PROF. BEN ONYEUKWU (REV.)
NCE (English); Dip (Computer Studies);
ND/HD (Journalism); Dip, BA (Theology) MA, PhD.
APPLICATION OF ANOINTING IN THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE
MAIN
TEXT:
“The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because
He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim
freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the
oppressed, and to preach the year of the Lord’s favour” (Luke 4:18-19).
INTRODUCTION:
For a start, and in recognition of
Professor Uzoma Emmanuel, a seasoned journalist, theologian, man of God,
scholar and columnist, I wish to as well disagree with him, on what he
describes as, “anointing of destruction”, in his Nigeria Newspoint Newspaper
article of September 19-20, 2011, which he said he released against the
“household enemies” of his readers, and also charge him with dispensational
error in his interpretation and application of the Scripture on the subject
under review.
The
Reverend Professor Emmanuel may have been taken to this exegetical blunder for
the lack of dispensational principle in his interpretation of the Word of God.
In the words of Edwin Hartin, “a dispensation is a period of time during which
God deals in a particular way with man in respect to sin and man’s responsibility”.
There are basically eight dispensations in divine calendar, namely the
dispensation of innocence, from the creation of man to the fall of man,
(Genesis, 1:26-2:28), the Dispensation of Conscience, from the fall of man to
the flood, (Genesis 3-7), the Dispensation of Human Government, from the flood
to the confusion of tongues (Genesis 8:1-11;9), the Dispensation of Promise,
from the call of Abraham to the Exodus, (Genesis 11-10-15:21), the Dispensation
of Law, from Sinai to Calvary, (Exodus 19:1-8), the Dispensation of Grace, from
the descent of the Holy Spirit to the descent or return of Christ, (Acts and
Epistles), the Dispensation of Judgment, from the Rapture of the Church to the
millennium, (Rev. 6:19, Daniel 12:1; Jeremiah 30:7); and the Kingdom
Dispensation, from the descent of Christ to the Great White Throne Judgment –
1000 year, (Psalm 2 and 11). However, in this work, only two dispensations will
be considered, that is, the dispensation of law and grace. Having said this,
please observe the application of:
ANOINTING
IN THE DISPENSATION OF LAW
The
application of anointing in the dispensation of law carries a “fire for fire”
approach. Moses, the law giver, first demonstrates it when he handled the
opposition of Korah and his men, who were buried alive, as fire consumed the
rest of them, (Numbers 16:1-35). In that dispensation also, Elijah, the
prophet, consumed two captains from King Ahaziah, and their bands of fifty
soldiers each, (2 Kings 1:10ff). Elisha’s venom which as well claimed the lives
of forty-two youths marks another application of the anointing of God for human
destruction in the same dispensation, (2 Kings 2:23-24).
Therefore,
if Professor Uzoma Emmanuel, whose article sparked off this discourse, and the
likes, were raised prophets in the period under review, then, the claim in his
write-up in the page fifteen of the Nigeria Newspoint newspaper of September
19-20, 2011 that God sent him to release what he called the “anointing of
destruction” against, whosoever is a “household enemy” in our family, place of
work, in the office, yard, school or even in the church… may have been true,
and the name of Jesus attached to the message would have given it a seal of
approval and authority. But, because Professor Emmanuel is a prophet in the
dispensation of grace, his claim becomes exegetically baseless and powerless.
ANOINTING
IN THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE
The
coming of Jesus Christ marks the end of the dispensation of law, as well as
introduces the dispensation of grace, for the Law was through Moses, but grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ, (John 1:17). Now, notice that a few years
into the new dispensation, an attempt by James and John to re-enact the old order
of applying anointing for human destruction did not get the approval of Jesus,
instead, they were told, “the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives,
but to save them”, (Luke 9:51-56).
The
foregoing shows that Professor Emmanuel did not consider the cited Bible
portion in placing curses on those he refers to as “household enemies” in his
article when he says, “I release the spirit of accident to them. I release the
spirit of misfortune to them, I release the spirit of insanity on all your
“household enemies”. They shall fall in Jesus name Amen! You enemy of destiny,
your time is up, die in Jesus name. You enemy of breakthrough, your time is up,
die in Jesus name…”. But, the Son of God was made manifest to destroy the works
of the devil, and not human beings, (I John 3:8), and so, will not honour any
prayer which seeks to destroy the lives of the people He came to save, (Luke
9:56).
Also,
Professor Emmanuel was wrong in his interpretation of the Scripture, “a man’s
enemies will be those of his own household, (Matthew 10:36), which simply
indicates that one’s persecutor may be a member of one’s own family and does
not suggest we should have them as our enemies, even if they choose to work
against us, for Jesus say, “you have heard that it was said (in the law of
Moses), you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy, but I say to you (in
this time of grace), love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to
those who hate you, and pray for (and not against) those who spitefully use you
and persecute you, that you may be sons (and daughters) of your father in
heaven, for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain
on the just and on the unjust, (Matthew 5:43-45).
ANOINTING
IN THE MINISTRY OF JESUS
The
expression, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with
power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,
for God was with Him, (Acts 10:38) shows God’s blueprint in the application of
anointing, since the beginning of the dispensation of grace. From the Scripture
cited one deduces that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is fundamentally for
the good of the people, for Jesus under the flow of the anointing went about
doing good (verse 38b), providing basic necessities for families and
individuals. In this connection, He provided wine for a wedding couple, (John
2:1-11) and also fed hungry persons in the wilderness, (Matthew 14:13-21).
Spiritually, too, He healed those with infirmities, as well as cast out demons
from the oppressed, (Matthew 17:14-23).
What
Jesus did during His earthly ministry remains a shining example of what the
anointed gospel ministers of today should be doing, and not channeling their
anointing towards the destruction of the people they are called to save or help
out of problems (Matthew 15:2-28). However, what looks like a negative use of anointing
by Jesus was when He cursed the fig tree, but this was only a figurative attack
on the fruitlessness of Israel, in terms of godlessness, and not on the people
themselves, (Matthew 21:18-22). Similarly, the Apostle Paul’s command that Bar
jesus should be blind for a season, which is also applicable today, was a
measure of correction for opposing the gospel, and not a call for the
extermination of his life (Acts 13:6-12). Furthermore, the application of
anointing in Acts of the Apostles chapter five, by the Apostle Peter that
claimed the lives of Ananias and Sapphira, his wife was an exceptional case,
and took that dimension because the sin was said to have been committed against
the Holy Spirit, and not man, (verses 3-4), as well as depicts the dangers of
falsehood in the church, since such an action did not take place again in the
apostolic era of the dispensation of grace (verses 1-10).
In conclusion, don’t forget that the
mission of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy, whereas, that of Jesus Christ
is to give life, and give it more abundantly, (John 10:10). So, if the minister
of the gospel now uses his anointing to destroy, instead of saving lives, then
he is accomplishing the purpose of Satan, and not that of Christ. BE INFORMED.
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