Laying on of Hands
This
doctrine is of critical importance to Christianity because it shows
that God works and deals with mankind through fallible, imperfect human
beings He chooses and sets apart for His purpose.
From
the books of Moses to the book of Revelation, we find the
laying-on-of-hands ceremony used in a wide variety of circumstances.
It was performed as an official ceremony, generally by an individual ordained or commissioned by God.
The
ceremony centered around God's servant praying aloud as he placed his
hands on the recipient of his petitions. It was a formal request to
God, usually for a specific blessing, gift or authority as in
ordination. Usually a simple, short ceremony, but filled with meaning.
Let's notice some of the interesting and varied ways in which men of God have used the laying on of hands.
One
of the earliest recorded biblical examples of this doctrine is found in
Exodus 29 during an ordination ceremony. And strangely enough, the
hands were laid on animals by the persons being ordained. Here is how
it happened.
In Exodus 28:1 God commanded Moses to set apart Aaron and his four sons to be priests.
In
Exodus 29:10 we read: "Then bring the young bull to the Tabernacle, and
Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon its head; and you shall
kill it before the Lord, at the entrance of the Tabernacle" {The Living
Bible). Verses 15-20 state that they were to do likewise with the two
rams.
Why did they do this? Aaron and his sons were commanded to
lay their hands on the animals' heads to symbolize their sins, their
guilt being transferred to the animals, which then suffered the penalty
of sin Aaron and his sons should have received — death.
Of course, this all had symbolic meaning since only Christ's blood really atoned for sin.
The
laying on of hands in this example symbolized the cleansing and
purifying of the priests through the transferal of their sins to the
animals.
We will soon see that the laying on of hands often
symbolizes a transfer, transmittal or granting of special gifts,
blessings or authority — commodities that are literally priceless.
Things that are only God's to give.
Then bring the Levites to
the door of the Tabernacle as all the people watch. There the
leaders of the tribes shall lay their hands upon them, and Aaron, with
a gesture of offering, shall present them to the Lord as a gift from
the entire nation of Israel. The Levites will represent all the people
in serving the Lord .... In this way you will dedicate the Levites from
among the rest of the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine.
After you have sanctified them and presented them in this way, they
shall go in and out of the Tabernacle to do their work" (Numbers
8:9-11, 14-15; The Living Bible).
Of course, the leaders' hands
had no magical or mystical qualities. They merely symbolized and
formally emphasized that God, not man, gave them authority and set them
apart for a particular job. God commissioned them and
issued them authority and jurisdiction to do His work.
This
again demonstrates one of the great lessons of the laying on of hands —
that God works through man — even in ordaining His own servants.
The Worldwide Church of God practices this doctrine today in ordaining qualified men to be deacons and ministers.
Notice
the New Testament example of ordaining deacons in Acts 6. The twelve
apostles had chosen seven men to be deacons, "Whom they set before the
apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them"
(verse 6).
Acts 13:2-3 records the ordinations of Barnabas and Paul.
"As
they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost [Spirit] said,
Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called
them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on
them, they sent them away."
Again, God's will was carried out by
His ministers praying and laying hands on the ones He had chosen. This
was another example of God's issuing authority through His already
ordained and chosen human servants.
Christ gave the ministers of
His Church the authority to baptize those who have truly repented of
their sins. Along with the physical act of baptism is promised the Holy
Spirit — through the laying on of hands.
Millions have
supposedly been baptized, but very few have had hands laid on them for
the receiving of the Holy Spirit after baptism. And fewer still have
had hands laid on them by the person who had the authority from Jesus
Christ to baptize.
Notice the example in Acts 8. Philip went to
the city of Samaria to preach the gospel. Many believed and were
baptized. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that the gospel had been
preached at Samaria, they sent Peter and John, "Who, when they were
come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Spirit:
(For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid they their hands on them, and
they received the Holy Spirit" (verses 15-17).
Notice, they had
been baptized days or even weeks before and had not received the Holy
Spirit. God had withheld it until Peter and John had laid hands on
them. God respected the order and authority He vested in His physical
ministers. He granted His Spirit when they laid hands on them. (Write
for our free booklet All About Water Baptism and our free reprint "How
You Can Be Imbued With the Power of God.")
An interesting sidelight to Acts 8 is the story of Simon the sorcerer.
He
too was baptized in Samaria when the others were. When he saw that the
others received the Holy Spirit when Peter and John laid hands on them
and prayed, he desperately wanted the power to do the same.
"And
when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy
Spirit was given, he offered them money, saying, Give me also this
power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost
[Spirit]" (verses 18-19).
The point is, Simon recognized that
the apostles really did have God-given authority — authority which he
saw demonstrated through the laying on of hands.
Christ set the
example in healing. Luke 4:40 states, "Now when the sun was setting,
all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him;
and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them." Mark
6:4-5 relates another example. When Christ came to His own
community, He found such little faith that He remarked: "... A prophet
is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin,
and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that
he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them."
In Acts 28:8 we find that Paul also laid his hands on Publius' father to heal him.
Concerning
His true ministers Christ stated: "... They shall lay hands on the
sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:18). While many professing
Christians know nothing of God's promise to heal, others make a public
mockery and display of what they think is the healing power of God.
James
5:14 is a command from God to those who are sick: "Is there any sick
among you? Let him call for the elders of the church: and let them pray
over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." No
minister's hands are special or holy. No olive oil has any mysterious
power. It is God Himself who heals through His Holy Spirit; but He has
prescribed a physical act to show our faith and trust in Him and to
show that we know where He is working on the earth today — to show our
acceptance of the authority He has placed with His servants.
The
book of Genesis contains a very moving example of the laying on of
hands when Jacob blessed his two grandsons. Jacob was an old man and
knew his time was short. He asked his son Joseph to bring the two boys
to him.
"Israel [Jacob] was half blind with age, so that he
could hardly see. So Joseph brought the boys close to him and he kissed
and embraced them. And Israel said to Joseph, 'I never thought I would
see you again, but now God has let me see your children too.'
"Joseph
took the boys by the hand, bowed deeply to him, and led the boys to
their grandfather's knees — Ephraim at Israel's left hand and Manasseh
at his right. But Israel crossed his arms as he stretched them out to
lay his hands upon the boys' heads, so that his right hand was upon the
head of Ephraim, the younger boy, and his left hand was upon the head
of Manasseh, the older. He did this purposely.
"Then he blessed
Joseph with this blessing: 'May God, the God of my fathers Abraham and
Isaac, the God who has shepherded me all my life, wonderfully bless
these boys. He is the Angel who has kept me from all harm. May these
boys be
an honor to my name and to the names of my fathers Abraham
and Isaac; and may they become a mighty nation" (Gen. 48:10-16, The
Living Bible).
Jacob went on to bless the boys individually,
handing down the blessings promised to Abraham. The laying on of hands
was symbolic of this transferal by God's authority.
The laying on of hands ceremony is very relevant to this society — to you and me!
God
is alive and actively dealing with mankind today through a physical
group of human beings, a Church doing His Work. And He has provided in
this day, as the Bible records He always has, spiritual guides,
ministers, to represent Him, to oversee His Church. And He has given
them a certain amount of jurisdiction to carry out their jobs. The
laying on of hands is the outward ceremony used in the delegation and
use of that authority. God respects it and we should too!
by Arch Bradley, from the February 1965 Good News Magazine
