The Dancing Hand of God, Part 6: The Anointing Oil and the Empowerments of the Holy Spirit

The dancing hand of God is the Holy Spirit at work in a believer’s life, lifting, helping and empowering, and in this message Dr. William P. Hohman connects that hand to the anointing oil of Scripture. He teaches that the anointing is what destroys every yoke and burden, that even Jesus did no miracles until He was anointed with the Holy Spirit, and that every believer is called to live as one of God’s signs and wonders. This is part six of the series and continues from The Dancing Hand of God, Part 5 — Given to the Lord for Signs and Wonders.

Below you will find the full video, a structured summary, the Scripture behind each point (NKJV on Bible Gateway), a timestamped outline and practical steps for this week.

Sermon at a Glance

This message was posted on October 25, 2022, as the sixth part of a series on the hand of God. It runs about 81 minutes and ends with an invitation to receive Jesus and to be baptized in the Holy Spirit. Pastor Hohman says he could have titled it the empowerments of the Holy Spirit, or simply the anointing oil, because that is where the teaching goes.

He explains that inspiration without information has to be pumped up again every week, while information builds a foundation faith can stand on. So he builds step by step, from the hand of God in creation to the oil that rested on kings and priests.

The Dancing Hand of God in Everyday Life

Pastor Hohman begins by reviewing the series. God created mankind uniquely, fashioning us with His own hands as a master artist. Many religious people picture God as distant, someone they hope to meet in heaven one day. The good news, he says, is that you can meet Him today, and those who already know Him can grow in the length, depth, breadth and height of His love.

Many denominations, he notes, believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Scriptures, but do not let the Holy Spirit work. In his words, “Jesus is the Lord over the church but the Holy Spirit is the Lord in the church.” Jesus promised He would not leave His disciples comfortless, and after His ascension the Spirit was given to those who believe.

He returns to Isaiah 8:18: the children the Lord has given are for signs and wonders. Many Christians grow nervous at any mention of the supernatural because they know God only through their intellect, not through a living experience with Him.

He gives two examples. The campus has a septic system for 1,400 people, approved when regulators wanted to limit systems to the size of a two-bedroom home; he prayed in front of the officials and the Holy Spirit orchestrated it. Later, of over 750 religious organizations that applied for radio stations, the ministry was the only one to receive one.

That, he says, is why Psalm 118:15–17 calls for joyful shouting: the right hand of the Lord does valiantly, and we live to declare His works. Proverbs 3:5–6 tells us not to lean on our own understanding. 1 Corinthians 12:7 adds that the manifestation of the Spirit is given to everyone to profit, a light that lifts us up and over every obstacle. That is the dancing hand of God.

Two Hebrew Words for Hand: Cuff and Yad

Pastor Hohman teaches that Hebrew has two words for hand. The first, which he pronounces cuff, means to strike down, hold back, hold down and keep back, and he says that in Scripture it is used for the enemy. Satan wants to quiet the church and keep it back from its calling.

The word used for the hand of God is yad, which he says means to help and to hold. When the disciples tried to send the little children away, Jesus took them up in His arms and blessed them (Mark 10:13–16). When Peter stepped out of the boat, looked at the storm and began to sink, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him (Matthew 14:28–31). That hand saved him from a watery grave.

The table below gathers the key words Pastor Hohman defines in this sermon, as he teaches them:

He then makes a point many overlook. Jesus came to earth as a man and had to be empowered by the Holy Spirit. Stories of miracles He supposedly did as a child are not true, he says, because John 2:11 calls the wedding at Cana of Galilee the beginning of His miracles, and that came only after He was baptized in the Holy Spirit.

When the disciples asked whether Jesus would now restore the kingdom to Israel, He told them to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit instead (Acts 1:6–8). Pastor Hohman concludes that believers will not change the world by changing systems, but one person at a time, showing the lost that Jesus is alive.

The Anointing Oil Destroys the Yoke

The central text is Isaiah 10:27: in that day his burden will be taken away from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil. Not just any oil, Pastor Hohman stresses, but the anointing oil. The world may hold others back, but it cannot hold back a church that walks in that anointing.

He observes that God has given many people over to a debased mind because they reject Him, as Romans 1:28 describes, so much of the world now looks irrational. Believers do not go along with it. The Spirit empowers us to live above it and to let God reveal Himself in situations, which Pastor Hohman sees as God giving people another chance. You cannot deny the Holy Spirit and then wonder why no miracles happen. The word destroyed, he says, means obliterated, reduced to toothpicks.

The Hebrew word for anointing, he teaches, means to rub with oil. Like a massage that works knots out of tight muscles before a back can be adjusted, the Comforter rubs the oil in. Many Christians stay knotted with stress because they do not let Him do His job.

Anointing is also an unction, a consecratory gift that sets a person apart for God’s use, and that is how signs, wonders and miracles flow. The word for oil means a perfume made from olive oil, richness and fatness, and is linked to a fat bull that casts off its yoke. It is a strength you cannot contain or control.

The oil was poured on and rubbed into a future office holder. Samuel passed over all of Jesse’s older sons and anointed young David, brought in from tending the sheep (1 Samuel 16:11–13). He became king because of the anointing.

Anointed as Kings and Priests

In Exodus 30:22–25 God told Moses to make a holy anointing oil from myrrh, cinnamon, cane, cassia and olive oil, compounded by the art of the perfumer. In Leviticus 8:10–12 Moses anointed the tabernacle and all its utensils to consecrate them, then poured the oil on Aaron’s head. These were types and shadows, he explains, not busywork.

Leviticus 21:10 says the anointed high priest must not uncover his head or tear his clothes. Pastor Hohman links this to Jesus, our King and High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. At the cross the soldiers would not tear His coat but cast lots for it (John 19:23–24), and His head was covered with a crown of thorns, the curse of the ground from Genesis 3:18. He wore those thorns so we would not have to.

Acts 10:38 says God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. In Scripture, Pastor Hohman teaches, oil always represents the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament the Spirit came upon people from time to time: Samson with the jawbone (Judges 15:15), Elijah outrunning the chariot (1 Kings 18:46), and Joshua commanding the sun and moon to stand still (Joshua 10:12–13).

Now Revelation 5:9–10 declares that Jesus has made us kings and priests to our God. The Spirit comes in us when we are born again, but we also need Him upon us, and that is the proof of our kingship and priesthood. Pastor Hohman stresses there is no higher order. His role as an apostle is a function, not a rank, and the fivefold ministry exists to equip the saints for the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11–13).

He tells the story of Nicholas Herman, born in 1614, known as Brother Lawrence. Seeing a bare winter tree that would bloom again, he received a high view of God’s providence and power, then joined the Carmelites in Paris, worked in the kitchen and wrote on resting in God’s presence, collected as The Practice of the Presence of God. Today, Pastor Hohman notes, people call it soaking.

He recalls a war film in which paratroopers, told they would be surrounded, replied that paratroopers are supposed to be surrounded. That is the Christian life: Jesus sent us out as sheep among wolves (Matthew 10:16), and we are here to help people by preaching the good news of Christ and His kingdom.

The Comforter Poured Out

Pastor Hohman turns to John 14:15–18, where Jesus promises another Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who will dwell with us and be in us. The world cannot receive Him, but believers can. He is the Paraclete: the aid, the help and the miracle worker. Comfort comes in many forms, from a friend who sits with you to someone who offers help under pressure, and the Holy Spirit is all of this and more.

Acts 2:17 promises that in the last days God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh. Pastor Hohman explains that this outpouring no longer comes down from somewhere far off as in the Old Testament; it flows from within. Jesus said rivers of living water would flow from the believer’s heart (John 7:38).

In the upper room Jesus breathed on the disciples and said, Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), and they were born again. Then He told them to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). It is our ammunition for the greatest season of evangelism, he says, and we cannot deny it.

The house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, shows the same pattern (Acts 10:30–46). As Peter preached remission of sins through Jesus, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard, and the Jewish believers knew it because they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.

Signs and Wonders Follow Those Who Believe

Just before His ascension, Jesus said in Mark 16:17–18 that these signs will follow those who believe: they will cast out demons, speak with new tongues, take up serpents, not be hurt by deadly things, and lay hands on the sick, who will recover. Jesus showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs (Acts 1:3), and He wants His people to do the same.

The Greek word for sign, Pastor Hohman teaches, refers to a signature or seal, like a king’s signet pressed into wax on a letter. God’s supernatural signature on your life tells people your message really comes from the King.

At a crusade in Uganda he cast demons out of a widow who had turned to witch doctors. She received Jesus and the Holy Spirit, then returned with her children, and he taught her to take authority herself. They were delivered, born again and filled with the Spirit.

On new tongues, he teaches that praying in the Spirit sets angels to work on our behalf. On serpents, he is clear that believers do not tempt God, but Paul shook off a viper on Malta, and the island opened to the gospel (Acts 28:3–9). When two visitors from a religious group dared him to drink bleach, he answered, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7). The younger man stayed behind and received Jesus.

The word follow, he teaches, means to accompany tirelessly, like a faithful companion always at your side. Signs belong on the street and in the grocery store, not just in a church service. Why do so many Christians not see them? The verse answers: they follow those who believe. Faith comes by hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17), which is why he teaches so thoroughly.

He illustrates with stories of ordinary witness. One night a friend who wanted to learn street evangelism swerved the van toward a teenager walking alone. The young man gave his life to Jesus, and when told there was more, said, “I want to go for the gold,” and was baptized in the Holy Spirit. A construction worker named A.P. Green was healed of a back problem and later received a word that his wife was pregnant; a year later they were pushing a stroller.

All of this flows from soaking in God’s presence and letting Him massage the oil of gladness into us. His sheep know His voice (John 10:27), and that is how the dancing hand of God moves through ordinary believers.

Living Under the Anointing This Week

Pastor Hohman closes with an invitation to receive Jesus as Lord and then to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and pray in tongues, reminding listeners that now is the acceptable time (2 Corinthians 6:2). Here are the practical steps drawn from this message:

• Start with Jesus as Lord. Spiritual authority begins with giving Him your life; you cannot skip that step and expect His power.
• Ask for the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The disciples were born again and still told to wait for power. Ask, believe and receive.
• Let the oil be rubbed in. Set aside time to soak in God’s presence so the Comforter can work out the knots of stress.
• Pray in the Spirit daily. He encourages praying in tongues while driving or working, because it bypasses the intellect.
• Expect signs where you go. When you share the gospel at work, in a store or on the street, expect God to confirm His word.
• Reach one person at a time. Instead of trying to fix a corrupt system, look for the person in front of you who needs to know Jesus is alive.

Timestamped Outline

• 0:00 Opening prayer: information, not just inspiration
• 1:05 God fashioned mankind with His own hands
• 4:10 Isaiah 8:18: given for signs and wonders
• 5:13 The septic system for 1,400 people
• 8:25 1 Corinthians 12:7: the manifestation of the Spirit
• 9:31 Cuff: the hand that holds back
• 10:39 Jesus’ first miracle came after the Spirit
• 12:46 Yad: the hand that helps and lifts
• 15:44 Isaiah 10:27: the anointing destroys the yoke
• 17:58 Anointing means to rub with oil
• 24:58 Exodus 30: the holy anointing oil
• 30:34 Leviticus 21:10 and the seamless robe
• 33:01 Acts 10:38: anointed with the Holy Spirit and power
• 34:12 Revelation 5: kings and priests
• 35:16 Brother Lawrence and the presence of God
• 44:25 John 14: another Comforter
• 47:37 Acts 2:17: the Spirit poured out
• 50:40 Peter and the house of Cornelius
• 55:48 Mark 16: these signs shall follow
• 1:08:00 Street witnessing: “I want to go for the gold”
• 1:12:05 A healing and a promised child
• 1:17:01 Invitation to salvation and Spirit baptism

Dancing Hand of God Series

This message is part of an eight-part teaching series at NTC Ministries. Start from the beginning or continue where this one leaves off:

• First message: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 1 — The Holy Spirit From Creation to Today
• Previous: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 5 — Given to the Lord for Signs and Wonders
• You are here: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 6: The Anointing Oil and the Empowerments of the Holy Spirit
• Next: The Dancing Hand of God, Part 7: The Manifest Presence of the Holy Spirit

Frequently Asked Questions

Is being born again the same as being baptized in the Holy Spirit?

Pastor Hohman teaches that they are related but distinct. The Holy Spirit comes in you when you are born again, as when Jesus breathed on the disciples in the upper room. Yet those same disciples were then told to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. He encourages believers to receive both.

Do I need to understand what I am saying when I pray in tongues?

No. Pastor Hohman explains that praying in tongues bypasses your intellect because it is your spirit that is praying, so you can pray while driving, working or even reading. Once in a while he asks the Lord what he is praying about, but mostly he simply prays.

Is anyone too young to receive the Holy Spirit?

Pastor Hohman says it does not matter how old you are. David was a boy tending sheep when Samuel anointed him as king, and he notes that John the Baptist received the Holy Spirit while still in his mother’s womb. The anointing is God’s gift, not a reward for age or maturity, and it is available to all who call on Him and believe.

Scripture References

All passages open in the New King James Version on Bible Gateway:

• Isaiah 10:27 — the yoke destroyed because of the anointing oil
• Isaiah 8:18 — given for signs and wonders
• 1 Corinthians 12:7 — the manifestation of the Spirit given to each one
• John 2:11 — the beginning of Jesus’ signs at Cana
• Exodus 30:22–25 — the holy anointing oil
• Acts 10:38 — Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit and power
• Revelation 5:9–10 — kings and priests to our God
• John 14:15–18 — another Comforter
• Mark 16:17–18 — these signs will follow those who believe

How this summary was made: written with AI assistance from the sermon’s own transcript and checked against the Scriptures listed above.

Watch More Messages

If this message stirred your hunger for the Holy Spirit, there are hundreds more teachings from NTC Ministries waiting for you. Browse the full sermon archive and keep growing in the power God has made available to you.