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How do men understand the term anointing? A man of God in America called it “the burden removing, yoke destroying power of God” and his scripture of reference is non other but Isaiah 10:27. This man went ahead to build a doctrine anointing from this definition. It thus follows that if the Bible was saying something else here, the man’s definition goes down the drain.
Am I discrediting the man? God forbid. I’m only trying to make men see the truth, distinguish it from error and thus be able to grow in grace. Notice that this prophesy was given concerning the physical nation of Israel (the Jews - Isaiah 10:23).From verse 5, Prophet Isaiah begins to tell of how the Assyrian ruler will conquer the nation of Israel and lead them into slavery. But verse in 12, God said He will eventually destroy the Assyrians, verses 24-25 paint a picture of how. Though the king of Assyria will rise up against Israel, God will destroy that nation. Verse 27 now says: “in that day…. In which day? In the day in which God will deliver the Israelites from the bondage of slavery of the Assyrians. “… That the burden shall be lifted from off thy shoulder..”
This part simply means that the bondage of the people of Israel will end i.e. the physical bondage they were going through at that time. And the last part “…and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.” The word yoke is from the Hebrew word “OLE” which means, “Something imposed on the neck”.
Historically, slaves when conquered were bound together in the necks with ropes. Much later these ropes give way to iron bands (as seen in the time of slave trade). The word anointing is from the Hebrew word “SEMEN” which means which means grease or fat. Hence the scripture was saying: “the rope on your neck will be broken because you would have become so fat”. The prophecy is astounding because it will take them to be liberated from bondage to become so fat. In fact the footnote of the New Living Translation puts it thus: “the yoke will be broken, for you to grow so fat.” Isaiah 10:27 speaks simply “ and it shall come to pass in the day God will deliver you, O Israel from the Assyrians, your bondage will end and the rope onyour neck will break off because you would have grown so fat.”
This has nothing to do with extra power or an enablement or a “burden removing” but instead a prophesy in which a man will grow so fat because of the deliverance of the Lord. More so, this prophecy has been fulfilled. It doesn’t have any connotation to the church today. It was for the Israelites of then and it has happened on their behalf already. In correctly explaining God’s word, let us cease from spurious explanations that can poke with just some little common sense approach to scriptures. Let us rather be conscious of the context in which the scriptures were written, in the light of the concept, as revealed in John 5:39-40.