The Healing Power of Anointing by Lisa Burkhardt Worley

What are you doing so that the Coronavirus will “pass over” you during this trying season? Social distancing? Self-quarantining? Lots of vitamins?

The observance of the first Passover is less than three weeks away. The original Passover occurred almost 3500 years ago when God showed his mighty power through ten different plagues. The plagues eventually convinced the Pharaoh of Egypt to release the Israelites from slavery and allow them to return to their land. It took a horrific final plague, the death of the Egyptians’ first-born child, for Pharaoh to relent and free God’s people.

Meanwhile, the Israelites were spared from loss because they painted blood from an unblemished lamb over their door frames causing the Angel of Death to “pass over” their homes during this last plague. Therefore Jews worldwide, many with Jewish roots like myself, and a number of Gentiles, observe Passover to this day, in thankfulness for God’s mercy toward them.

Today, I don’t have blood over my door frames, but I do have a Mezuzah on the front door that carries the words of Deuteronomy 6:4-9: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.”

I have those words posted on the door to my garage as well. I don’t want to ever forget the most important thing I need to do each day—to love God with everything I have in me—every breath, every thought and every word. I also desire God’s protection over our home so I physically cover it in this way.

But in light of the Coronavirus pandemic, I am taking the concept a step further. On Thursday, I anointed the door frame of my home with oil. The “oil of gladness” to be exact. Anointing something or someone with oil did not end in the Old Testament. In Mark 6:13, the disciples were “casting out many demons and were anointing with oil many sick people and healing them.” In James 5:14, he says, “Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” In Exodus 40:9 God told the Israelites to “anoint the tabernacle” with oil.

The Spirit of God used to reside in the tabernacle, a physical structure, but where does He reside today? We are His tabernacle if we have accepted Jesus Christ, the unblemished Lamb of God, as Lord and Savior! (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

And as an added sign to God that I trust in His protection over our lives, I have anointed myself and my husband, Jeff, with oil as well. I want my heavenly Father to know that I love Him and believe He is still in control. He is our Jehovah Rapha (healer) and He alone can guard us from disease.

Today, will you consider anointing yourself and your home in the name of the Lord? If the Coronavirus ever finds its way into your neighborhood, I am confident the Angel of Death will pass over your house because of your visible faith in God, and who He represents in your life—the Lord of all.