Biblical Oils (Part 1)

How many of you use essential oils?  In case you are unaware, essential oils are growing in popularity. And while some are discovering them for the first time, they are not new. There are several references to oils being used in the Bible, mainly for food, offering and anointing. But there are other references that may go undetected, for instance Psalms 133 and Numbers 16.

For many years I wondered what happened to the Biblical oils used for incense and anointing. Why did people stop using them? I often questioned if there was anything worthy in the knowledge of using oils or did it become archaic and obsolete as medicine fine tuned itself. As far as I was concerned oils weren't around anymore. In fact, when my brother started to use an oil called Thieves I was impressed that he had researched oils enough to have found this information. Turns out, I just didn't know where to look.

As I began to read and hear about oils a part of me still felt it was a bunch of fru-fru archaic stuff, even if it was brought back into usage by physicians during WWI. Recently, my brother showed me two other easily overlooked passages in the Bible. Ezekiel 47 talks about the wonderful water flowing from the temple, nourishing the land and eventually producing fruit trees. At the tail end of the chapter is the description stating the leaves are to be used for healing. Helloooo...oils! And when the tribulation is done and over with (Revelation 22), there will be a healing brought to the nations, believe it or not, through the leaves of the tree of life.

So what have I done with this knowledge of oils? I've begun using them for freshening a room and for a variety of ailments from bug bites to muscle tension to nasal congestion.

Now, before I go any further I do want to say that visiting a physician to find out what's ailing you is most important. Self diagnosing can be a dangerous thing to do. I also found a couple of resources that indicate that some oils may worsen a condition rather than help it. The same thing happens with homeopathic medication. You could be doubling up a dosage if you take something without first consulting your doctor.

Do these oils work? When used properly and if your body accepts it the right way, yes. For example, recently I burned myself with overly hot water at a restaurant. One of the workers brought me a packet of burn ointment they use in the kitchen. Guess what the active ingredient was? An essential oil. Within minutes the burn was gone.

Another thing I've learned is that the oils are not cheap. Nor were they cheap in the days of the Bible. Some of the oils come only from one place or one type of vegetation on the earth. They are made from the leaves, roots, and flowers of all kinds of trees, shrubs and bushes. And it takes lots of that ingredient to make a liter of oil. Which is why in Biblical days the oils were treasured and of equal value with gold when given as a gift.

Over the next few weeks I'd like to fill you in on some of these Biblical treasures. We'll start with Frankincense and Myrrh that the wise men brought to the baby Jesus. There was a reason beyond displaying wealth that these expensive oils were given to Jesus as a gift.