Touch not Mine Anointed

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. (Psalm 105: 14, 15)

I want to touch on this touchy subject today because it has been preached and quoted bare.

I want us to look at what the Bible says and how we can relate to it.

Let us travel to its source.

Do you realise that the context of the verse is Abraham lying about his wife and a king taking her as kings do?

Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: and if thou restore her not, know thou that thou shalt surely die, thou, and all that are thine. (Genesis 20:7)

We can from our vantage point easily say that Abraham was walking in sin, the sin of lying and refusing to cover his wife.

Yet even then God spoke and protected the person who had willingly chosen to leave all for God’s call.

It is important to realise that anointing originates only from God.

Another thing we need to realise is that it is God and not the anointed who talks about the anointing.

Worth noting is that when the anointed needs to remind others of the anointing it is because they probably do not have it or may have been rejected as king Saul was.

Nobody speaks of his anointing since it is plainly visible. It is when I doubt its presence that I will want to remind people that it is present.

Moses was anointed. Nobody doubted that, even pharaoh and his people.

You will realise that anybody who treated that anointing flimsily met with the wrath of God, even if it was the sister who was instrumental to his being a prince of Egypt.

Even Samson was anointed despite his stubborn rebellion and self- and pleasure-seeking lifestyle. That is why we see him killing more people at his death than he had killed during his ministry.

The same applied to Jephthah who was the son of a harlot and the captain of good for nothing fellows.

I will probably write some time about the purpose of anointing. But suffice it when I say that it is to accomplish God’s ends.

But allow me to get us to the New Testament.

You see, many preachers love the New Testament when it gives them the chills without the responsibilities yet run to the Old Testament when it suits their fancy as they always do when using this verse or about tithing.

Who is anointed in the New Testament?

But ye have an unction (anointing) from the Holy One, and ye know all things. (1John 2:20)

That is the clear thrust of the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: (1Peter 2:9)

It therefore means that each and every believer is anointed. Or what does Romans 8:9 say?

Since we are not the ones doing the anointing, we have no measure for that anointing since only God as the One doing the anointing knows it.

Moses had such anointing that even after it being shared with seventy others remained as powerful. Yet many people, including his own siblings and clan doubted it. And I am sure they had adequate reasons for the same.

It is therefore very easy to pour scorn on someone’s anointing without realizing that it weighs infinitely more than your flimsy one.

We are anointed for service. Our anointing is therefore commensurate with our assignment in God’s scheme of things.

Allow me to go to gifts to add some emphasis.

We are called the body with many members, each with its assigned duties.

Some are visible while others are not. Some are respectable while others appear to be just there.

Just think about the arm pit or butt for example.

How many wittingly display them as attractions?

Yet who can do without them?

Ever encountered someone with a boil on their arm pit or buttocks?

That is when you will realise how pivotal those ‘shameful’ parts are to your existence.

Using anointing as an analogy, those parts carry so much anointing for the amount of support they give to the rest of the body.

Compare that to the face, our PR body part.

Apart from being unattractive to some, a disfigurement of the same may pose no threat to normal living. A person with a spotted face or one having two colors is only so outwardly.

A similar boil on the same brings about a little discomfort while one on those hidden parts could be crippling.

This means that if I was the person doing the anointing, I would pour more on those unattractive parts than I would on the visibly attractive ones.

Do you think it is much different with God?

But now are they many members, yet but one body. And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: (1Corinthians 12: 20 – 24)

Why do you think you are the only one anointed just because God has given you a public ministry?

Are people in those in your eyes insignificant arm pit and butt ministries not anointed or as anointed as you are?

What am I saying?

God is the One who anoints. He is therefore the One who determines the amount of anointing we need to function as He would have us.

Nobody has the capacity to know who has more anointing than the other.

You could in pride with your little face anointing be touching God’s arm pit anointed when you threaten him to not touch God’s anointed. You could very easily be the one touching the anointed.

Just look at Jesus to get what I mean

Can you imagine the people who were laughing at and making fun of Him at the cross?

That is what you could be doing when you are talking about your anointing in the presence of the arm pit calling ministers since they may be handling an anointing incomparable in superiority to yours.

That is one reason Jesus taught us to serve instead of seeking to be served as He did.

That is also the thrust of Philippians 2

We have no idea about our anointing, leave alone that of others.

We should seek to support other believers excel in their anointing without seeking to draw their attention to ours since none of it comes from ourselves anyway.