Black Oil Anointing - Presentation In the first presentation titled “Signs of Judgment” we looked at the matter of understanding the day that we live in. We saw that there were many Scriptures that spoke of the importance of walking wisely, knowing what God is doing, and is about to do, and understanding the character of the hour in which we live. In the “Signs of Judgment” we looked at God’s call to pursue humility and righteousness, and we saw that various signs have been given to indicate that we live in that hour when this earth must experience birth pangs, as the judgments of God are poured out on the nations. In this presentation we are going to look at another matter that is very important to having an understanding of what is going on in the earth, and why we are seeing specific judgments come, and why more must come. The matter we are going to look at is oil, or petroleum, and the world struggle to control the flow of it. As we go through this presentation we will answer some of the following questions: What is the connection between America and oil? What is the tie-in between the father and son Presidents George H. And George W. Bush, and Middle East wars that are centered around oil producing nations? What is the significance of so many top government officials in the current Presidential administration having ties to major oil companies? Why did America invade Afghanistan and Iraq? Is there a prophetic message in all of this? We will also look at some of the evil things that the nations have been doing in their pursuit of oil, particularly in regard to Israel, and the dire judgments that must come as a result. We will see that even as there were extraordinary hurricanes in 2005 that brought a message of God’s requirement of purity among the nations, and His judgment on immorality, the year 2004 was also extraordinary in four land falling hurricanes to the U.S. and they brought forth an exceptional message concerning God’s judgment on America’s unrighteous pursuit of oil. We will also look at other signs that have been occurring, that have been pregnant with symbolism, including the space shuttle Columbia disaster, and a lesser known, but equally symbolic disintegration of the Columbia glacier in Alaska. We will look at another story that was all over the news for a time, that being the story of Jessica Lynch’s rescue in Iraq, and what it also symbolizes and how all of these things tie back into oil. To understand the days we live in, the events going on in the world, as well as what God is doing among His children, especially the barley group of overcomers who will attain to the first resurrection, you must understand the subject of anointing and its relationship to oil. The topic of anointing is greatly spoken of in Scripture, because it is an extremely important matter to God. What is anointing? Anointing is POWER! God gives POWER to men to accomplish His purposes to which they have been called. The world also has its own anointing. The world has alternate sources of POWER that are not divine in nature, but are earthly. Whenever God called a man to a specific task He would symbolize that He was going to place His Spirit upon that man, and give that man the wisdom, strength and ability to carry out that calling by anointing the man. GOD NEVER CALLS A MAN TO A TASK AND EXPECTS THE MAN TO CARRY IT OUT IN HIS OWN STRENGTH. Many men have failed to fulfill the purpose of their life because they did not understand this. They have thought that their natural abilities were sufficient to carry out the call on their life. (Slide - Key Scripture) Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Notice that the power is given BEFORE God sends His children out to perform the work He has assigned to them. God made this very clear. (Slide - Key Scripture) Luke 24:49 “And behold, I will send forth upon you what My Father has promised; but remain in the city [Jerusalem] until you are clothed with power from on high.” God has given us picture images (parables) to show us clearly that it has always been His intent to anoint those whom He has called, placing power upon them that they might fulfill the calling appointed to them. (Slide - Shepherd anointing the sheep) Psalms 23:1-5 The LORD is my shepherd... Thou hast anointed my head with oil... Whenever Yahweh chooses to enable a man to be able to stand in a specific calling and to fulfill that calling, He placed His anointing upon that man, and this empowerment by God was visibly declared to those around by pouring forth oil upon the head of the man. In this way we see Aaron having the anointing oil poured over his head as he is set aside to fulfill the office of the High Priest. We see the anointing oil being poured over Saul as he is set apart to be the first king of Israel. We see David being anointed on three separate occasions, which symbolize his calling as prophet, priest and king. A person can have a dream, or a vision of some great work, they can have lofty goals and aspirations, but all of these things will come to nought unless one also has an anointing to accomplish that which they feel called unto. (Slide - Ram’s Horn) A ram’s horn was typically used to hold the oil that was poured on the head of a person being anointed. Even as a ram would use its horns as a weapon, the ram’s horn is a symbol of power. The horn of a ram is on its head, and the oil is poured on the head, symbolizing God’s power resting upon a man to accomplish God’s will through that man. The following scripture is included here because it speaks of this anointing oil being used to symbolize Yahweh’s empowerment of man to perform a specific task, and this particular scripture is chosen for it reveals a number and variety of anointings. (Slide - Key Scripture) I Kings 19:15-17 Yahweh said to [Elijah], “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram; and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.” Here we see that God has chosen three men to accomplish very specific tasks that He desires to accomplish through them. Yahweh seeks to purge Israel of its idolatry and to remove the wickedness of the house of Ahab and Jezebel from before Him. At this time, none of these men had come into their calling. They may have had aspirations, but they had no power to accomplish their desire. Only by receiving the empowerment of God, the anointing to fulfill their calling, could they go forth in power and succeed. After Elijah anointed Hazael, he became king of Aram. After Elijah anointed Jehu, he became king of Israel. After Elijah anointed Elisha, he became prophet in his place. I want to emphasize here that God NEVER expects a man to rely upon his own strength and abilities to fulfill God’s purposes. We are given the history of the life of Moses to demonstrate this very clearly. (Slide - Key Scripture) Acts 7:20-25 And it was at this time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God; and he was nurtured three months in his father's home. And after he had been exposed, Pharaoh's daughter took him away, and nurtured him as her own son. And Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians, and he was a man of power in words and deeds. But when he was approaching the age of forty, it entered his mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him; but they did not understand. At the age of 40 Moses was an impressive man. He had the best education the world offered. He was gifted in speech and a man of action, powerful in deeds. He knew at this age that God was calling him to deliver his people from Egyptian slavery. But Moses did not wait for God to anoint him and empower him. He thought his own abilities were sufficient to accomplish the task before him. Moses slew one Egyptian and then fled for his life. He did not free a single Israelite at the age of 40. It took 40 more years for God to so humble Moses that he would never seek to accomplish Yahweh’s will in his own strength again. When God did appear to Moses at the burning bush when Moses was 80 years old, He revealed to Moses that He would use him to set His people free. Moses responded very differently. (Slide - Key Scripture) Exodus 4:10-11 Then Moses said to the LORD, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since Thou hast spoken to Thy servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." And the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?” God testified of Moses that he was the most humble man on the face of the earth. Moses learned that his abilities were worthless in God’s sight. This led Moses to lean upon God, depending on Him to carry out His desires. A proud man will go forth and attempt to do something for God in his own strength. The church is full of men and women who are doing works in their own strength, and God despises it all. The church is relying upon human means to perform its calling. They have adopted the methods of the world. The church uses committees and planning sessions and blue prints and fund raising drives and a myriad of programs to accomplish their commission, and as a result they have failed miserably. They have set no man free of the things that hold them captive anymore than Moses at the age of 40. They have made a bunch of disciples who remain in bondage to the flesh. God will therefore take them through a wilderness experience until they are humbled before Him and will no longer trust in their own strength and abilities. There is a reason that the church has despised God’s power today. God only bestows His power upon vessels that have been prepared to receive it. The preparation process requires embracing the cross set before each of us. God must crush our flesh, bringing us to an end of selfish living, until we live only to do His will.