The five wise virgins found the oil. They purchased it from those who sold it. And where did the oil come from. Here our journey of discovery leads us to the most unlikely place. But it is an important waypoint on the Kings Highway. The oil is pressed at a place called Gethsemane.
Right across from the eastern gate is the Mount of Olives. This is the grand entrance into the Holy City. It is the entrance Messiah took on His first coming. And so it will be at His second coming when His feet touch the Mount of Olives and the whole mountain cleaves in two. Down near the foot of the mount and right across from the temple is the Garden of Gethsemane. This is the place. Gethsemane means "oil press". It is right here that the oil is pressed out.
This is an awesome place . It is a place of crushing. This is the place where our Lord Jesus Christ was handed the cup. There He knelt down and prayed, sweating as it were drops of blood. It was here that He endured the agony of surrender to the powers of darkness . In this dark night of the soul , He faced the prospect of the cross and began to experience for the first time the personal agony that comes from being cut off from the Father. But He did this for us, and took upon us the sins of the world.
The word Christ or Messiah means "the annointed one". This was where Jesus showed His committment to the will of the Father.
His agony of soul is something we need never face. He was cut off from the father that we might be saved. It was here at the place of the oil press, where the victory of Christ the annointed one was won. Right there, at Gethsemane, is where it happened. There, at that place of the oil press, Jesus defeated the powers of darkness. And so it should come as no surprise that this is where the oil of annointing for kings and priests, the oil for the lamps, and the oil of gladness can be found.
Gethsemane was and is an awesome spiritual place. It is the place of the "oil press" and the place where the oil is found. For our Savior it was the place where He faced the full implications of the cup that was offered before Him. The place is truly forbidding. And yet this is the appointed place for all those who are the burden bearers of the God. Gethsemane is a waypoint and an experience in God for all those who truly seek Him and follow Him in the deepest way. It is here that the true servants of God run up against the forces of darkness. The oil of annointing is there. And wonder of wonders, they come into a personal experience in God that they had never thought possible. They discover the truth of what Zerubbabel was told;
Nor by might, nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord.
The five wise virgins knew this place. And they did not avoid it. They went there deliberately . And that is where they found the oil. They purchased it with the surrender of their own self life to God. They received it out of a realization of their own emptiness before Him. And , of course, they were witnesses to the Bridegroom. They belonged to Him, So the oil that He supplied was right there. It was waiting for them. And it was in abundant supply.
This is exceedingly important for us to understand . If we are in Christ then our enemy has been totally and utterly defeated. He was defeated right there in the Garden of Gethsemane. The indwelling Christ is at work within us. From glory to glory He is changing us from the inside out. In union with Him we are supplied in His great annointing. His Holy Spirit fills us to overlowing.
In the garden and at the cross He took all our burdens. He took all our pain and sorrow. And He was victorious ! Now He cause us to rejoice in our sufferings. They will soon be over. And so in the midst of great darkness He fills us with the oil of gladness.
The Apostle Paul rejoice in this victory. He said,
"O grave, where is thy victory?
O ,death where is thy sting? (1 corint 15:55).
A study by Gavin Finley.
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