What are the ingredients, the elements, that constitute the compound Spirit? The first element is the only God, the unique God, signified both by the olive oil itself and also by the quantity of olive oil, a hin. In Hebrew measurement, a hin is a complete unit. In this sense, a hin can be compared to a pound as a complete unit of sixteen ounces. A hin is, therefore, a Hebrew expression signifying a complete unit. The one hin of olive oil in Exodus 30 signifies the only God, the Creator (1 Tim. 1:17; Rom. 16:27; Exo. 30:24).
One hin of olive oil as the base of the compounded ointment signifies the unique God as the base of the compound Spirit. This understanding is logical and meaningful. We believe in God, but not in the simple way of the Jews. Instead, we believe in God according to the complete revelation of the New Testament. In the New Testament God is no longer merely God with the single element of divinity, for He has been mingled with other elements.
Consider again the blending of the spices with the olive oil to produce the compounded ointment. First, the olive oil was of one element. But after it was compounded, or blended, with four kinds of spices, it no longer had just a single element. It had become a compound of five elements. Of these five elements, one—the oil—is the base, and the others—the four spices—are the ingredients for compounding. This indicates that in the Old Testament the Spirit of God was of one element, and that element was the unique God, the Creator. However, the New Testament reveals that a process of blending, of compounding, has taken place. This process involved Christ’s incarnation, human living, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. After passing through this process of blending, compounding, the Spirit of God is no longer simply the Spirit with one element. Now He is the compound Spirit. However, this Spirit still has the unique God as the base. This base, the one God, is typified by the hin of olive oil.
In the compound Spirit we also have the Triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Perhaps you are wondering how it is possible to see the Triune God typified by the compounded ointment. In this ointment the Triune God is typified by the three units of the measure of the four spices (Exo. 30:23-24). In the compounded ointment there were five hundred shekels of myrrh, two hundred fifty shekels each of cinnamon and calamus, and five hundred shekels of cassia. Although there were four spices, there was a total of three units of five hundred shekels in measure. But how can we apply this to the Triune God? The first unit is five hundred shekels of myrrh. However, the second unit of five hundred shekels is split in half: two hundred fifty shekels of cinnamon and two hundred fifty shekels of calamus. The third unit is five hundred shekels of cassia. Notice that it is the second unit, the middle one, that is split into two parts. Surely this points to the Second of the Triune God, the Son, and to His crucifixion.
The greatest teaching in the Bible is that of the Trinity of the Godhead. According to the Hebrew language, the first time God is mentioned in the Bible (Gen. 1:1), the word Elohim is used. The name Elohim, meaning God, is in the plural. This is a hint of the Trinity. Furthermore, we are told in Genesis 1:26 that when God was about to create man, He said to Himself, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” This is another indication that God is triune. However, it is not, of course, a clear revelation of the Trinity. We have such a clear revelation in Matthew 28:19, where, after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus gave this charge to His disciples: “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Here we have one name for the Three of the Godhead, for the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
In John 14, 15, and 16 the Lord Jesus revealed the Trinity of the Godhead to His disciples. To a certain extent, He even defined His relationship to the Father and the Spirit. In John 14:8 Philip said to the Lord, “Lord, show us the Father and it suffices us.” Seemingly surprised at Philip’s request, the Lord replied: “Am I so long a time with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How is it that you say, Show us the Father?” (v. 9). The Lord seemed to be telling Philip, “You have been seeing Me all these years, and still you ask Me to show you the Father? Philip, if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” Then the Lord Jesus went on to say, “I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me” (v. 10). At that time the disciples must have become at least somewhat clear concerning the Son and the Father.
In John 14:16 and 17 the Lord Jesus went on to say to the disciples, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may be with you forever; even the Spirit of reality, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not behold Him or know Him; but you know Him, because He abides with you and shall be in you.” A little later the Lord said to them, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make an abode with him” (v. 23). If I had been one of the disciples, I might have asked the Lord, “How can You and the Father come to us and make an abode with us?” Actually, the answer to this question is the Lord’s word concerning the Spirit of reality abiding in the disciples, not only among them. The Lord seemed to be saying here, “The Spirit of reality will come not only to be among you, but also to be in you. When He comes to be in you, that will be My own coming to be in you. I shall not leave you orphans. I am coming to you. My going is My coming back. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, that you are in Me, and that I am in you. Don’t think that the Father and I are two. No, We are one.”
The disciples heard the words recorded in John 14 several weeks before they were given the charge in Matthew 28:19. In that verse the Lord told the disciples to baptize the nations into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. We know from John 14 that the Lord had already spoken to them concerning the Father and the Spirit. We can see from John 14 and Matthew 28 that before the ascension of the Lord, the Trinity was fully revealed to the disciples. In Matthew 28:19, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are three, yet there is one name. The disciples were commanded to baptize the believers into the name, not the names, of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Therefore, in this verse the Trinity is revealed.
Returning to the three units of five hundred shekels each in the compounded ointment, we see that it was the middle unit that was split in half. This signifies the putting to death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. The cutting into two pieces of the second unit of five hundred shekels points to the death of Christ. The fact that it was the middle unit, signifying the Son, that was split is a strong indication that these three units of five hundred shekels signify the Trinity. The first unit signifies the Father; the second the Son, who was cut, was put to death, on the cross; and the third, the Spirit. Therefore, the three units of the measure of the spices signify the Triune God. To have this understanding of the three units is to decipher the heavenly language in Exodus 30.