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CHAPTER 5

TRANSFORMATION AND ANOINTING

 IN THE LIVES OF BIBLE SAINTS

          It is hard to overstate the impact that many Bible saints had on their societies. The reason for this is that most noted saints with significant ministries were marked by both the works of transformation and the anointing. Difficult it is to  find examples of Bible characters  who ministered under the anointing's power who were not first grounded in the transformation process (Balaam and Samson being notable exceptions).

           In reading  the great acts and miracles performed by Old Testament prophets and New Testament believers, we are overawed with the Lord's accomplishments  through them. But our appreciation tends to stop short of recognizing  their anchor in the hidden work of the cross. As marvelous as the prophets' miracles were, they never occurred just for show, but always bore witness to the transformed life. This chapter will look at some of the prime examples of Bible saints whose lives demonstrated the fullness of both transformation and anointing.

I. Elijah and the Old Testament Prophets

          Elijah is the premier example of the Old Testament prophets-- a class of people whose lives were governed by the work of transformation with the anointing. So exemplary is he  that Elijah becomes the archetype of all prophets who are to prepare the way of the Lord.¹  As we  overview his and the other prophets' lives, we readily discern their cementedness in the experience and message of pure identity.

          A. The Prophets and the Transformation

          The prophets were generally viewed as "oddballs" by the main population. They were stigmatized because their lives were governed first and foremost by the process of transformation. This process was not the same as the New Testament reality because the new birth was not brought forth until Christ. Nevertheless, the prophets endured a similar process that mirrored all the qualities of the present work of the cross. Typifying  this work, the prophets  heeded the call of God to obtain a brand of new identity by  leaving behind  normal livelihoods and relationships. They allowed God to separate them  from the rest of "normal" society with its earthbound gaze on temporal affairs. 

                   - Living "Outside the Camp"

          The prophets generally lived together on society's outskirts in nomadic clusters with no certain dwellingplace. It is not always clear how they were supported except to say they lived "by faith." Some may have continued to work at jobs supporting the rest while others farmed. Occasionally we read that,  where they were recognized, the prophets received help and contributions, and were given temporary places to stay.²  In unusual situations they were supported by miraculous provision.³ However provision came to these men, we know little about it because their  writings are  consumed only  with the burning message for which they were called out from society.

          The prophets'  transience was also indeed remarkable. Often they would mysteriously appear on the scene, accomplish their work, then disappear-- like angels. As Jesus was later to say of those led by the Spirit, "You cannot tell where they come from or where they are going."⁴ Notably, we also learn next to nothing about their natural families. They have left them behind. It seems that many were probably unmarried. This deep, fundamental separation from the outer society was the first mark of the cross on their  lives. Without it, the prophets' transformation toward new identity could not take place. The idea of inward separation was not enough. Separation had to be lived out if it was to give distinctness to the prophetic message.

           In leaving societies and livelihoods, the prophets were leaving much more than we are used to leaving for Christ. Today, when a man is converted, he leaves the world  to join the church. But for the prophets, leaving the world meant leaving the "Church" itself.  This is because Israel was the Church. In leaving the society, the prophets were leaving behind their only known corporate base for worshipping the Lord, a base which no longer reflected the living truth on which it was founded.  While we contemporary saints expect the cross to take us from the world, we are oft unprepared when the cross cuts us off from our own body. The prophets' lives demonstrate how deeply the cross must work if we are to become transformed.

                   - Confronting Society

          Bearing the cross did not stop with leaving  society. After they were trained through the Lord's fellowship, the prophets returned to encounter the society they had left. They were given a fresh, burning word based in the work of transformation they were enduring. From Samuel to Malachi, we find to a man  the prophetic call to change at the core of their message. Having personally lived out the  transformation process, they now called society to the same. Invariably they began with a summons to repentance for sin and idolatry.  Next they called Israel to take her mind off temporal materialism and return to deep relationship with the Eternal God.

          Returning to confront society only added to the prophets' sense of isolation. They endured scorn, mocking, torture, and death as their reward. The Church  would not listen to them. The pain of ridicule was multiplied by the fact that  God often required prophets to portray their messages through living demonstrations that were socially unacceptable and even hurtful to themselves. Isaiah was required to walk naked for three years.⁵  Ezekiel had to lie on his side for fourteen months while eating bread baked over manure.⁶  Hosea was called to marry a harlot. ⁷  Such experiences reveal the painful process  at the heart of life for the Old Testament prophets. Today, we would call it, "radical hard-core discipleship."

          B. The Prophets and the Anointing

          In addition to the rigors of transformation, the Old Testament prophets were marked by the anointing. Under the anointing, these saints left their desert enclaves of devotion to engage this temporal world with their transformation message. Galvanized by the Spirit, they confronted  society at its highest echelons, standing before kings, princes, high priests, and the leaders of the old religious order.

          The greatest demonstrations of  supernatural anointing  are found in the ministries of Elijah, Elisha, and Daniel who manifested incontestable powers for turning the historic tide of  entire nations. Elijah commanded draught in Israel for three years.⁸  Elisha received revelations  enabling Israel to evade Syrian armies.⁹  Daniel had dreams and revelations that determined the courses of the Babylonian and Persian empires.¹⁰ Where the ministry of transformation led prophets to be rejected as outcasts, the power of the anointing caused them to be respected and feared by even the most powerful kings of their times.

          Through the anointing, the eternal focus of these men had impact on earthly situations small and great. In an age marked by more  immediate judgment on sin, the anointing brought down literal destruction on enemies of the Lord.  Elijah killed two army companies with heavenly fire.¹¹  Elisha brought destruction to about forty young people.¹² Jeremiah called for the death of Hananiah.¹³

          As often however, the anointing brought forth God's supernatural power for prosperity and the mitigating of suffering. Elijah performed the miracle of the unending oil supply  for a widow and later raised her son from the dead.¹⁴  Elisha performed a significant number of life preserving miracles.* Daniel  was  anointed with wisdom and divine revelation  for excellent government within the empires of Nebuchadnezzar and Cyrus. Besides these, other anointed manifestations of  alleviating suffering and demonstrating God's  compassion toward individuals and rulers are seen in the prophets' ministries.

          C. No Contradiction

          The essential point to appreciate in the prophets' ministries is that no contradiction existed between their  message of transformation and their works under the anointing.  The prophets were able to  live out  the cross while boldly  engaging society through the miraculous, bringing relief to even the most unworthy kings and armies.  The prophets' ministries to society  also added to the continual refinement of their own transformation through the misunderstanding they received on account of that anointing.    

          The anointing always served the transformation and bore witness to its message. In the Old Testament, we do not see two classes of messengers from God: one  preaching repentance and another God's anointed blessings.  True,  some prophets like John the Baptist and perhaps other of the minor prophets evidenced the message of repentance without an accompanying anointing for healing society's pains. But there is no single case ever of a true prophetic ministry that brought only anointed blessing to Israel without preaching transformation.

           The book of Isaiah reveals the clearest balance and interaction between the call to transformation and the promises of anointed blessings. The first thirty-nine chapters are severe in their call for repentance and their pronouncements of judgment. But chapters 40-66 are hardly excellable for glory in declaring the anointed blessings awaiting a purified Israel. This section even touches upon the ultimate recreation of the earth which the anointing will bring in the Kingdom Age.¹⁵

          D. Elijah's Translation

          The last notable event in the life of any Old Testament prophet was the physical translation of Elijah. Here we behold the climaxing demonstration of transformation that God works in His people. After a life marked by the full rigors of the  death process mingled with the healing powers of the anointing, God deems Elijah ready for personal harvest into the heavenly "barn" of the kingdom.  Elijah's  glorification gives  us our best Old Testament foretaste of what awaits God's present saints  who have fully endured the transformation with its exercise through the  anointing.

II. JESUS CHRIST: The Transformed and Anointed Son

          Unless we can look to the Lord Jesus Christ as our ultimate model, we have at best a weak case for any truth we seek to prove. Jesus Christ is the firstfruit pattern of all those who follow Him. To His image and message we are ultimately destined to be conformed.  All saints are called into His perfection regardless of their special uniquenesses. Therefore, the  entire case of this book really hinges on whether we can demonstrate transformation and anointing in the life of Jesus in the proportion of importance we have attributed to them.

          A. His Name and Title

          Happily, not only can we observe these two works in the life of Christ, but His life forms the actual core on which the case of this book is built. Our case begins with His very name and title: JESUS CHRIST.

          The name JESUS embraces the entire work of transformed identity which the Son of God came to impart to a people. The name "Jesus" means  "the Lord saves " or "savior." As the angel commanded Joseph, "you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." ¹⁶   Salvation from sin is at the heart of transformation's  meaning.  Jesus saves us by giving us a new identity and bringing that identity into conformity with His image. Transformation and salvation from sin  are intertwined concepts.

          The title CHRIST as we have seen already means the "one consecrated by oil, the anointed one."  His title was first declared to the shepherds: "a savior has been born to you , which is Christ  the Lord."¹⁷   It represents all that the "Messiah"  came to impart to His people on their road to perfection through apprenticing of Him in restoring the earth.  

          The functions of the name and title which identify our Lord speak to the relationship between transformation and anointing. Speaking of Mary,  Matthew 1:16 says, "of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ."   The word "Jesus" is a NAME. It  speaks of His  essential personal identity  into which He was born. The word "Christ" is a TITLE by which He was called. A title speaks of one's outward office or function. It is not personal.

          So is the transformation and anointing. The transformation speaks to our  personal identity through new birth. It speaks to the development of our direct relationship with the Father through intimate personal communion. The anointing is impersonal, relating to our function and office. It speaks to the restoring of our indirect relationship with God through our interface with creation.

          The usual order of the Lord's name and title is also significant. Most often he is called Jesus  Christ. His name  comes first, his title second. This points to the foundational importance of His name and the auxiliary importance of His office. By application, it shows the foundational place of the transformation, and the secondary supportive place of the anointing.

B. Jesus the Savior: Son of Transformation

          Jesus lived a life of  separation to the Father. As early as  age 12, Jesus shows  awareness that He does not take His identity from Joseph and Mary, but from the heavenly  Father. When His ministry begins, the Father is His one, constant reference point for all thought word, and deed, including all His acts under the anointing.¹⁸  Never does Jesus exercise any act of anointing outside this standard.

          Separated obedience leading to death on the cross is the unquestionable foundation of Jesus' life and message. Like the prophets before Him, Jesus lived "outside the camp" of the surrounding religious nation. He had no certain dwellingplace nor income rooted in the established economy,¹⁹  but  was supported by donations,²⁰ and  occasionally by  miraculous provision.²¹  Jesus did not look to the established "church" structure of His day to gain credibility. ²² He had no preplanned agenda to which He was committed. And He did not alter His course for the sake of men except in deference to the Father's grace.²³  Truly, He lived as a man from another race and planet for which He paid a great price in the earthly realm.²⁴

          As was His life, so was His message and the effect of His example. Jesus persistently called men to a new identity in Himself. This  identity was to be exercised by following Him, and bearing the consequences of doing so.²⁵ His followers were called "disciples."  The essence of discipleship was in becoming like  one's master.²⁶ Jesus' message  called men to be different, and to suffer for doing so. Specifically:

-  He called men to leave their businesses, possessions,  and families to

   follow Him; ²⁷

-  He trained them to endure persecution from all who would not

   understand; ²⁸

-  He called all men to repent, and to prepare for the invasion of the

   world to come; ²⁹

-  He prepared men for the eternal by preaching  extensively on the

   judgment to come;³⁰

-  He centered on the fruit of transformation through a changed life,

   making love among His followers the watchword for measuring the

   progress of their own transformation.³¹

          To Jesus, the reward of obedience was the indwelling of the Father  with the experiencing of His love.³²  This was His own highest aspiration and His aspiration for His disciples. The Father's  love was the eternal life He came to bring, -- the inward knowing of God in the inner being.³³  This  transforming  life  with its promise of final resurrection was always painted as the ultimate hope, desire, and reward of every disciple. The call to enduring obedience  together with this promise was the sum core of Jesus' message.

          By contrast, consider  what Jesus did not teach. Except  for occasional passing mentions,  Jesus said nothing about  the anointing. He did not teach on healing, prosperity, spiritual gifts, deliverance, or church structure and authority. In one place where his disciples  exulted over the results from their ministry, He  quickly redirected their focus to rejoicing in their new identity.³⁴  In another place, He warned against the possibility of functioning in the anointing without truly knowing the Father.³⁵   Though Jesus was empowered by the anointing, the anointing was never a topic of central import to His teaching.

          This is not to imply Jesus never intended for us to study or teach about  the anointing. The rest of the New Testament includes teaching on the anointing as part of the instruction for the emerging Church. As the Church grows, teaching on the anointing grows also. Nevertheless, the conspicuous absence of such teaching by Jesus reveals that the foundational work and message of our faith is the work of transformation, not the anointing.

          C. Messiah and Christ: The Anointed Son

          As central as transformation was to Jesus, it is a great mistake to overlook or minimize the importance of the anointing He displayed. In the life of our Hero, we see beyond the life and message of transformation to behold the power of the anointing never witnessed to that time nor since. To Christ was given the "Spirit without measure."³⁶  Through the anointing Jesus actively engages the very society from which He and His followers were becoming increasingly separated. He Himself appeals to the anointing regularly as an evidence that He has come from God.³⁷

          The anointing carried the Lord's transforming ministry into the temporal arena.  Christ did not spend all His time in remote, secluded deserts and hidden places. He constantly came in and out of towns and cities, preaching and ministering openly in the streets and synagogues. So compelling was the anointing's drive that  the Lord often could barely find time just to eat.³⁸

          The premier display of anointing in Jesus' ministry was that of  divine healing, followed by deliverance, and then other miracles. This is beside the outstanding  anointing  for prophetic  teaching and revelation that marked His every word. His ministry displayed all the characteristics of anointing we have studied. Christ  ministered to the temporal world, making superficial dents and changes in the satanic order. Bodies were healed, though they eventually died. Miraculous provisions were given to satisfy temporary hungers or other needs. Demons were cast out, though it was possible for them to return.

          The blessings of the anointing were available without merit, without respect to one's standing in God, and without respect to the recipient's  spiritual maturity. Even the most unworthy sinners who believed for a miracle received it. Jesus touched the "scum of the earth" with His blessings. Sometimes, He  healed those who He knew were living in sin, admonishing them to repent after ministering to them.³⁹

          As freely as it was given,  the application of the  anointing was still governed by God's sovereign decree. Jesus ministered only to those specifically appointed by the Father, sometimes ministering to only one person in  a crowd of suffering people.⁴⁰  The Father delimited Him to the "lost sheep of the House of Israel," though in a few cases He was given liberty to minister to foreigners.⁴¹

                   - The Lamb Ministry Prevails

          One outstanding difference between the anointing ministry of Jesus and  that of the Old Testament prophets was the restriction placed upon the anointing for destruction. The prophets released anointing for actual destruction upon enemies. But Christ's  warfare was largely confined to the sword of His words toward the religious establishment and to casting out  demons. In three instances we do read of Christ physically destroying or harming earthly things. These include the cursing of the fig tree and His twice casting out the money changers  from the temple.⁴²

          Still, Jesus never brought open death or destruction to any human. He even rebuked His followers for seeking to use the anointing in such a way.⁴³  This marks a radical departure from God's earlier dealing with man. It is  a change that continues in abeyance until the very end of the present age when the full anointing for destruction will be released once again.⁴⁴

                   - The Anointing's  Weakness

          For all its power, the Lord's ministry of anointing did not work a permanent transformation in the hearts of the people. Many followed the Christ simply because they benefited by the miracles.⁴⁵  Others went away thankless.⁴⁶   Some disregarded His explicit instructions to keep the miracles quiet so that His work would not be mobbed.⁴⁷   Jesus rebuked the cities who witnessed His greatest miracles for their failure to repent and be transformed.⁴⁸  The story closes when before Pilate, an entire nation to which Christ brought healing and deliverance turns its back on Him,  sending Him to the cross.

          As profuse as  the anointing was through Christ's ministry,  its only purpose was to point to the nearness of the coming world. Even through the Lord of Glory, the anointing did not work permanent salvation or change in the earth. It simply bore witness that the only permanent way to the world of eternal power  is through the process of eternal transformation. Jesus the Christ never ministered anointing apart from this emphasis. In some situations, where it became clear that His works were no longer serving His message but competing with it, Jesus  discontinued miracle ministry.⁴⁹

               - The Anointing: Instrument of  Death Unto Resurrection

          Sadly, the whole nation of Israel came into judgment because it responded to the anointing for the wrong motives. Israel desired Jesus to become king so they could live temporarily ever after.  In the end, the nation turned against Him  for refusing to apply the anointing to their natural satisfaction. This example from the life of  the Son of God demonstrates how the anointing becomes a vehicle for working transforming death in us though it may work temporary life in others. The anointing  which brought so much good to Israel became an instrument that helped send  Jesus to the cross.  In Christ's  own experience, we behold the anointing's unique place for contributing to the work of the cross in us.

          At the end of the story of Jesus Christ, we come as we did with Elijah to the fruit of transformation: resurrection life. Jesus obtains the permanent inheritance through His own obedient transformation.  By this, He becomes the example for the Church Age of the right relationship between transformation and anointing as it was intended to mark all experience and ministry. The glorification of Jesus Christ is the end product of His transformation, remaining the yet unrealized standard of life toward which we still press.

III. Paul and the Apostles

          Unsurprisingly, the book of Acts records a parallel message and ministry to that of Jesus. The same comparative emphasis between transformation and anointing  carries right through the ministries of the apostles and their writings.  On the surface, we are impressed by the extent of their miracles, but underneath, we find the same devoted attention to discipleship obedience.

          On the day of Pentecost when the first miracles appeared, Peter stands to call the people to repent:  "Save yourselves from this corrupt generation."⁵⁰  Upon healing a lame man, he upbraids the marveling crowd for their part in the crucifixion of Jesus, again  calling  them to repent.⁵¹  Immediately the apostles come under persecution from the religious authorities. They begin  sharing in the Lord's sufferings. At the same time, all the believers are giving up their possessions one for another in self denial.⁵²  This transformation preaching and experience provides the context in which all the anointing is displayed.

          The story of Acts shifts to Paul's conversion and his travels among the Gentiles. Again, the same message is accompanied by the same power. Paul's message is "the cross." His call is to repent and believe the gospel. Living out the  real demonstration of the cross, he bears in his own body the sufferings of Christ. This foundation is accompanied by great signs and wonders.  The baptism of the Spirit is present for  releasing spiritual gifts in the saints.  Paul is also healing, working miracles, and functioning in deliverance ministry. Both the anointing and the call to personal obedient holiness were part of the total original "gospel package."        

                   - Action Based in Separation

          The relationship of the anointing to transformation in the life of the apostles intrigues us.  The anointing galvanized them into open involvement and contention with society, but not before they were first closeted away with the Lord for a season.   Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Spirit.⁵³   Paul spent three years in desert solitude and instruction before  coming forth to minister.⁵⁴ This separation and  solitude was essential for the establishing of the apostles' sense of identity in Christ. It grounded them in Christ so that when the anointing came, it would support their identity in Christ, not puff them up. Through initial isolation, the apostles learned absolute dependence on the Lord. This  certified that transformation, not anointing,  would remain the heart of their ministry.

          At the same time, we must see that transformation solitude was not the end of the apostles' call. The  anointing was added so that they could take the message of obedient faith into society. The anointing puts the Church on the offensive.  By  their exposure to society under the anointing, the apostles could lead others to that first place of eternal life and give demonstration of the world to come.  It also caused them to experience the cross in new ways. There is a time for us to come out of seclusion to reach the world if we want to remain faithful to the process of transformation.

                   - New and Various Anointings

          As in Jesus' ministry, the anointing  for healing and deliverance was invested in the apostles. But we also see a new kind of anointing. An anointing appears for activating others into the power of  anointing. This "anointing-for-receiving-the-anointing"  is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. As the apostles laid hands on new believers, they too received-- not just a healing or a prophecy or a deliverance, but the Spirit Himself  by which they too could heal, prophesy and cast out demons. Unlike any other anointing, the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a reproductive anointing.

           The anointing for warfare is also of great note among the apostles and occupies a significant portion of their recorded ministry. Peter and Paul conducted spiritual  warfare against demons. They also vocally confronted religious authority and other enemies of the cross. In a few cases, the anointing for war spilled over into anointing for physical destruction. Peter declared the death of Sapphira after that of  Ananias.⁵⁵ He  came close to dispatching Simon the converted sorcerer.⁵⁶  Paul struck Elymas the sorcerer with blindness and delivered Hymenaeus, Alexander, and the Corinthian adulterer  over to Satan "for the destruction of the flesh."⁵⁷

                   - The New Testament Bible

          No discussion of the apostles is complete without describing their writings.  Paul, Peter, John, James and  others were inspired  to write the New Testament Scriptures.⁵⁸   Such inspiration is a function of the anointing. These  anointed writings  have become the apostles' lasting legacy to the Church Age, providing the common reference point for the unity of all believers in every generation and place since that time.

          But what is the Bible about?  To what does it speak? Though written under the anointing, the focus of the Scriptures  is not the anointing, but the cross and the work of transformation. All the writers rivet our attention on transformation truth in one form or other. Paul gives us our comprehensive theology of the cross in Romans and Galatians. He gives extensive testimony to its work in his own life (Corinthians and Philippians) and its outworking in the eternal plan of God (Ephesians and Colossians). Peter's letters describe the outgrowing process of the transformation in our lives with special attention to the place of suffering. James focuses on the practical evidences of transformation faith. John majors on the relational aspects of transformation love.

          The attention center of all these  writings is internal, eternal, and relational. The anointing itself as a topic for discussion appears only briefly, and is always  taught in relation to the work of transformation.⁵⁹ No New Testament teaching exists to show us how to obtain or minister the anointing solely for obtaining its blessings in the present life.

          Is this to suggest that the Lord would not release any further teaching concerning  specific operations of the anointing to any future generations? By no means. As we pointed out, the lack of Christ's teaching on the anointing did not preclude the apostles from teaching further on the anointing as the Church emerged. Paul was inspired to teach on the anointing where Christ was not.

          Similarly, men in subsequent generations have been anointed to teach on aspects of  anointing ministries which the apostles were not given. Yet the lack of direct New Testament teaching on the anointing  sends a clear message to all future generations of believers. It tells us  that, in all cases, the anointing is given to point to and facilitate the central ministry of transformation. It is not given to glorify itself. It has no self-sustaining  importance.

                   - Headed for Glory

          While  the apostles ended this life under the anointing for martyrdom, their writings end on the expectation of the Lord's return with our appearance in glory before Him.  A major New Testament theme, the apostles describe glorification as the end product of  transformation.  Paul repeatedly alludes to his personal hope of a glorified body as the end reward of his earthly transformation process. Peter and James also echo this ultimate promise of imperishable eternal inheritance.**  John draws our attention to our final change at the Lord's appearing. Not only so, but John is actually entrusted with the revelation of the end time scenario by which that final translation takes place.*** This leads us to our last consideration of transformation and anointing in the Scripture.

IV. The Book of Revelation: Transformation and Anointing in the Final Generation

          The book of Revelation shows us how the present age will culminate in the return of the Lord, detailing the unfolding that produces that awaited meeting of final generation saints and their King.  We are given to see the climax of the transformation process in an entire generation of believers who obtain new bodies and appear before the Lamb of God. But there is more. Together with the apex of transformation, we also see the greatest outpouring of the anointing on God's people  in history.  

          A. The Transformed Generation

          The process of transformation is clearly marked out in the last generation. Beginning with Jesus'  message to the churches ("repent or else...") the process is seen in the massive slaughter of the sheep as living sacrifices  leading to the harvest of  glorification.⁶⁰  Here, the greatest outpouring of natural life on the altar of sacrifice and martyrdom in human history occurs. The last generation saints give up everything and endure all things to obtain their eternal inheritance in Christ.

          Revelation demonstrates the  clearest demarcation of the Church's identity ever revealed. In chapter 13, the final combatants are defined without question. It is not the Soviets against the Americans or the East against the West or even the nations gathered against Israel. It is  the world  against the Church. This demarcation will indicate a holiness of  Church identity never before manifested. The Church worldwide will be in step as one man, putting off the nature and bodies of this world, and putting on the new through the cross. What is called the "tribulation period" will be the Church's final corporate sharing together in the cross of Christ. As He died for her  2,000 years ago, so will She die with Him in that generation. This death will be Her final preparation for marriage to and rulership with the King of Kings.

          B. The Anointed Generation

          At the same time, the anointing will be greater than ever before expressed in all saints to that time put together. During the time of the Revelation, the anointing comes to its zenith of purpose. First, it is  supporting the ministry of transformation occurring en masse throughout the worldwide body of Christ. The anointing will bring healings, revelations, miracles of provision, prosperity and the raising of the dead. The Holy Spirit will be the Comforter of His people as never before. He will be lubricating the transformation process so greatly that many will be oblivious to their sufferings for the Lord. The Spirit of martyrdom will be so prevalent that the saints will show the same eagerness for martyrdom as did second century saints.

          Revelation does not well describe the lubricating aspects of healing and material provision that will be present at the end. To view these aspects, Old Testament prophecies concerning the end can be tied back to Revelation. According to Malachi, for instance, a people with Elijah's spirit and anointing will roam the earth during the final days.⁶¹  This means they will perform all the same healing and provisional miracles that Elijah performed as well as his judgments.

          Revelation alludes to this  provision where it says God will nourish His Church in the wilderness.⁶²  Such is foretyped in Israel's journey through the Sinai with all the miraculous sustenance of that time. Another hint of the supernatural provision comes through Jesus' words when He says He will be with His Church to the end of the age.⁶³   "With" is one of the key words that describes the Spirit's supernatural anointing beginning with the first apostles.⁶⁴

          The prophet Daniel tells us that  end-time saints will perform extraordinary feats.⁶⁵  This includes more than provision and healing. It entails anointing for spiritual warfare and confrontation with government rulers on the highest levels of society. Such confrontation was characteristic of Elijah and is implied in the overall scenario pictured in Revelation 11 and 13.

                   - The Lion Ministry Awakes

           This brings us to the great anointing which Revelation specifically describes will be upon the last saints -- the anointing for destruction of the Lord's enemies. One of the anointing's purposes is to prepare the earth for Kingdom Age rule. The anointing for destruction belongs to this purpose. Destructive  anointing was greatly administered  by  Old Testament prophets including Elijah. Since Christ came, it has been held back and confined largely to spiritual warfare.

          But prior to Christ's return with the ascendance of a new Elijah people, there is going to be a release again of this anointing. It will exceed the "normal" spiritual warfare of casting out demons, praying down strongholds over cities, and verbal conflicts with political and religious rulers. Revelation 11 speaks of a company of saints who will be calling fire down from heaven on cities and will  smite entire regions with plagues for  refusal to repent.

          To us who are accustomed only to the anointing's healing graces  as seen largely through Christ's  ministry, the contemplation of anointing for widespread destruction is not thinkable. But we must remember that in our age of grace, judgment has not been abolished, only deferred. All that has not come into redemption under the blood of Jesus by the time He returns will reap the destruction it has sown. Before the earth can be ready for the anointed rule of Christ and His people, it must be purged of the effects of centuries of evil upon the land.

          There is a harvesting of evil as well as righteousness, and the harvest of evil must be burned.⁶⁶  Jesus wills for the Church to participate in that burning. But only a purged Church can participate in the purging of the earth. At that time, the Church will have been transformed and cleansed enough from sin to enable her to participate in this destructive anointing. She will be deemed ready to share in that cleansing because Her  attention will not be on the judgment of the wicked,  but on Her own purging, which comes first.⁶⁷

                   - All Eyes on the Lamb

          In closing our observations on the final generation, we have to once more view the relationship of transformation to anointing in Revelation. Again, comparatively little is taught or witnessed to concerning the anointing. The sites of Revelation are not set on the anointing for either blessing or destruction. The center of vision is the final transformation of the saints.

          At the end, the saints appear in their pristine identity, married to the Lamb, marked by an entirely new name, dwelling in a separated city, walking in glory, and ruling the earth. The anointing on their lives for temporal ministry  leading to that glory is also seen, but is secondary. The effects of the anointing upon the new earth are also seen, yet secondary. The center of attention is the relationship of the saints to the Lamb. (In the last chapter, we will look more closely at the relationship between transformation and anointing during the Millennium.)

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          Between the time of the apostles and the final generation of Revelation is an intriguing story of decline and then restoration of both the works of transformation and anointing in the Church. We stand at an hour of confusion concerning these works while living amidst this hectic restoration. The next three chapters will detail these  restorations  spanning the time between the apostles and the present generation. We will see where we have been, where we are, and what we must do to become part of  what is coming.

[Chapter 6: TRACING THE RESTORATION OF THE  TRANSFORMATION IN THE MODERN CHURCH  AGE ]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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