Day 240

Anointed by God

Wisdom Psalm 103:13–22
New Testament 2 Corinthians 1:12–22
Old Testament 2 Chronicles 29:1–31:1

Introduction

Do you realise that right now you are ‘anointed’ by God? ‘Anointing’ is not just for special Christian leaders or speakers. It is for all of us. Do you know that this anointing gives you power over sin, temptation and evil? Do you know that this anointing gives you access to God in prayer and worship? Do you know that this anointing enables you to proclaim God’s message to other people?

All of this is possible because God has given you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit not only guarantees your future; he is the down payment in advance. ‘He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come’ (2 Corinthians 1:21–22).

When you exchange contracts on a house it is usually accompanied by a deposit, which not only guarantees what is to come but is also a part payment in advance. God ‘by his Spirit has stamped us with an eternal pledge – a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete’ (v.21, MSG). By giving you the Holy Spirit, God has already given you this deposit in advance of what one day you will receive in full. What does this anointing of the Holy Spirit mean in practice?

Wisdom

Psalm 103:13–22

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
   so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
   he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
   they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
   and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
   the LORD’s love is with those who fear him,
   and his righteousness with their children’s children —
18 with those who keep his covenant
   and remember to obey his precepts.

19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven,
   and his kingdom rules over all.

20 Praise the LORD, you his angels,
   you mighty ones who do his bidding,
   who obey his word.
21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts,
   you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the LORD, all his works
   everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the LORD, my soul.

Commentary

Experience now God’s parental love for you

The moment our children were born, Pippa and I felt an overwhelming love for them – which continues to this day. This is the natural instinct of every parent. We feel a deep-seated love for our children, which is not based on performance or achievement, but simply on who they are.

This is how God loves you – only even more so. ‘As parents feel for their children, God feels for those who fear him’ (v.13, MSG).

Have you ever felt God’s love for you? Do you know deep down that God loves you more than any parent loves their child? Have you experienced this love being poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit? God wants you to experience this parental love right now and to know that it will continue for ever.

David seems to get a glimpse of the fact that it is not just for this life: ‘But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children – with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts’ (vv.17–18).

Prayer

‘Praise the LORD, O my soul’ (v.22). Praise you, Lord, for your amazing love and compassion for me, even greater than any parent’s compassion for their child. Thank you that you have anointed me and put your Spirit in my heart so that I can experience that love right now.

New Testament

2 Corinthians 1:12–22

Paul’s Change of Plans

12 Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace. 13 For we do not write you anything you cannot read or understand. And I hope that, 14 as you have understood us in part, you will come to understand fully that you can boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of the Lord Jesus.

15 Because I was confident of this, I wanted to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia, and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I fickle when I intended to do this? Or do I make my plans in a worldly manner so that in the same breath I say both “Yes, yes” and “No, no”?

18 But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not “Yes” and “No.” 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us—by me and Silas and Timothy —was not “Yes” and “No,” but in him it has always been “Yes.” 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Commentary

Experience now the promises of God

Do you realise that all the promises of God are for you? ‘Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus’ (v.20, MSG).

By the Holy Spirit, God has put ‘his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge – a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete’ (vv.21–22, MSG).

As has been said, ‘God makes a promise; faith believes it, hope anticipates it, patience waits for it.’

It is as though God’s promises in the Old Testament have been underlined and re-affirmed in Jesus. As St Paul explains it, ‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ’ (v.20). We see the ultimate expression of God’s love at the cross, and know the ultimate experience of God’s love through the Holy Spirit.

What is concealed in the Old Testament is revealed in the New Testament. In Christ you will enjoy God’s everlasting love for ever. As St Paul puts it, ‘Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come’ (vv.21–22). It is the same God who anointed both Paul and the Corinthians.

It is not that only certain special Christians are anointed. We know that ‘God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power’ (Acts 10:38). What is so amazing is that the same Spirit who anointed Jesus, has anointed you. You are ‘anointed’ by the Holy Spirit and so am I. God’s Spirit who lives in you as a ‘deposit’ is also the one who gives you his ‘anointing’. In order to understand how rich and beautiful this promise is we need to understand the background – some of which we see in our Old Testament passage today.

Prayer

Lord, thank you so much that all the promises of God find their ‘Yes’ in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). Thank you that you have anointed me with your ‘seal of ownership’ (v.22) and put your Spirit in my heart ‘as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come’ (v.22).

Old Testament

2 Chronicles 29:1–31:1

Hezekiah Purifies the Temple

29 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.

3 In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the LORD and repaired them. 4 He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5 and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the LORD, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6 Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the LORD our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the LORD’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7 They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8 Therefore, the anger of the LORD has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes. 9 This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. 10 Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11 My sons, do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”

12 Then these Levites set to work:

from the Kohathites,

Mahath son of Amasai and Joel son of Azariah;

from the Merarites,

Kish son of Abdi and Azariah son of Jehallelel;

from the Gershonites,

Joah son of Zimmah and Eden son of Joah;

13 from the descendants of Elizaphan,

Shimri and Jeiel;

from the descendants of Asaph,

Zechariah and Mattaniah;

14 from the descendants of Heman,

Jehiel and Shimei;

from the descendants of Jeduthun,

Shemaiah and Uzziel.

15 When they had assembled their fellow Levites and consecrated themselves, they went in to purify the temple of the LORD, as the king had ordered, following the word of the LORD. 16 The priests went into the sanctuary of the LORD to purify it. They brought out to the courtyard of the LORD’s temple everything unclean that they found in the temple of the LORD. The Levites took it and carried it out to the Kidron Valley. 17 They began the consecration on the first day of the first month, and by the eighth day of the month they reached the portico of the LORD. For eight more days they consecrated the temple of the LORD itself, finishing on the sixteenth day of the first month.

18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and reported: “We have purified the entire temple of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils, and the table for setting out the consecrated bread, with all its articles. 19 We have prepared and consecrated all the articles that King Ahaz removed in his unfaithfulness while he was king. They are now in front of the LORD’s altar.”

20 Early the next morning King Hezekiah gathered the city officials together and went up to the temple of the LORD. 21 They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs and seven male goats as a sin offering for the kingdom, for the sanctuary and for Judah. The king commanded the priests, the descendants of Aaron, to offer these on the altar of the LORD. 22 So they slaughtered the bulls, and the priests took the blood and splashed it against the altar; next they slaughtered the rams and splashed their blood against the altar; then they slaughtered the lambs and splashed their blood against the altar. 23 The goats for the sin offering were brought before the king and the assembly, and they laid their hands on them. 24 The priests then slaughtered the goats and presented their blood on the altar for a sin offering to atone for all Israel, because the king had ordered the burnt offering and the sin offering for all Israel.

25 He stationed the Levites in the temple of the LORD with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the LORD through his prophets. 26 So the Levites stood ready with David’s instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

27 Hezekiah gave the order to sacrifice the burnt offering on the altar. As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly bowed in worship, while the musicians played and the trumpets sounded. All this continued until the sacrifice of the burnt offering was completed.

29 When the offerings were finished, the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped. 30 King Hezekiah and his officials ordered the Levites to praise the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with gladness and bowed down and worshiped.

31 Then Hezekiah said, “You have now dedicated yourselves to the LORD. Come and bring sacrifices and thank offerings to the temple of the LORD.” So the assembly brought sacrifices and thank offerings, and all whose hearts were willing brought burnt offerings.

32 The number of burnt offerings the assembly brought was seventy bulls, a hundred rams and two hundred male lambs—all of them for burnt offerings to the LORD. 33 The animals consecrated as sacrifices amounted to six hundred bulls and three thousand sheep and goats. 34 The priests, however, were too few to skin all the burnt offerings; so their relatives the Levites helped them until the task was finished and until other priests had been consecrated, for the Levites had been more conscientious in consecrating themselves than the priests had been. 35 There were burnt offerings in abundance, together with the fat of the fellowship offerings and the drink offerings that accompanied the burnt offerings.

So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished. 36 Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

Hezekiah Celebrates the Passover

30 Hezekiah sent word to all Israel and Judah and also wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasseh, inviting them to come to the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. 2 The king and his officials and the whole assembly in Jerusalem decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month. 3 They had not been able to celebrate it at the regular time because not enough priests had consecrated themselves and the people had not assembled in Jerusalem. 4 The plan seemed right both to the king and to the whole assembly. 5 They decided to send a proclamation throughout Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, calling the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel. It had not been celebrated in large numbers according to what was written.

6 At the king’s command, couriers went throughout Israel and Judah with letters from the king and from his officials, which read:

“People of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the LORD, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the LORD. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the LORD your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the LORD, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.”

10 The couriers went from town to town in Ephraim and Manasseh, as far as Zebulun, but people scorned and ridiculed them. 11 Nevertheless, some from Asher, Manasseh and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem. 12 Also in Judah the hand of God was on the people to give them unity of mind to carry out what the king and his officials had ordered, following the word of the LORD.

13 A very large crowd of people assembled in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the second month. 14 They removed the altars in Jerusalem and cleared away the incense altars and threw them into the Kidron Valley.

15 They slaughtered the Passover lamb on the fourteenth day of the second month. The priests and the Levites were ashamed and consecrated themselves and brought burnt offerings to the temple of the LORD. 16 Then they took up their regular positions as prescribed in the Law of Moses the man of God. The priests splashed against the altar the blood handed to them by the Levites. 17 Since many in the crowd had not consecrated themselves, the Levites had to kill the Passover lambs for all those who were not ceremonially clean and could not consecrate their lambs to the LORD. 18 Although most of the many people who came from Ephraim, Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover, contrary to what was written. But Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone 19 who sets their heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of their ancestors—even if they are not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.” 20 And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.

21 The Israelites who were present in Jerusalem celebrated the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days with great rejoicing, while the Levites and priests praised the LORD every day with resounding instruments dedicated to the LORD.

22 Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites, who showed good understanding of the service of the LORD. For the seven days they ate their assigned portion and offered fellowship offerings and praised the LORD, the God of their ancestors.

23 The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. 24 Hezekiah king of Judah provided a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep and goats for the assembly, and the officials provided them with a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep and goats. A great number of priests consecrated themselves. 25 The entire assembly of Judah rejoiced, along with the priests and Levites and all who had assembled from Israel , including the foreigners who had come from Israel and also those who resided in Judah. 26 There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. 27 The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people, and God heard them, for their prayer reached heaven, his holy dwelling place.

31 When all this had ended, the Israelites who were there went out to the towns of Judah, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. They destroyed the high places and the altars throughout Judah and Benjamin and in Ephraim and Manasseh. After they had destroyed all of them, the Israelites returned to their own towns and to their own property.

Commentary

Experience now God’s anointing on your life

In the Old Testament, three groups of people were anointed: kings, priests and prophets. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in us, we are all now anointed with a kingly anointing, a priestly anointing and a prophetic anointing. What does this mean in practice?

  1. Kingly anointing

    You have a kingly anointing for the battle against temptation, sin and evil.

    Hezekiah was the anointed king. The king was to lead the people in all their struggles and battles. Hezekiah ‘was a good king’ (29:2, MSG). He ‘went to work. He got all the leaders of the city together’ (v.20, MSG). They restored the temple and celebrated the Passover and got rid of all the false idols (31:1).

    Hezekiah invited them, ‘Don’t repeat the sins of your ancestors who turned their backs on God… Clasp God’s outstretched hand. Come to his Temple of holy worship… Your God is gracious and kind and won’t snub you – come back and he’ll welcome you with open arms’ (30:7–10, MSG).

    Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa writes that kingly anointing means that the Holy Spirit ‘urges Jesus and the Church on in [its] struggle against Satan’. All of us have this kingly anointing. The Holy Spirit urges each of us on in our battle against temptation, sin and evil. You can call upon the Holy Spirit to help you when you are tempted, knowing that he will come alongside you and give you strength to overcome.

  2. Priestly anointing

    You have a priestly anointing to pray and worship.

    The priests in the Old Testament, and in this passage in particular, were anointed to be the mediators between God and human beings. We see here that they made sacrifices of bulls, lambs, goats, and so on (29:20 onwards). They sprinkled the blood of the bulls and lambs on the altar. They laid their hands on the goats and sacrificed them. These were offerings to atone for sin.

    ‘The Levites and priests praised God day after day, filling the air with praise sounds of percussion and brass. Hezekiah commended the Levites for the superb way in which they had led the people in the worship of God’ (30:22, MSG).

    Jesus fulfilled this priestly anointing by dying as the lamb of God whose blood was shed to take away our sins. This was a unique and final sacrifice for sin.

    There is another sense in which the priestly anointing comes on us, the church. We share in Jesus’ priestly anointing: ‘You are a… royal priesthood’ (1 Peter 2:9). The Spirit urges Jesus and the church to pray. In your prayers, you have a priestly ministry as an intercessor for the people before God (see 2 Chronicles 30:18b–20).

  3. Prophetic anointing

    You have a prophetic anointing to speak the good news about Jesus.

    The chronicler refers to ‘Nathan the prophet’ (2 Chronicles 29:25) and says, ‘This was God’s command conveyed by his prophets’ (v.26, MSG). The prophets in the Old Testament were anointed to speak the word of the Lord. The Spirit anointed Jesus at his baptism to preach good news to the poor. This same Holy Spirit anoints you to speak his words today. You have this prophetic anointing.

    The church is God’s agent to bring the good news of Jesus to the world. Each time you tell a friend about Jesus, invite them on Alpha, for example, or speak into their lives in some way, you are acting out this calling.

Prayer

Lord, help me fulfil the kingly anointing in the battle against sin. Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil.

Help me also in my priestly anointing to be more faithful in praying for others.

Help me in my prophetic anointing to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives and, to those in mourning and despair, bring the oil of gladness that comes from the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 61:1–3; Luke 4:18–19).

Pippa adds

Psalm 103:16 says,

‘… the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.’

Life is going far too quickly and so is our holiday. It will soon be remembered no more. But, thankfully, God is everlasting (v.17).

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References

Raniero Cantalamessa, The Holy Spirit in the Life of Jesus (Liturgical Press, 1994).

The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.

The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel

  • Introduction
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