The previous two blogs discussed how olive oil can benefit the body and the soul—physical and mental/emotional health. I will now focus on the spiritual benefits of the flow of olive oil. Reminder: Biblically, olive oil and oil are interchangeable concepts. As before, I will take a certain amount of poetic license to describe spiritual benefits of olive oil; the Bible writers often did the same when writing passages that were true on multiple levels.
Soul and spirit realms, although having a separate-ness (1 Thessalonians 5:23), overlap considerably as both deal with the parts of a human that are invisible and have essences that flow. The flesh-and-blood body, on the other hand, is visible and deals more with substance realities.
I am reminded of two core Bible themes that affect all of humanity—hope and faith. Experiencing hope and having faith are key tenets of living a thriving, spiritual life in Christ; love is the only reality that is considered to be greater: “Love believes all things… love hopes all things… love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:7,13). All humanity must have hope and faith. All humanity will have hope and faith in something.
An old adage is “hope springs eternal” (the actual quote is “hope springs eternal in the human breast” by Alexander Pope). I see hope as having a flow—a flow of expectations, desires, needs, wishes, wants, hopes. Hope is like a liquid; it is fluid—like water (hope) springing up in dry and rugged places. Hope in Jesus flowing like a river can produce solid deposits called faith. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for…” (Hebrews 11:1). Hope in Jesus can produce solid faith realities (such as miracles and financial provision), like deposits of gold emerging in a flowing stream.
The flow of olive oil, spiritually speaking, can benefit a person’s inner soul and innermost spirit. Spirit oil flow in the Bible is often in the context of an anointing oil on the head flowing down onto the beard and the garments… producing a refreshing blessing with power and authority (Psalm 23:5, 133:1-3). Holy Spirit flowing oil brings healing, joy, gladness, pleasure, peace, contentment, satisfaction, calming, soothing, refreshing (all mentioned in the last blog).
An interesting tidbit: The name Gethsemane is Greek for “oil press.” In this beautiful olive grove garden on the Mount of Olives, Jesus was pressed… crushed… squeezed in His spirit and soul so hard that his body responded: “His sweat became like drops of blood…” (Luke 22:44). A person who is following Jesus might, at times, get hard-pressed enough in their inner man (2 Corinthians 4:8) that tears and other realities begin to flow… like a healing oil pouring out… for others to benefit from… like olive oil getting pressed out of olives.
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