Does “Do not touch my anointed ones” in the Bible mean we can't express disagreement with preachers?

When I remember this verse, sometimes, an image pops up in my mind: a "pastor" standing over and threatening even members of his congregation with God's wrath if they question his actions or misbehave towards him because he is God's "anointed."

But who is this "anointed" that God has commanded to not be touched according to His word? We see who it is in Psalms 105, the same chapter where "Touch not my anointed..." is taken from:

"1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord! Call upon His name; Make known His deeds among the peoples!

2 Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works!

3 Glory in His holy name; Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the Lord!

4 Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face evermore!

5 Remember His marvelous works which He has done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,

6 O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!"

Let's pause here to define who the seed of Abraham and the Lord's chosen ones that should rejoice in the Him in this manner are. See this in Galatians 3:29-

"And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise."

Beloved of God, you and I who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (having Him as our Righteousness and Strength) are Abraham's seed. Psalm 105 continues from verse 7-

7 He is the Lord our God; His judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers His covenant forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,

9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac,

10 And confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant,

11 Saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan As the allotment of your inheritance,”

12 When they were few in number, Indeed very few, and strangers in it.

13 When they went from one nation to another, From one kingdom to another people,

14 He permitted no one to do them wrong; Yes, He rebuked kings for their sakes,

15 Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.”"

This blessing covered the entire nation of Israel - Abraham's seed - not just their priests. Beloved of God, "touch not my anointed..." is for all those who are under the covenant that God made with Abraham; For Abraham's seed and not a select few from the flock. That's you and I who believe in Jesus Christ our Shepherd. Recall Galatians 3:29-

"And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise."

We who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are all children of God. He is our heavenly Father and has placed our older brothers (pastors and leaders) as under-shepherds over us. How would we hear the word and thus be saved if they are not sent?

We need them to feed us with the word of God's saving Grace who saves from sins, not to break the legs of His sheep or ask the Shepherd to pour His wrath on us when we misbehave or fall into impossible situations as sheep are wont to do. We need them, not to threaten us with God's wrath when we fail or annoy them (because they are God's anointed) but to help us overcome our failings by pointing us to Christ as Saviour, even Saviour from sins. I can't imagine my older son (who himself is imperfect of himself) threatening his younger brother with my wrath and things like starvation and other mean things from me because his younger brother disagreed with or was nasty to him. Both of them are my "anointed"!

All of the above concerns relations within the flock of Christ our Shepherd who anoints our head with oil. All of us. But what about those outside the flock aka non-Christians? Consider when our Saviour Jesus Christ walked the earth as Man. Luke 9 gives an account of an incident that happened during this time in the same SAMARIA where Elijah called down fire from heaven and it destroyed those who rejected the Lord:

51 “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”

The Samaritans rejected Christ, as was the case during the time of Elijah when the inhabitants of Samaria rejected the Lord. James and John knew their Scripture well and were angling for a repeat of what happened with those that died because they rejected the Lord in the time of Elijah - they wanted to “command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did.” But look at the response of our Saviour Jesus Christ:

55 “But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.”

Believers, with Christ as our righteousness and strength, we are of the same "manner of spirit" that Christ speaks of: His Spirit. Not that manner of spirit that seeks to see people suffer or die by fire for their sins and misdeeds, disagreement with " anointed pastor" or their rejection of Christ, but one that desires for the world to be saved through Christ as it is written in John 3:17 -

"For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

To any who knows of Elymas and might see him as one that tried to touch an anointed of God, Elymas was a sorcerer who was trying to prevent souls from being saved. His blindness was not as a result of insulting an apostle of Christ. And for any who recall some youths making fun of a prophet of God with “Go up, bald head,” we are not under the dispensation of the law as was Elisha but under Grace where we enjoy God's unmerited favour in Christ. Christ was spat upon, beaten, ridiculed and stripped by non-believers yet He still died for wicked sinners- the whole world in default mode. But some wield the “touch not my anointed or else face God's wrath" stick at the slightest hint of disagreement with another to put the fear of God's wrath in believers and thus beat many into submission.

Beloved of God, not every assembly is "assembly of the brethren" so watch what you are hearing in your local church. By God's Grace, don't let any "pastor" frighten, bully or coerce you into doing their bidding with the threat of "touch not my anointed" and God's wrath that His word says we will never experience: Romans 5:9.

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

This is not so that we should continue to wallow in sins or disobey God's sanctioned authority and church leadership as antichrist pastors love to imply; the word of God whose ways and thoughts are higher than man's says it is so that we should live in triumph over sin and death- Romans 5:16-17:

"And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."

The Holy Spirit teaches us all things.