Sons of Oil
by Michael SIschy, branch leader Jews for Jesus South Africa
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)
The psalmist describes God’s word as a lamp that guides us on the journey of life, lighting the way so we don’t stumble in the dark. At Mount Sinai, in the third month after coming out of Egypt, Moses went up the mountain to receive God’s word. God gave him two tablets and blueprints to build the tabernacle. This holy tent was a place where a Holy God could be in the midst of His people as their King and Battle Commander. The tabernacle was God’s headquarters to launch the assault on Satan’s kingdom, and in the tabernacle was a special lampstand: the Menorah.
Aaron, the first high priest, was told that he needed to tend the lamps of this seven- branched lampstand; he was to make sure that there was a regular supply of oil to keep it burning continually. The Menorah would shed its light on the table of the bread of the presence, where the twelve loaves were for the priests to eat. One of the pictures of the Holy Spirit is oil; therefore, this lampstand is a picture of the work of the Holy Spirit, who would light the path to the bread—the bread of life and Word of God, Yeshua.
Fresh, new olive oil from crushed olives was used to light the Menorah and supply it with fuel to keep it burning. The lampstand itself was made of gold and was to resemble a living almond tree in its structure. We thus see that two trees—an olive and an almond tree—were used to bring this ‘tree’ to life.
The prophet Zechariah was instructed about the coming Messiah, who would build the living temple of God, and was told that the Spirit of God would accomplish this, not man. He saw a golden lampstand, with two olive trees next to it receiving oil from the lampstand.
So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit”, says the LORD of hosts [the Lord of armies]. (Zechariah 4:6)
When Zechariah asked about the meaning of the two olive trees, he was told that these were the two anointed ones of the Lord. These were literally the sons of oil—fresh, new oil. We are told that the ‘Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us’ (John 1:14). The Word of God that was a lamp for our path was now among us, lighting the way back to our heavenly Father. When John baptised Yeshua in the Jordan, he stated that Yeshua was given the Holy Spirit without measure and in all His fullness. As I said before, oil is a picture of the Holy Spirit, and Scripture says that Yeshua was anointed with this fresh, new oil beyond that of His companions. He brought the word of the Father to us and lit our path as God’s Lamp.
Yeshua also called John the Baptist a lamp that would shine on the people for a time. Remember that John’s mother was told that he would be filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb. John was born as a son of oil.
When Yeshua opened the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, He read these words:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound. (Isaiah 61:1)
To be anointed was to be literally smeared or rubbed with oil. Both kings and priests were anointed with oil as a picture of them being kept apart by the Holy Spirit to fulfil God’s purposes. From the Hebrew word for anoint, mashach, we get the word Mashiach or Messiah, the Anointed One.
It’s also interesting to note that in Yeshua’s parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the wise virgins had fresh oil to supply their lamps when the groom arrived so they would be ready to go meet him. They truly were the daughters of oil.
After His resurrection, when Yeshua appeared to the disciples, He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would anoint them with this fresh, new oil. They would then become sons of oil. On Shavuot (Pentecost), the Holy Spirit arrived as a rushing wind and filled the disciples with new oil. Tongues of fire appeared on them, and these living lampstands declared the wonders of God in a myriad of languages. On that day, 3000 responded and were the first great harvest of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Peter would later write about this royal priesthood of Jew and Gentile, who had been called out of darkness into the kingdom of light and were there to proclaim God’s praises to the whole world. Peter was functioning as a priest—a new covenant priest—and a son of oil.
The apostle Paul saw the olive tree from which the oil would come as both natural and wild. The natural tree represented the Jew, and the wild branches being grafted in represented the Gentile. One living tree made up of Jew and Gentile, a living tree filled with oil—the promised One New Man.
In the book of Revelation, we are reminded of the Lamb of God, who is also the Lamp of God. This same Lamb, Yeshua, God’s Messiah, took away the sin of the world.
The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (Revelation 21:23)
Have you ever thought that God has called you to be His son or daughter of oil? He is calling us, Jew and Gentile in Messiah Yeshua, to be His sons and daughters of oil—the fresh oil of the Holy Spirit—empowered to be His lamps in a dark world, sharing His Word to light the paths of others (Jew and Gentile) so they can come home to their loving Father.