In order to better understand how the anointing of the Spirit of God works we need to take a closer look at its biblical description. In the context of what the prophet Isaiah describes we see that Jerusalem was coming under the impending attack of the Assyrian King Sennacherib. The advancing army had already conquered everything in its path, including the heavily fortified Israeli city of Lachish. The Jews in Lachish put up a good fight, but the Assyrian army proved to be too strong. They besieged and battered down its walls, put to the sword most of its inhabitants, and in their trademark style of inflicting as much psychological pain and intimidation as possible they impaled the bodies of its leaders on stakes outside of the city walls. Jerusalem lay only 30 miles away and it appeared nothing could stop Sennacherib.
The army eventually gets so close to Jerusalem that the king of Assyria could shake his fist within eyesight of the Israeli guards on the walls of Jerusalem. The Assyrian army stopped and camped at Nob, which scholars believe is modern day Mt. Scopus where many of us have stayed at the beautiful Dan Hotel in Jerusalem while on tour of the Holy Land. It was at this point that Isaiah prophesied that the Assyrian army would be stopped, cut down and humbled. He also boldly prophesied the Assyrian burden would be removed and that its yoke would be destroyed.
Hezekiah, king of Judah, was at a very low place. He was fed up with the bullying of the Assyrians. Judah existed as a defeated vassal state between Egypt and the Assyrian empire. While there were indications of revival and signs of Jews turning back to God they were still under the subjugation of Assyria. Their bondage meant they were forced to meet the harsh demands of tribute that was placed upon them. The tribute was an extremely heavy burden. It was a cruel yoke that the Jews were unable to free themselves from.
Previously Hezekiah had paid out an enormous tribute imposed on him by Sennacherib. History records it as one of the largest tributes ever paid by a monarch. Sennacherib demanded from Hezekiah eight hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold. In order to pay the tribute, Hezekiah sent to Sennacherib all the silver and gold he could pull together. Hezekiah gave the Assyrian king all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the royal treasury including the gold from the doors of the temple and from the doorposts of his palace. But that wasn’t enough to satisfy Sennacherib. In addition to the silver and gold, Hezekiah also gave Sennacherib the royal gemstones, couches and chairs that were inlaid with ivory, elephant hides and tusks, exotic woods of ebony and boxwood and even his daughters, his harem, and his male and female musicians. The Jews in the land also were heavily taxed in order to scrape together payments to Sennacherib. But it still wasn’t enough to appease Sennacherib. However, the anointing of the Spirit of God was about to change everything for Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem, and it can change everything for you too. Let’s look at the following verse to better understand the Spirit of God and the anointing that flows from Him.
When Supernatural Strength is Released
Therefore, the Lord GOD of hosts says this, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did. For yet a very little while and My indignation [against you] will be fulfilled and My anger will be directed toward the destruction of the Assyrian.” The LORD of hosts will brandish a whip against them like the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His staff will be over the [Red] Sea and He will lift it up the way He did in [the flight from] Egypt. So it will be in that day, that the burden of the Assyrian will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because of the fat. (Isaiah 10:24-27 Amplified Bible)
"And it will come to pass in that day, its burden will remove from thy shoulder, and its yoke from thy neck; and the yoke will be destroyed from the pressure of the fat." (Isaiah 10:27, as translated by C. F. Keil and Franz Delitzsch in their Commentary on the Old Testament.)
On that day his burden will fall from your shoulders, and his yoke from your neck. The yoke will be broken because your neck will be too large. (Isaiah 10:27 CSB)
It shall come to pass in that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulder, and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. (Isaiah 10:27 NKJV)
God wants you to understand that burdens are removed, and yokes are destroyed through fatness. In the Hebrew language the word “fatness” is the word “shamen” (pronounced SHA-MEN). It means fat, oil, grease, and richness. When the Holy Spirit moves upon you there is supernatural strength released. Similar to an ox, your neck becomes much bigger. With that enlargement in size is also an increase in strength. The fatness contains a greasy, oily substance that lubricates the neck. Rabbi David Kimhi of the 12th century observed that in most cases involving oxen the yoke creates a wound in the neck’s fatty flesh area, caused by pressure and friction. But Rabbi Kimhi understood that when the Spirit of God moves the very opposite occurs, and the fatness of the ox leads to the destruction of the yoke. Therefore, we see that the oily fatness is in reality the anointing of God, the Spirit of God in action which empowers men and women to achieve victory even against impossible odds. The anointing is divine empowerment.
The anointing of the Spirit of God delivered the Jews out of their Assyrian captivity. It also brings freedom to believers from the tyranny of habitual sin and the bullying of Satan. It stops sickness and disease and destroys it out of your body. The anointing can lift a child of God out of an awful pit of financial debt and set you in a high place of financial peace. Regardless of whether the anointing is for healing, deliverance from demons, financial breakthroughs, or any other need, it is still the same Holy Spirit from whom the anointing flows. You don’t need a different Holy Spirit for the different type of needs you may have. You just need to make contact with the anointing. Or better yet, be anointed yourself that way you are able to be a vessel of blessing, healing, and deliverance that God can flow through. This is why the British evangelist Smith Wigglesworth said, “I’d rather have the Holy Ghost on me ten minutes than to own the world with a fence around it.
The anointing upon you empowers you to walk in freedom and to minister freedom to others. Give attention to developing the anointing upon you. It will make you joyful and cause your life to be brighter and more colorful in every way. To be a “Christian” is to be “an anointed one”. May His anointing increase exponentially upon your life. May your neck become huge. May the greasy oil and fatness of God’s Spirit be smeared all over your shoulders and neck. You cannot be held down any longer by any pressure of the enemy. The pressure of the oil is breaking the yoke off of you now. Be free, in Jesus’ name.
Richest blessings,
Steven Brooks
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