OIL
Oil is mentioned one hundred and ninety-nine times in the NASB. Typically, the oil is from an olive tree and is used for anointing (i.e. rubbing, smearing, pouring on the body) of people whom God chooses to serve him.

Oil symbolically represents God’s spoken word. Messiahs, true prophets, angels, high priests, witnesses, and warriors who are anointed with God’s word (i.e. oil) that empowers them to speak for God. When God’s representatives speak for God, they speak with the same authority that God has when he speaks to people directly.

The person doing the anointing is always someone who was already anointed. That means the one who does the anointing has God’s spiritual laws written on their clean, pure hearts which is their qualification to speak for God. Symbolically speaking, when people are anointed with oil, the one doing the anointing smears God’s words over the hearts of the one who is anointed. When this happens, God does the miracle of changing their heart from evil and impure to clean and pure. Symbolically speaking, they are spiritually born again. At that point, they become Trees of Life.

Oil is used to consecrate sons of Aaron (i.e. High Priests and utensils (i.e. servants) and the altar (i.e. heart) used in the tabernacle.

STUDY TIP: See Messiahs for commentary on Moses anointing priests.

Oil was used to anoint kings, priests, prophets and the sick. It was also used to anoint tabernacle utensils which symbolically represent servants whom God sends to speak for him. And it was used to anoint altars which symbolically represent hearts.

Oil (i.e. God’s word) was also used for shedding light, mixing with  flour and incense (i.e. prayer.) 

The olive tree symbolically represents a Tree of Life. The olive and oil extracted from crushed olives are the fruit of trees of life.

In Genesis, God symbolically represents himself as a tree of life. He commands that people come to eat his spiritual fruit (i.e. his words) so that they might have spiritual life.

He populates his vineyard with more trees of life by planting spiritual seeds. He does this through his spoken word. His word is spiritual seed.

God sends people who are anointed with spiritual oil from olive trees to spread spiritual seed.

STUDY TIP: See The Parable of the Sower.

The fruit of God’s seed (i.e. his spoken word) is more trees of life who sow more spiritual seed (i.e. God’s spoken word).