Not long ago, while scrolling through social media, I came across a statement that troubled me deeply. A Christian prophet said that the olive oil could be use for various reasons: first, it could be use as protection for "unwanted death" and calamities like "flood and tsunami"; second: "recognizing God" and "provision verses"; lastly: you can also use it to "ask for whatever you need because God is not a factory in Bronx with labor or supply chain limitations."
She then proceed to:
"Pray whatever else you need over the bottle. You need her to stop drinking. You need him to stop taking friends advice and using it to run your marriage. You need the kids to love righteousness more than the streets. You need a job. You need to be promoted at a job.You need to be promoted at a job. You need the cords or delay on important things to be broken. You need your split hone healrd. You need forgiveness. You need to forgive. You need peace. You need nosy neigbours silenced. You need the accuser silenced. You needs to win a court case.
You need mercy and to avoid jail or to come out of jail. You need sleep. You need deliverance from demonic oppression. You need wisdom and to stop falling asleep over your Bible like a baby after meals. You need horrible dreams to stop. You need to deepen your time in the word. You need your rocky heart to grow soft so you can care about Biblical things. You needs aliens gibe. You need the weird and paranormal things to stop. You need a spouse. You need the spouse you have to be fixed and to stop being a thorn and a huge mistake you made.
You need the infidelity to quit whether it's you or the other person. You need a college spot. You need an apartment and homelessness to end. You need favor. You need grace. You need papers, an ID card, a car, a home. You need a baby. You need a breast lump or prostate lump gone. You need healing. You need to stop crying over everything. You need to know where to move to. You need money to get things done. You need the hand of your Master to move, then anoint before you pray daily and call on the name of Jesus."
In short, she is basically saying: "Pray over the olive oil for literally every possible problem in life whether it is physical, spiritual, financial, mental, legal, and emotional — and it will work."
Here's the thing:
Nowhere in Scripture does God say: “Prepare the oil and pour it in the 33 oz bottle, repent and pray over the bottle with all your strength and faith while it is closed, then open it and declare your prayers."
That’s human imagination, not divine instruction.
That turns oil into a magical object, not a biblical symbol.
Let me explain why it is unbiblical.
In the Old Testament, the “olive oil” was used to annoint something or someone to belong to the Lord.
For instance, Moses annoint the tabernacle in Exodus 30:23-30, to belong to God.
"Take thou also unto thee principal spices of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels. And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive a hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound aftet the art of the apothecary: it shall be a holy anointing oil. And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, And the tsble and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, And the altar of burn offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy."
Afterwards, Moses also used the same olive oil to anoint Aaron and his sons to the service of God. (Exodus 30:30)
In 1 Samuel 10, the prophet Samuel annointed Saul the son of Kish to be the first king of Israelites. The wording is as follows:
"Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the Lord hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?"
Samuel also used olive oil to annoint David to replace Saul as king of Israelites.
"Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward." (1 Samuel 16:13)
In the New Testament, the “olive oil” was used to heal physical sickness and spiritual weakness in the sense of sin.
In James 5:14,
"Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord."
English transliteration to Greek transliteration:
"asthenei tis en hymin proskalesasthō tous presbyterous tēs ekklēsias kai proseuxasthōsan ep' auton elaiō en tō onomati tou kryiou."
The Greek term “astheneó” was used which means “sick”, “weak”, or “without strength”. It simply means "ordinary physical sickness" such as fevers, injuries, or chronic diseases.
In the next verse — James 5:15-16, he adds:
"And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
James clearly teaches restoration for human sins. It does not covers spiritual issues like demonic possessions, alien abductions, difficulty in reading the Bible, and other exagerretated spiritual claims.
To give you another example: Let's explore Romans 14 where Paul discuss "weak in faith".
"Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations."
Given these points, the "olive oil" in the New Testament is not used to consecrate yourself to get pregnant, get a job, obtain a passport, exorcise your cheating spouse, or win cases in the law court. Using oil for that stretches the text beyond what it actually teaches.
So when modern Christian influencers stretch James 5 into "anoint oil for whatever you want", that's not interpretation — it's "spellcasting".
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