Overview
Roberta introduces essential oils in biblical life and then examines the gifts brought to Jesus Christ: gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The teaching considers their practical value, their uses in worship and daily life, their symbolic associations with kingship, priesthood, suffering, and the Messiah, and the way the gifts also supplied the family’s needs.
Transcript
Essential Oils in Biblical Life
God bless everyone. My name is Roberta and together with my husband Philip, we do a home group fellowship here in Wasilla, Alaska, and we do it with other individuals, love God, enjoy learning about him, and of course his most awesome son, Jesus Christ. And the thing is, with the Bible, it's filled with such great detail and information that touches on so many facets of human and spiritual life.
And for today, we wanted to share a little bit about essential oils, which were a known and utilized resource by individuals during biblical times. And there are references to essential oils in the Bible. Oils such as aloes, which is also called sandalwood, cassia, which is, I don't know, cinnamon, cedarwood, cypress, frankincense, hyssop, myrrh, myrtle, and even some with different names, galbanum, anica, and rose of Sharon, which is also called cispis, and spikenard.
And those are just a few, and they were used for different purposes from everyday to religious purposes as well. And essential oils are referenced many times in the Old and New Testaments, both directly and indirectly. And they were part of daily living among the Israelites, Judeans, the early Christians, Gentiles during biblical times, and there were so many references to them and how they were used, their application in the Bible.
So it was something that was in daily use. It was something that was known to them and by all the other cultures that were around them. So, essential oils, they are the liquids that are distilled from plants, including their respective parts such as seeds, bark, leaves, stems, roots, flowers, fruit, etc.
So for different plants, you may extract it from different parts of it. So, to give an example, cinnamon. A lot of times we have powdered cinnamon that we use for baking or for other uses.
And then we also have where people have cinnamon sticks, and they're, and I wish I had one here today, but it's very hard and it's kind of rolled up, and it's actually from the bark of the cinnamon plant. And so you can get cinnamon oil if you extract the oil, and you can also have that cinnamon bark, which they use for cinnamon sticks, also the powder. So just a little example.
So, many biblical references to oils are related to worship, such as anointing the king, burial, embalming, and tithing. And there are other references mentioned they use, such as perfumes, as agents of healing, and used to make maybe things smell better in a situation, to enjoy it in a different way. And then they were much, very much part of these individuals' life during the Bible.
So at times when they were mentioned, there was not a lot of detail that was used about it because there was, they were known to those people. And sometimes the lack of detail in the use of essential oils in the Bible is not only because there were other things that God wants us to focus on in a particular section of the Bible, but also that they were so much a part of the lives of those everyday people that no explanation was necessary. For example, when Jesus told the story of, he was relating about the mustard seed, and he was relating it to the media crowd he spoke to, that seed side was very common knowledge.
And he explained about a very little, little seed and becoming a great big tree. Well, the people of that day and time, that was common knowledge to them. And the thing is that, I'd like to also point out that, you know, God, in the beginning, started man and woman in the garden, and it was the original intent for us to be in a beautiful nature surrounding, living in harmony with it, utilizing it, enjoying it, and God was supplying and providing for a need.
Gold: A Gift for a King
And God will always supply and provide for our needs in whatever day and time we live. So earlier I had mentioned about myrrh, and this, um, especially this time of year, it's, um, a lot of times it comes up with gold, frankincense, and myrrh in reference to the magi. But with myrrh, I wanted to point out that it is referenced more than any other aromatic oil of the Bible.
It's first mentioned in Genesis chapter 37, verse 25, and in the last, it's, uh, the last time it's mentioned is in Revelation 18, 13. And there's many other instances in between from Genesis to Revelation. And it is one of the gifts that were given by the magi to Jesus and his parents.
So considering that reference, I'd like you to please turn to Matthew chapter 2, please. And, and in Matthew chapter 2, just going to kind of preface it here, that, you know, the magi and their gifts to Jesus and his parents are a common subject in this time of year. And a lot of times we have a lot of skewed depictions based on movies, Christmas cards, paintings, and they're really not in reality.
Um, and so it's kind of nice to have more of the real background of things and to have it from that point of view. And so Matthew is the only book that records about the magi. Okay, so Matthew chapter 2. This chapter starts after Jesus has been born and some time has passed.
God spoke to Joseph, uh, Jesus's stepfather in a dream and told him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt to escape Herod's, the king's at the time, murderous plot of the Christ track. And Egypt was one of the most luxurious nations of the earth at that time. And as a foreigner, Joseph would have had no legal right to work there.
Here he's being told by God, take your family and go to Egypt. And one of the things is, like I said, God always provides. And so he would have been a foreigner.
He would have had no legal right to work there because the holy family would have been in flight the whole time that they were there to avoid Herod's spies. Joseph wouldn't have had a great opportunity to work. And living in Egypt would have been very expensive, requiring a massive amount of money to live there, especially for a foreigner and his family.
And because the family wouldn't be able to live in a single place for a long time during that period, they'd be on the move. They would need provisions for money, for resources, for travel, food, housing, protection along the way. But God knew this all in advance, and he supernaturally orchestrated the arrival of the Magi just in time to deliver the financial resources needed to meet his son's needs while they were in flight in Egypt.
God arranged for the Magi to show up to provide the surprising resources that they would have needed. Like I said, God always supplies and provides for Jacob, and always at the right time. And in Matthew, if you please go to verse 11, and it said, and when they were coming to the house, they saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him.
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And in that verse 11 there, it says, when they, they is referring to the Magi, when they came into the house, whose house? Jesus and his parents. They saw, Magi saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him.
Frankincense and Worship
And when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts. So this is a very big deal here. First of all, the Magi, they had been on the lookout.
They had been researching the prophecy of when the Messiah was going to come. This was a very, very ostentatious event that was happening. Something that would only have the most utmost respect, reverence, and it was awe-inspiring.
And the thing is, is that when they, the Magi, were coming to the house, and they fell down, the thing is, is that they were in awe. They were before a king, Jesus Christ, the king of kings. And the thing is, is that when they had opened their treasures, and that word opens is a Greek word, anoigo, which means to make a grand entrance and wait.
It wasn't like they just like, you know, tore open something and then gave it to them or handed them a little box. They made a very big show, because it was to a king. And it also goes on with, and when they had opened their treasures, notice that's plural.
They presented unto him gifts, plural. Okay, I want you to hold that in mind. The Magi weren't coming with, sometimes in the movies we see about, oh, there's three Magi and they have three gifts.
No. There's no, there's no place that mentions about just three specific guys. They were Magi.
It was a large group. And the thing is, is that also it wasn't just three gifts, like in this, in this verse here, it's in the plural, presented unto him gifts. And before it was treasures, plural.
Then it goes into gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And there, what they were carrying, the Magi, it was a very large group. And there is a lot of historical documentation of when you're giving gifts to a king, that the value was commensurate with the magnitude of the king.
And Jesus is king of kings. So totally of the highest level of gifts and treasures were brought here. And the Magi were not just, like I said, three guys coming in on three camels.
Myrrh, Anointing, and the Messiah
The thing was, they were a large group. It was a caravan and the Magi were with so many people. They had people to protect the treasures they had brought.
They were there on a purpose. And let's look at some of the things that they brought with them. Okay.
So first off, gold. Gold, that's the Greek word krusos. It is, it's in the plural and it means many gifts of gold, profound wealth.
This particular word for gold is interesting because it describes the purest form of gold. There were lesser forms of gold that were mixed with other metals, just like today. We have, to give an example, we have a 14 karat gold, we have gold plated, then we have higher degrees of gold, and it shows how much gold is in there plus additives.
But this was the purest and highest form of gold. Nothing less for the king of kings. It was the kind of gold that was reserved for the wealthy, nobility, those who were politically powerful.
This was the same gold that dignitaries and kings used to make their bowls and their plates in their homes. This would have been the type of gold that ambassadors would bring to other heads of state. Then we go on to the word of frankincense.
That is the word labanos. And the word for frankincense, it's the word for the frankincense tree and the gum derived from it. So, actually, Ragan has a bag of some frankincense resin.
And this resin comes from the tree itself. It's like the sap that comes off the tree. And so, this frankincense was the chief fragrance used in temple worship in Jerusalem.
Because the frankincense tree didn't grow in Israel. It had to be imported from Arabia and Sheba. Which made it very expensive.
It was preferred fragrance of kings and was also used in the temple for the holy incense and the holy anointing oil. And they used so much Israel, that they used about 700 pounds of it a year. And you would only give frankincense to a real king.
The Wise Men Bring Their Gifts
This is expensive. This is not just something, you know, they went down to their corner store and just got. It had to be harvested.
It came from far away. It had great value. And then, the next one is myrrh.
Some of this frankincense resin also was only allowed, because there's different grades of it, and it was only allowed for royalty to have and own. Yeah. So, not everybody could just go and get it.
So, our next one is myrrh. Which is the word smyrna. And it's a bitter gum, and it's a costly perfume.
And it also is like the resin, similar to frankincense, only it's a little darker. It's more amber in color. Frankincense is just like a, like a golder color.
Myrrh is a deeper color. And it's excreted from a certain tree or shrub in Arabia and Ethiopia, and it's obtained by incisions made in the bark. And it's an antiseptic used in embalming.
And it may seem like a strange gift to a child to give this myrrh, but it was a prophetic gift as well. The magi had brought gold for a king, and they brought frankincense for a priest, and the myrrh, due to him being a messiah. The frankincense and myrrh actually were more valuable than the gold itself.
And if God sends you to do something, he will provide you with what you need. This family, they had a need for these types of things. This was given for a specific reason, because of Jesus Christ, and him being king of kings, and he was a messiah.
It was also another purpose for that. But God provided for this family as well. And the Bible is filled with detail and information that touches on so many facets of human and spiritual life.
God Provides What Is Needed
And we hope that you enjoyed learning a little bit about a different facet of biblical life, and some of the resources utilized by individuals during biblical times. So, thank you.
Key Takeaways
- Essential oils and aromatic substances were familiar resources in biblical cultures and were used in daily life, worship, anointing, burial, perfume, and care.
- Gold was a gift associated with kingship and enduring value.
- Frankincense was costly and closely connected with worship and priestly service.
- Myrrh appears in settings connected with anointing, suffering, burial, and the Messiah.
- The gifts acknowledged aspects of Jesus Christ’s identity and also represented God’s practical provision for his family.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why were gold, frankincense and myrrh significant gifts?
They were valuable resources with established biblical and cultural uses. The teaching connects gold with a king, frankincense with priestly worship, and myrrh with the Messiah, suffering, anointing, and burial.
How were frankincense and myrrh used in biblical times?
They were used in worship, perfumes, anointing preparations, burial practices, and other parts of daily and religious life.
What practical purpose could the gifts have served?
Beyond their symbolic meaning, the gifts were highly valuable and could provide material support for Jesus Christ’s family when God directed them to travel and protect the child.
Scripture References
Matthew 2:1–12; Exodus 30:22–38; John 19:39–40; Revelation 18
Verification Note
Prepared from a recovered transcript. The source identifies the speaker only as Roberta. Verify names, oil terminology, historical details, quotations, and verse wording before publication.
