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Here is Part II of the article by Dr. Thomas Williamson on the subject, “Touch Not The Lord’s Anointed.”  Part III tomorrow.

Touch Not the Lord’s Anointed” Is the Command for Today?   By: Thomas Williamson, Th.M, Ph.D. 3131 S. Archer Avenue Chicago, Ill., 60608

In 2 Samuel 1:14-15, David had an Amalekite executed for the sin of stretching forth his hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed. What had the Amalekite done? Had he criticized the doctrine of a big-name televangelist? Had he exposed the moral failings of a preacher falsely claiming to be a holy man of God? Had he voiced opposition to some pastor’s proposed building program? No, his offense was of an entirely different nature – by his own testimony, he had taken his weapon and killed Saul, the man God anointed to be king of Israel. (I believe that Saul was already dead and that the Amalekite stripped his body and then concocted the story of having killed Saul in the vain hope of receiving a reward from David.) Regardless of whether or not this man killed Saul, David believed that he had killed Saul and had him executed for that offense, not for the offense of verbally criticizing Saul, which was something David himself had done.

Why, then, do we hear so much whining from preachers today who warn their followers, and their critics, not to touch the Lord’s anointed? Just what do these preachers have to hide, and what are they so anxious to cover up? One would think that it is the unpardonable sin to criticize or find fault with any preacher in any way. Some of the big televangelists have even hinted that God will punish their detractors with death.

To rebuke a preacher who has committed errors of false doctrine or practice cannot be the sin of touching the Lord’s anointed, because it does not involve the use or threat of physical violence. Such rebuke is appropriate and even commanded in certain instances. “But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” (Galatians 2:11.) “Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” (Titus 1:13.) “Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear,” (1 Timothy 5:19-20.) The office of elder here is the same as the scriptural office of bishop or pastor. Presumably it would also include televangelists and ecumenical evangelists, even though no such creatures are authorized in the New Testament, and they could not be higher in rank than the Apostle Peter, who Paul rebuked publicly before the congregation of Antioch.

Who is the Lord’s Anointed?

Since we are instructed so many times that we must not touch the Lord’s anointed, it might help to check out the New Testament and find out just who are the Lord’s anointed today. In 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 we read; “Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who also hath sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.” The Apostle John tells us, “But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things…. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” (1 John 2:20,27.)

There we have it – all Christians are the Lord’s anointed. How could it be otherwise? In Old Testament times, only some believers were priests, but in this age of grace, we are all priests: “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ … 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 marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:5,9.)

In the light of this glorious truth, that all born-again believers are the Lord’s anointed, perhaps when we are admonished by a preacher to “Touch not the Lord’s anointed,” we would do well to answer, “Same to you, buddy!” In fact, the preacher from his place of prominence in the pulpit can do more harm, to more people, than the average man in the pew, if he is following unscriptural principles and practices, and therefore he is to be more carefully scrutinized and watched. Yes, the preacher is the Lord’s anointed, if he is truly saved, but so are you, and so are we. We owe a tremendous amount of courtesy to all of God’s true preachers, including an obligation not to oppose or criticize them in an improper and unscriptural manner. But they have the same obligation of courtesy to all Christian laymen, who are also the Lord’s anointed.

 PART III TOMORROW

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As I was researching this subject, I came across an excellent article by Dr. Thomas Williamson, so I have decided to publish the article in its entirety in five (5) parts.

Touch Not the Lord’s Anointed” Is the Command for Today?   By: Thomas Williamson, Th.M, Ph.D. 3131 S. Archer Avenue Chicago, Ill., 60608

The familiar command, “Touch Not the Lord’s Anointed,” appears in Psalm 105:15. So that we can see what God is talking about here, let us quote the entire passage, starting with verse 10:

“And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; When they were but a few men in number; yea, very few, and strangers in it. When they went from one nation to another, and from one kingdom to another people; 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 105:10-15.)

Many preachers and evangelists today teach that if anyone criticizes them, or finds fault with them in any way, or goes against their wishes, then that miserable sinner has “Touched the Lord’s anointed.” Many eloquent sermons, rivaling Dante’s Inferno in ferocity, have been preached to warn those who would dare commit such a sin that they face the unmitigated wrath of Almighty God. But is that what the verse is really talking about?

The immediate context of the verse is a reference to the patriarch Jacob, who was not an ordained preacher, at least not as we would understand that concept today. Just what kind of hazard was Jacob in fear of as he wandered from one nation to another people? Did he live in mortal dread that someone, somewhere, would criticize him? No, his concern was that the heathen would use physical violence against him. Read his complaint in Genesis 34:30: “And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.”

It is clear that to touch the Lord’s anointed is to commit an act of physical violence against the one anointed by God. It does not refer to those who verbally attack and criticize a preacher and his doctrine. Such verbal attacks may be quite wrong and sinful, and in some cases they may be commendable and necessary (see Jesus criticizing the Pharisees in Matthew 23, Paul criticizing Peter in Galatians 2:14-21, Paul versus the Judaizers in Galatians 5:12, Philippians 3:2, etc.) but they are not covered by the idea “Touch not the Lord’s anointed.

For further confirmation of this, see I Samuel 24:6-7, where David had an opportunity to have King Saul killed, but refused to take advantage of it: “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. So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.” Immediately afterward, David publicly criticized Saul in front of 3000 of Saul’s troops, as well as his own 600 men, saying “The Lord judge between me and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. As sayeth the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked, but mine hand shall not be upon thee.” (1 Samuel 24:12-13.) No one seemed to feel that David was touching the Lord’s anointed by this open rebuke of Saul. It is clear that to touch the Lord’s anointed involved violence against his person, not criticism, rebuke or public disagreement.

A similar incident took place in 1 Samuel 26: “Then said Abishai to David, God hath delivered thine enemy into thine hand this day: Now therefore let me smite him, I pray thee, with the spear even to the earth at once, and I will not smite him the second time. And David said to Abishai, Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless? David said furthermore, As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle, and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Lord’s anointed.” (1 Samuel 26:8-11.) David was willing to let judgement be executed against King Saul by the hand of another. He was not talking about the judgement of someone criticizing Saul, or disagreeing with Saul, or printing an article in opposition to Saul’s doctrine, but rather about the violent death of Saul. That is what it means to touch the Lord’s anointed.

PART II ON TOMORROW

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Since the 2010 election, thanks to the funding by David and Charles Koch, the billionaire brothers who bankroll the Tea Party, 38 states have recently introduced legislation design to impede democratic voters.  For example, Kansas and Alabama now require voters to provide proof of citizenship before registering. Florida and Texas made it harder for groups like the League of Women Voters to register new voters.  Maine repealed Election Day voter registration that had been in effect since 1973. Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Tennessee and West Virginia have shortened their early voting periods. Florida and Iowa barred all ex-felons from the polls, disenfranchising thousands of previously eligible voters.  Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin will require voters to produce a government-issued ID before voting. More than 10 percent of U.S. citizens lack such identification, and the numbers are even higher among constituencies that traditionally vote Democratic including 18 percent of young voters and 25 percent of African-Americans.

Undoubtedly, these drastic measures could significantly diminish the Democratic turnout in 2012, possible enough to help the GOP.  “One of the most pervasive political movements going on outside Washington today is the disciplined, passionate, determined effort of Republican governors and legislators to keep most of you from voting next time,” Bill Clinton told a group of student activists in July.  “Why is all of this going on? This is not rocket science. They are trying to make the 2012 electorate look more like the 2010 electorate than the 2008 electorate” – a reference to the dominance of the Tea Party last year, compared to the millions of students and minorities who turned out for Obama. “There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and all the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today.”

Republicans justify these unprecedented actions by saying they are cracking down on extensive voter fraud, an interesting take since Republicans took control of the White House in 2000 although Gore had the most popular votes.  According to Republicans, community organizers like ACORN were actively recruiting armies of fake voters to misrepresent themselves at the polls and cast illegal ballots for the Democrats.  Of course, there was no evidence to back up such outlandish claims and they have already been debunked by credible sources.  An investigation by the Justice Department between 2002 and 2007 failed to uncover anyone for impersonating an eligible voter which the anti-fraud laws were supposedly designed to stop. Out of the 300 million votes cast during that time, federal prosecutors convicted only 86 people for voter fraud, most convictions involved immigrants and former felons who were simply unaware of their ineligibility.

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, GOP outcries over the phantom menace of voter fraud escalated after 2008, when Obama’s candidacy attracted historic numbers of first-time voters.  In the 29 states that record party affiliation, roughly two-thirds of new voters registered as Democrats in 2007 and 2008 – and Obama won nearly 70 percent of their votes.  In Florida alone, Democrats added more than 600,000 new voters in the run-up to the 2008 election, and those who went to the polls favored Obama over John McCain by 19 points. “This latest flood of attacks on voting rights is a direct shot at the communities that came out in historic numbers for the first time in 2008 and put Obama over the top,” says Tova Wang, an elections-reform expert at Demos, a progressive think tank.

Rolling Stone goes on to report that, “No one has done more to stir up fears about the manufactured threat of voter fraud than Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a top adviser in the Bush Justice Department who has become a rising star in the GOP.” We need a Kris Kobach in every state,” declared Michelle Malkin, the conservative pundit. This year, Kobach successfully fought for a law requiring every Kansan to show proof of citizenship in order to vote – even though the state prosecuted only one case of voter fraud in the past five years. The new restriction fused anti-immigrant hysteria with voter-fraud paranoia. “In Kansas, the illegal registration of alien voters has become pervasive,” Kobach claimed, offering no substantiating evidence.

Kobach also asserted that dead people were casting ballots, singling out a deceased Kansan named Alfred K. Brewer as one such zombie voter. There was only one problem: Brewer was still very much alive. The Wichita Eagle found him working in his front yard. “I don’t think this is heaven,” Brewer told the paper. “Not when I’m raking leaves.”  This suppression of voter rights that’s going on in the states primarily run by Republican governors and state legislators undoubtedly fits the definition of “wickedness” and clearly reveals “one’s evil intentions; to expose one’s malicious, venomous, or insidious nature.”

What’s amazing to me is that most every Republican governor, legislator and presidential candidate claims to be a “Christian.” According to Wikipedia, the term “Christian” is also used adjectivally to describe anything associated with Christianity, or in a proverbial sense “all that is noble, and good, and Christ-like.”  Christians are taught to model their behavior and actions on the virtue established by Christ.  A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being.  Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting individual and collective well being.  The opposite of virtue is vice.   Vice is a practice or a behavior or habit considered immoral, depraved, and/or degrading in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a defect, an infirmity, or merely a bad habit. Synonyms for vice include fault, depravity, sin, iniquity, wickedness, and corruption. The modern English term that best captures its original meaning is the word vicious, which means “full of vice”.

As a Christian, I firmly believe in the Bible and Proverbs 29:16 (NIV) which tells us that, “When the wicked thrive, so does sin, but the righteous will see their downfall.”  The Republican Federal and state actions and initiatives to literally destroy democracy as we know it are not acts of Christian beliefs but rather despicable acts of wickedness influenced by what the Bible calls “the evil one.”  I also believe that the righteous will see their downfall, but that’s just my take.

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