Levels of anointing
Eze 47:3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the waters were to the ankles. Eze 47:4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through; the waters were to the loins. Eze 47:5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not pass over: for the waters were risen, waters to swim in, a river that could not be passed over.
I believe there are several levels of anointing that the Bible speaks of. Not all are obvious but they are certainly there. To know what the anointing is, one must first look at what the substance of the anointing is. It is very clear that the word anointing means, “To smear”. The question is, smear what? The Lord commands Moses to make a very particular oil that can be used only for its designated reason and then is asked to smear that oil on the chosen high priest. Exo 29:7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.
Once the high priest is smeared or anointed, he is allowed into the presence of God. In other words, without that oil on him he is a dead man if he goes into the inner most sanctum of God though he is a high priest. This denotes that a person no matter what they are ranked as in the Kingdom of God, must be anointed (set apart). This kind of sanctification can only take place through the anointing (smearing of blood). So, for the remaining part after blood sanctification, the anointing can be explained as; a holy instrument of God (in this case oil) used to set apart a person or something to be used by God for a particular purpose. Not everyone is chosen even though everyone is called to come to God. There is a very big difference in these concepts. When we bring this same concept of being chosen and anointed into the New Testament context, we see that under the leadership of our High Priest Jesus, all requirements of the law were fulfilled once for all time. This allowed Him to receive the Holy Spirit, the anointing agent to be poured out upon us to be anointed, to be in the presence of God forever. The blood of Jesus acted as a cleansing agent for our sins to give us the Holy Spirit to become the anointing that gives us access to God. Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. That is why we are encouraged to enter in boldly. This is the first level of anointing; which is, to be set apart.
The second level is to receive the Holy Spirit as an anointing to do works. This anointing was evident in the life of Christ and is stated in the following verses. Luk 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, Luk 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. This in effect was passed onto us by Jesus when He baptized us in the Holy Spirit. The expectation therefore of God through Jesus is, we will do exactly what Jesus did. Joh_14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father
The third level of anointing is for intimacy. To get closer to Jesus in order to understand God through the teaching of His word. This forms and strengthens the relationship between God and His creation through Jesus and by the Holy Spirit. Without the word and Spirit, it is impossible to form intimacy with God as there is no basis for intimacy without the Spirit. 1Co_6:17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. As long as people refuse Jesus and God and do not accept His ongoing conditions of salvation, there can be no intimacy. Instead, there is a fearful looking toward judgement. Salvation is a gate that gives us access to God for eternity. We will be with Him forever and forever learning and becoming intimate with Him.
There are many portions of anointing within one level of anointing that one can gain which relates to double and without measure portions of the same anointing. Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion of his anointing. However, what it does is, bring you to a greater involvement on one of these levels not necessarily all levels. Many come to initial salvation but do not go on to be baptized in the Holy Spirit for power and works or bother to understand God through His word. They remain as babies or become legalistic (word only). God is always seeking to get closer to us and expecting us to get closer to Him. However, this can be daunting at best when we are in the flesh because flesh cannot take the presence of God when He manifests. Many disdain manifestations of the Holy Spirit out of lack of understanding, fear and legalism. It is people who think like this that can never grow and find themselves limited because they do not move in the Spirit. The Bible often speaks of people who were full of the Holy Ghost. This means, they had to abandon themselves completely to the anointing on every level. Their function now was to flow out of that fullness and perform the tasks God had given them. The fullness is the fourth level of anointing. That is why Jesus said; “out of your belly shall flow rivers of living water”. The fullness brings many rivers flowing out of an individual.
In Ezekiel 47, we are given a picture of the different levels of anointing that can be released by God from His throne. Ezekiel depicts a picture of water issuing out of the throne room and forming a river that flows out. Ezekiel gets into the river at ankle depth and then proceeds downriver to knee level and then onto waist level before being fully submerged in the river causing him to swim in it. These four water levels depict the four levels of anointing. We are told later on in the chapter what this river does. He is told that this river is for the healing of many and also the salvation of many.
When we are operating at the ankle level of anointing there isn’t much one can achieve. Many have stayed with the knowledge of the word and have sought that, rather than the life of the word. This has led to their death spiritually because the letter kills. Then, there are others who go to the knee level and stay there on their knees instead of getting up and doing something with their prayer life. James says; “what is the use of praying without acting upon it”? Then we have the waist high anointing that speaks of character. Character is good if it is empowered in us to grow. Mere thoughts of kindness and meekness etc. cannot achieve anything. One must act out their character. Finally comes the abandonment anointing. This anointing is where one is fully baptized in the Spirit and goes where the Spirit takes them. Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
To be born of the Spirit is not everyone’s choice as explained earlier. To be born of the Spirit means to be born again and abandoned unto God through Jesus. One must become a bondservant to Jesus. Then, the Spirit will rest upon a person because they are sold out for Jesus. Religion is liked by many but few practice it. Church is a good concept but it is a hiding place for many. Many think they are anointed but in actual fact are just working things out through their intellect. They are good at it. Others start in the Spirit and end up in the flesh. It is easy to recognize a Spirit filled person who carries an anointing because it is taking them from glory to glory. The results are spectacular.
Unless one seeks these levels of anointing, they cannot attain to them. It is not automatic on becoming a Christian. In fact, you will find many who will disdain anything to do with the Holy Spirit and actually dissuade others from seeking the Holy Spirit and even blaspheme. Mar 3:22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. Luk_11:20 But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come upon you Mar 3:29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Others, will take on the baptism of the Holy Ghost and corrupt the power for reasons of personal gain and power. The anointing also has a way of corrupting a person making them think it is them who is doing things. One must be always careful to give the glory to God. The higher you get in the anointing, the greater the risk and need for humility. Many a Minister of God has fallen to the wayside over corruption of the soul and spirit through the mishandling of the anointing. This is fair warning to all who not only seek the anointing but want to go higher. Many have prophesied falsely, mimicked the anointing at meetings when there is none present. These are dangerous people. They usually become false prophets and teachers and gainsayers whose end is destruction and hell. In the last days, discernment, waiting on God and clearly hearing His voice will make you understand His will for your journey in the anointing.
The true believer seeks all levels of the anointing for the purpose of fulfilling God’s plan for humanity. They use the power not for self gain but for the gain of others. They do not operate on the basis of money but love. Such anointed people use money gained from their ministries to support the weak and needy. These are the truly anointed ones. They go about seeking to do good like their Master. Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. Let us be found anointed and doing good works out of the anointing. Then, our reward is sure in heaven.
Lots of love
Pastor Noble
11/02/18