribute more wrath to God where there is none, nor yet of mercy, love, or longsuffering: we must attribute to Him that which the word prescribes and as much as the word prescribes. And further, this logic must be applied to The Holy Spirit: to His character, which is the same as God, and to His actions. Do we see The Spirit provoking men to tongues? Yes; but do we see that exalted above boldness to speak the gospel? Hardly. Do we see The Spirit engaging much in condemnation and harsh rebuke? Sometimes; but we see Him more often being patient, gracious, and lenient. So again, let us be careful and wise; let us glorify Christ as He is shown to us in scripture: through a full and balanced study of all its parts.