Page 32 - The Messiah Beyond a Shadow of Doubt

Chapter 1: The Messiah

We have found the Messiah...

What do we mean by “Messiah?” What does the word mean? Messiah is a Hebrew
word that simply means anointed one, referring to someone who was anointed with oil by
pouring it over the head to signify that this person was appointed to a specific purpose or
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office. There were many messiahs in the Bible. In the history of Israel, priests and kings were
anointed with oil to signify that they were in an official role for God—they were messiahs in a
technical sense.

Just for the record, priests and kings were not the only objects of anointing. In the
tabernacle, the altar, the tent of meeting, and the Ark of the Covenant were anointed, along
with its various furnishings and utensils. It is interesting that anointing in the religious realm
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was not normally done with simple olive oil. The oil that was used for anointing priests and
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items of worship was a special formulation given to Moses from the Lord, a perfumed mixture of
fine spices combined with olive oil. This anointing oil was sacred and, under the penalty of being
cut off from Israel, was never to be compounded or used for any other purpose than those
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which were designated by the Lord. 17

13 Leviticus 8:12, 1 Samuel 10:1, 2 Kings 9:3, Psalm 133:2
14 Exodus 29:36, 30:26, 40:9–11
15 Exodus 30:22–25
16 Cut Off (Hebrew: Kareth) “means not necessarily physical dissolution but extinction of the soul and its denial of a share in the
world to come.” – (Ehrman 1965) Volume 1
17 Exodus 30:33 – “Whoever shall mix [any] like it or whoever puts any of it on a layman shall be cut off from his people.”