Psalms 105:14, “He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.”
1Samuel 24:6, “And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he [is] the anointed of the LORD.”
Next summer my Hebrew Word Study book will be published by the largest Christian publishing house in the world. On the one hand, “Yippee!” On the other hand, “Oh, boy Bunkie, what did you get yourself into.” Presently my books have a limited distribution and I enjoy being a big fish in a little pond. Once my book passes through the distribution channel of a large Christian publishing house owned by one of the big five secular publishers I will suddenly find myself out of that pond and into the ocean where there are sharks. Don’t know if I am ready to play with the big boys, I mean they don’t hesitate to “touch God’s anointed.” I suppose if anyone dares to raise a hand or criticism about my works I can always fall back on the preacher’s trump card, “You can’t touch God’s anointed, na, na, na, na.” There is just one problem with that. The sharks that will attack me will be Hebrew scholars and they will simply take my trump card, sneer at it as say, “We are Hebrew scholars, we know what that really means, come on fellows let’s go get him.”
For one thing, just a simple first year Hebrew student’s understanding of the word touch which is naga’ will reveal it really means to reach out and do violence. David was a little clearer than in his Psalm in I Samuel, he said he would not stretch forth his hand. This is an old Hebrew idiom meaning to do violence. These scholars who will come after me with all guns blazing will not seek to do me naga’ they mean me no physical harm, they only wish to correct the error of my ways and they have every right both legally and Scripturally to do that. I mean Paul really blasted his critics. Jesus did a number on the Jewish leaders and Peter knocked heads with a few of his critics.
Oh, you say, they were not the anointed of God. My question is, who says someone is the anointed of God. Just because he gets a degree from a Seminary and has some people claiming to be anointed say that he is anointed does that make him anointed? Just who made the ones doing the anointing, anointed in the first place? It basically comes down to saying, “I am anointed because I say I am anointed and I have a church and congregation to prove it so don’t question me.” So does being top dog in a church or congregation automatically make you the anointed? Where in Scripture does it say that?
I will tell you what Scripture says, Romans 8:11, “ But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” Jesus dwells within all of us who have invited Him to dwell within us. You want more Scripture that teaches that Jesus dwells within us, I’ve got more Scripture, but I don’t think too many believers will argue this point.
Now consider this word anointed in Hebrew which is masach, yes the same root where we get the word Messiah. Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one and when we accept Jesus as our personal Savior he comes to live inside of us and thus if anyone touches us, they are touching the anointed one. In other words we are all anointed of God by the very presence of the anointed one living inside of us. I have heard many preachers and pastors declare that they are the anointed ones. That is a whole lot more politically correct than saying, “I am the Messiah.” Yet, from a Hebraic standpoint, that is what they are saying. Better to say, “I am an anointed one” rather than the anointed one if you feel you must declare your anointing.
That Reverend, Doctor, don’t touch me I am the anointed one, really has no corner on this anointed business. If the good reverend decides to criticize a member of his congregation, he is just as guilty of touching God’s anointed as someone, who follows his definition of touching an anointed, criticizes him. For all believers have The Anointed One living inside of them. So tit for tat.
But back to this touching business. Psalms 105:14 in its context is a warning against kings who touch God’s anointed. A king is one who can exercise control over someone. The word touch in Hebrew is naga’ which has its origins in a Persian word which was used for a leper touching someone else causing them to become a leper. They were passing their leprosy onto someone else. I believe what God is saying is, “Don’t pass your uncleanness off unto my anointed ones.”
If you are child of God who has Jesus living inside of you, don’t bother using Psalms 105:14 to stem the criticism leveled against you, use it for that person who encourages you to cheat on your taxes, or shares a dirty joke, or tries to get you drunk or, more commonly to men of the cloth, seduce you. To them you will use Psalm 105:14 and say, “Jesus The Anointed One lives inside of me, don’t touch, nega, infect me with you uncleanness.”
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