Oil and the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is often depicted as oil. One reference is in the Parable of the Ten Virgins found in Matthew 25.

Jesus says, “Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves” (Matthew 25:7-8). In weddings of that time, the bridegroom traditionally led a procession of bridesmaids from where they waited to his home. Since the procession almost invariably took place at night, each bridesmaid was expected to supply her own torch or lamp. If the bridegroom came later than expected, the bridesmaid needed to be prepared with extra torches or oil for her lamp.

Because of its abundance of well-known symbols, the Parable of the Ten Virgins is perhaps the easiest to understand in a prophetic light. The Bridegroom, of course, is Christ. Virgins are often symbols of individual Christians. Lamps are vessels that contain oil, a common symbol of God's Spirit, thus they represent salvation through Jesus. The wedding refers to the marriage of the Lamb to the church (Revelation 19:7). In these verses Jesus seems to be referring to the presence of the Holy Spirit. These virgins were waiting for the Bridegroom, which pictures Christ’s coming for His bride the church (also known as the rapture of the church) to which He is presently betrothed (or engaged) to. 
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​Five were ready when the Bridegroom arrived and already had the oil in their lamps. But the other five, the foolish ones, were not prepared. They had to run out and buy some oil, but they were too late. They had procrastinated and failed to betroth themselves to Christ. When they came back, they said, “'‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour” (Matt 25:11b-13). Those who knew Christ, by having the Holy Spirit (oil) were prepared for His coming.

Oils are mentioned over 500x in the Bible. Isn't it amazing that God chose "oil" as one of the representations of the Holy Spirit?

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