Is It Right To Use A Horn To Put The Oil For Ordination Of Ministers?
Question : Is it right to use a horn to put the oil for ordination of ministers? What kind of horn is specified by Scriptures, if it's right?
Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name!
The history of the shofar and anointing oil ram’s horn dates back to biblical times. They are expertly made by skilled craftsmen from a natural ram’s horn even up to our modern times.
God first anointed Saul through Samuel the prophet to make him the king of Israel according to the desire of the people. Samuel put Saul’s anointing oil into a flask, which comes from the Hebrew word pak. This flask was man-made, and many times created from a fine mineral called alabaster. Samuel was prepared to anoint a king because God told him the day before. Not only did he have a flask of oil ready, he had a dinner with thirty prestigious guest arranged, a seat of honor prepared and the choicest slice of meat waiting! Samuel made a grand show of anointing Saul.
Then in the Bible, later God instructs Samuel to anoint David, his newly chosen King of Israel the choice of His heart, by first filling an animal horn with the anointing oil (the word “horn” comes from the Hebrew word qeren). God had rejected King Saul as Israel’s ruler, but since he was still the recognized ruler, Samuel was fearful of anointing him. God told him to use the horn filled with anointing oil and say that he was offering a holy sacrifice. In this way, he would secretly and discreetly anoint God’s chosen king (Samuel 16.1-13, NKJV).
Although they were anointed with the same oil, which comes from the Hebrew word shemen, the container that held their oil was vastly different (1 Samuel 11.6; 1 Samuel 16.13). Unlike man made flask which represents the fleshly life, the horn is not man-made and represents God's power and strength.
All throughout Saul's life, he lived to please man, not God. Saul was a flask, so he lived out most of his kingship in the flesh and not in the Spirit being displeasing to God. David got forgotten by men, but anointed in secret. So actually David was a horn shaped by God in the caves, wilderness and desert, and in the secret places of living a dangerous life within the will of God for Him. Yet secure always in God! David did not become king until he was 30 years old (2 Samuel 5.4). David was transformed by God in to a useful and purposeful horn and then the anointing of the King which filled the horn made his life to be live in the Spirit always under the direction of the Spirit.
When Saul was declared king, he hid (1 Samuel 10.22). When David was declared king, he finally brought the Ark of the Lord back home, he danced (2 Samuel 6.16).
If we truly live a life pleasing to the Lord, we will also in the Spirit say like David, to the Lord and about the Lord, "“I love you, LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18.1-2).
God wants us to dance in the promises that He’s given us just like David did. Let us be horns for God and bring Glory to the Lord's name and proclaim the horn of His salvation to all the world. God wants to make our “prestigious” man-made flasks into Horns of Salvation — the likeness of Christ.
The ram needs to be slaughtered before the horn can be filled with the powerful anointing oil. Those who have received horn-anointing of ordination in the New Testament needs to take up their cross and die to themselves in order to become Christ-Like and see the kingly anointing to come to maturity (Luke 9:23-24; Rom 8:29-30; 1 Tim 3:1-7; 5:22, 25).
So symbolically it is right and fitting to use a horn to hold the anointing oil to hold it even in our New Testament times. But I am not sure whether during the 1st century New Testament times Paul used a horn or a cup, or even emphasize the symbolism to such a deep level, but I am sure that this itself can be a great message to emphasize the kind of sacrificial horn life we need to live and grow before God, in order to receive the full power of the anointing oil and realize the direction of the Spirit always, being pleasing to God constantly and fulfilling His purpose.
Using the anointing oil in a oil bottle with the oil company name on it, doesn't affect the sanctity of the oil, as only the faith with which it is applied that matters to God and men. But always we can give our best even in the outward look we give to others and also make it grand in its message by keeping the anointing oil in a horn, thus driving the message home to the children of God with the message of its value and the sacrificial life to attain it.
Praise the Lord!
Much Blessings....
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