Ointment Poured Forth

Peter L. Meney | Added: Mar 28, 2024 | Category: Theology

Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee (Song Of Solomon 1:3).

The names of people in scripture is important. Often we discover a Bible name reveals something of the character or circumstances of the person to whom it is given. There are delightful lessons to be discovered in the meaning of the names Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, Ruth (with her first husband, Mahlon) and David, to mention just a few. We should not miss God’s wisdom and providence in the giving of birth-names which afterwards serve a scriptural purpose. 

Immanuel

The names given to the Lord Jesus in Old Testament prophecies dealing with the coming Messiah are also significant and reveal how much gospel the old saints understood. It was said by Isaiah, ‘Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel’ … which being interpreted is, God with us. He would bear our griefs and carry our sorrows. Of this One the angel said, ‘call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins’.

Ointment poured forth

The names and titles applied to the Lord Jesus in the scriptures are not arbitrary or inconsequential. In the Old Testament, and the New, they are attributed to Him as expressions of His work, His ministry and His character. He is Jehovah’s Suffering Servant, the BRANCH out of David, the Sun of Righteousness, who rises with healing in His wings. Christ’s names are intended to honour Him and teach us about the Saviour’s character and achievements. For this reason they all deserve careful attention. The Shulamite, says of Solomon, what Christ’s people discover of Him, ‘Because of the savour of thy good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth’ (Song of Solomon 1:3).

The gospel in a title

For example, Isaiah tells us Christ’s name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. While these names were not expressly applied to the Lord Jesus as titles in His lifetime yet they communicated gospel truth to God’s Old Testament remnant people. They describe the wondrous nature of Christ’s work, His relationship with His people and the success of His ministry in the roles and offices He fulfilled for the church. Just like Paul, the Old Testament saints knew in whom they believed being persuaded the Messiah was able to save.

The A to Z of divine wisdom

The Wisdom of God, is another of the many precious and descriptive names given in scripture to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Saviour is the personification of the wisdom of God. In His office of Mediator and in His role as Messenger of the covenant of grace the Lord Jesus reveals, enlightens, communicates and imparts divine wisdom. He is the A to Z of wisdom, the Alpha and Omega of spiritual revelation, the essential Word. He is God’s living truth to sinful men and women who do not, and cannot, know God otherwise.  

A personal testimony

The Apostle Paul obviously had a high view of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He, of course, personally had met the Saviour and confirms the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ by telling us in 1 Corinthians 1:24 that Christ is ‘the power of God, and the wisdom of God’. The omnipotence, which is power, and omniscience, which is knowledge and wisdom, of the Godhead dwells bodily in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

A need to know

We know from Paul that men and women in their fallen state have no spiritual knowledge of God. The apostle tells the Corinthians, ‘the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’. It is true that some evidence of God’s existence can be gleaned from the created world around us. It is also true that God inspires our consciences to feel guilt and lays all men under the burden of the law. This knowledge, says Paul, is enough to leave us ‘without excuse’, but it is insufficient to lead us to the Lord for salvation. 

The light of wisdom

Knowledge of God cannot be discovered by nature alone. Our darkened minds require to be spiritually illuminated and our ignorant souls must be endowed with a wisdom that is from above. The Lord Jesus Christ is that Wisdom of God and it is He who gives us spiritual understanding of our need before the Holy God. If we are to know God we need spiritual ‘wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption’ and this is precisely what the Lord Jesus is made to be to God’s elect. 

Grace to the called

It is the Wisdom of God that first brings a sinner to feel their need of a Saviour. It is the Wisdom of God that makes us feel conviction for sin; a weight of guilt and a want of righteousness. It is the Wisdom of God that sets one sinner’s soul apart from another, causes one to differ from another, and brings His people to conversion under the sound of God’s word and the gospel. It is the Lord Jesus, the Wisdom of God, who has delivered His people from their sins and teaches us the meaning of blood-redemption. It is our Lord Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God, who has sent His Spirit to guide us into all truth.

Coming to Christ

Our Lord Jesus is the Wisdom of God to illuminate, and the Power of God to enable. He both reveals God’s truth to the spiritually ignorant and empowers sinners who are spiritually dead in trespasses and sin to cry to God for mercy and help. Christ’s names describe His activities, they teach us who He is, what He did and what He is still doing. 

Spiritual anointing

As we read the scriptures let us always be on the lookout for names and titles of the Lord Jesus Christ. They add richly to our understanding of His holy nature, character and accomplishments. Every name applied to our Saviour teaches us something new, something more, and something special about His blessed achievements and excellent glory. May He anoint our minds with the savoury ointments of His name poured forth.

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