Someone once told me that " when a man takes the TEXT out of CONTEXT, he becomes a CON - An instance of deceiving or tricking someone".
And in my experience in church and "Christianese" that is what God's word has become to many of us, a means to an end.
We want money we quote "..Give and it shall be given to you..", meanwhile that scripture has nothing to do with money.
When we want to teach people greed that we call Prosperity, we quote "..money answereth all things...", but on the contrary, that scripture points out clearly those things that money have answers to, if only we would read in context and not read our GREED into HIS CREED!
One of those scriptures we've misused and quote out of context is Ps. 105.15. An individual in the place of leadership, within the body of Christ has misused his/her authority or abused his/her office, instead of taking up the cloak of humility, we respond with either by citing the story of Moses and his siblings in Numbers 12:4-10, then back it up with Ps. 105.15 or 'we' place people under a curse { I wonder if we understand scriptures at all ... we place God's people under a curse, after that Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law, being made a curse for us} HABA!!! O ga ooo. I hope to look into that another time, if God wills.
The truth about Psalms 105:15.
This psalm was written by David, it was first delivered up into the hands of Asaph (a Levite, Chief of those appointed by David, to minister before the Ark of God) and his brethren in the day they brought the Ark of God into the midst of tent that David pitched (that is what the bible would latter call the tabernacle of David).
This Psalm was PROBABLY rewritten (or formatted, in today's language) as additional verses were latter seen to be added, which were not originally there. Compare [1 Chronicles 16:8-36 <=WITH=> Ps. 105:1-15(THEN check verses 16-45 of Ps. 105)]
Who is [are] the anointed [ones] and the prophets?
1. This Psalm was a psalm of thanksgiving from the position of what God has done in the history past of Israel as a nation or a people. So David was not talking about himself or someone or some people in the future.
2. Read this scripture from any translation, you will discover that it is talking about a COMMUNITY of people not AN INDIVIDUAL!!!
Read Ps. 105. from verses 12-15
When they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it.
When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,
Saying, 'Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.'
These verses summarize the past of this community of people, and how God kept them.
There are three major events in scriptures that spells out what these verses are talking about:
a.) Dinah, Jacob's daughter got raped: Gen 34:1-35:1-5.
When Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite raped Dinah and afterwards will want to marry her, Simeon and Levi her brothers through deception killed all the males in that city because of what Shechem had done to their sister.
Hear what Jacob said from where the statement "When they were few in number" came in Gen. 34:30
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I AM FEW IN NUMBER [ did you see that? ], they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.
See how verses Ps. 105:15 then occur in this case: Gen. 35:5
..And they journeyed, and the terror of God was upon the cities that were all around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob...
So, the anointed [ones] and the prophets here is the whole community not just an individual. [For the record, Simeon and Levi were punished for that action later by their father.]
b.) Twice, Abraham traded his wife for his safety: Gen.12:10-20,20:1-18.
If you read these verses,
When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no one to do them wrong;Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,..
You wonder how? This correlate with the life and times of Abraham. He had married his own sister i.e Sarah (from the same father but NOT the same mother). She was very pretty so much that at an old age of Sixty plus, kings were still "running" after her. Abraham knew that his wife was beautiful so he had a pact with her saying " always tell them you are my sister!" for his own safety.
Twice, this happened, and twice God rebuked kings!! In fact, in one case, God told the king in a dream you are a dead man. Why? "....because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man's wife.?" and called Abraham a prophet, who will pray healing for him and his household "Now therefore, restore the man?s wife; for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.?"
God was not only protecting Abraham here, he was also protecting Sarah and all of their household that later became a nation.
These were the primary events that form the backdrop on which these verses 12-15 of Psalm 105 was written.
Who then are the anointed [ones] now?
Please let me quickly say that these gifts of Christ as stated in Ephesians 4:11-16, has nothing to do with TITLES or POSITIONS. I wonder why we have Pastor so and so, Apostle so and so, etc but we don't have Teacher so and so. These gifts of Christ were given (not attained or achieved) for FUNCTIONS!
So, who are those that are anointed, If we are to "apply" the scripture Psalms 105.15 today?
a.) Scripturally, Psalms 105:15, is for our exhortation not "shut-ING-up" words. To see what God has done in the past, and so believing in him that he would keep his words in the NOW.
b.) You will also notice that the scripture is not for a certain individual within the community against another group of persons within THAT family or THAT community of anointed ones and prophets! In fact, God used the plural PROPHETS!!! NOT PROPHET!! Read any translation!
c.) We are all ANOINTED !!!
That is God's word!
..But you have an anointing [unction] from the Holy One, and you all know..... 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 [ the anointing is not OIL, it is a person ]. 1 John 2:20,27.
Of course you have to read from the verse 1 to see these in context.
In conclusion: There is of course, a place of honor for those who labor and who are put in charge as leaders or Shepherd by God [ We are all the same before God, it's our functions that defers, just like body parts ].
However, we are charged by scripture "..Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith...", it is when we do this that we realize that Jesus is the same Yesterday, Today and Forever. Why? Because what God is working in their lives following the Lord, will be the same if we follow him so!
We are to CONSIDER the OUTCOME of their way of LIFE and FOLLOW their FAITH!!! God doesn't have grandchildren!!!
Clearly it obvious that Psalms 105:15 is not the exclusive reserve of the elitists within the church!
I can only Pray that the Lord grant you understanding in all these things!!
Timothy Adigun
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