by Keith Hunt
The laying on of hands is found in both Old and New
Testament. It was used in different ways and in
different ceremonies. It is so important to
God that He made it one of the founda-
tion doctrines of the Church of
God.
It may surprise some that the laying on of hands – one
person placing his hands on the body of another – is deemed by
God important enough that He made it one of the foundational
doctrines of the New Testament Church.
Notice what the book of Hebrews records: “Go on unto
perfection; not laying again the FOUNDATION of repentance from dead works, and of faith towards God, of the doctrine of
baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of
the dead, and of eternal judgment” ( Heb.6:1, 2 KJV throughout,
emphasis mine). The ceremony of the laying on of hands is here
put alongside such vital and basic doctrines as: repentance,
faith, baptisms, resurrection, and eternal judgment. No small
doctrines, but essential truths to the Christian community. The
practice of “laying on of hands” goes back to the earliest of
times, it is truly an ancient and honored ceremony.
FIRST RECORDED CEREMONY
The first account the Bible gives us of a special ceremony
where one person lays hands on another person within the contexts of a divine purpose, is in the life of Abraham as recorded in Genesis chapter twenty four.
Abraham was by now an old man, and he thought it was
time that his son Isaac should have a wife. He commissioned his
oldest servant that ruled over much that he had. This servant had to go to his an ancestral line of kinsmen and among them find Isaac a wife. Notice verse two: “And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house put I pray you, your hand UNDER MY THIGH.” The servant was to then swear by the Lord what Abraham wanted him to do (verse 3, 4).
Verse 9 says, “And the servant PUT HIS HAND UNDER THE THIGH of Abraham his master, and swore to him concerning the matter.”
Here was the laying on of hands for a divine purpose.
JOSEPH’S SONS ARE BLESSED
From the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the laying on of
hands was used in ceremonies which carried with it a specific
meaning. An illustration is found in Genesis 48.
Joseph was told that his father Jacob was very sick. So,
Joseph came to see him and brought his two sons with him –
Manasseh and Ephraim.
After telling Joseph about the promise of blessing God had
given him (verse 4), Jacob said that Joseph’s sons would become
his sons, just as Reuben and Simeon were his sons (verse 5). As
far as Jacob was concerned, together with God’ s approval
these two sons of Joseph were now legal sons of Jacob and his
heirs of the blessings God had promised him. All this would
become more specific with the ceremony of the laying on of
hands on these two individuals – Manasseh and Ephraim (Gen.
48:13-16).
Notice that Jacob DELIBERATELY crossed his hands during the ceremony so that Ephraim, the younger brother received the
greater blessing, and Manasseh the older brother, received a
lesser blessing.
The laying on of hands here again illustrates a special
ceremony within the context of a divine purpose.
MORE OLD TESTAMENT EXAMPLES
In all examples of the ceremony of laying on
of hands by individuals upon individuals we see it is for the
reason of setting someone apart for a SPECIAL PURPOSE and/or
BLESSING.
When God chose the tribe of Levi for the service of
priesthood in ancient Israel , they were set apart for holy
duties by the ceremony of the laying on of hands. Only a tribe so
consecrated by this important ceremony could officiate in the
temple or tabernacle of God.
The event is recorded in Numbers 8: 5-11. First, the
Levites were cleansed and purified (verses 6, 7),an offering
was made (verse 8) then individuals representing the tribes of
Israel, “shall put their hands upon the Levites: And Aaron
shall offer the Levites before the Lord for an offering of the
children of Israel, that they may execute the service of the
Lord” (verses 10, 11).
And verse 14: “Thus shalt thou separate the Levites
from among the children of Israel: and the Levites shall be
mine” said God.
Joshua was selected to serve the people of Israel after
Moses (Num. 27:15-23).
God told Moses to lay hands on Joshua to set him apart
for service as leader of the people(verse 18). And Moses did so:
“…..he laid his hands upon him, and gave him charge, as the
Lord commanded by the hand of Moses” (verses 22, 23).
The laying on of hands ceremony is used in setting apart
individuals God has called to serve His people. We shall see
that this holds true in the New Testament also.
Spiritual gifts were bestowed in Old Testament times as
well as New Testament times, by the laying on of hands. In the
case of Joshua it is written: “And Joshua the son of Nun
was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands
upon him” (Deut. 34: 9).
LAYING ON OF HANDS IN THE NEW TESTAMENT
As we have seen some instances of this foundational
doctrine of the laying on of hands is used to confer a
BLESSING. Such is the case in the New Testament of the
blessing of LITTLE CHILDREN (Mat.19:13-15; Mark 10:13-16).
The families that followed Jesus knew of the value of the
blessing of children.
Jesus blessed children brought to Him, and He used the
ceremony of the laying on of hands (Mat.19:13, 15). Jesus came
and lived the perfect life. He set us an example in every way.
The elders of the Church of God should also bless the little
children brought to them with the ceremony of the laying on of
hands and pray.
One of the signs Jesus said would follow His servants would
be the GIFT OF HEALING, a gift often granted through the laying
on of hands (Mark 16:17, 18; James 5:14, 15). Jesus often laid
hands upon the sick in healing them, but not every time, so we
need to remember that when it comes to healing God can and often does grant healing WITHOUT the laying on of hands. Read the wonderful understanding of faith exhibited by the centurion in Matthew 8:5-13. He knew Jesus had the authority to heal his servant without actually laying hands on him.
Certainly someone can contact via phone or letter, the servants
of God and ask they pray for them to be healed and God can grant
their petition, without the laying on of hands.
In writing to Timothy, Paul emphasized he use the
spiritual gift that was in him. The Amplified Bible
puts it this way: “Do not neglect the gift which is in you,
(that special inward endowment) which was directly
imparted to you (by the Holy Spirit) by prophetic
utterance when the elders laid their hands upon you, at
your ordination” (1 Tim. 4:14).
Timothy was given some special spiritual gift by the
Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands by the elders.
If this was at Timothy’s ordination to the ministry or at some
other time, is not clear, nor does the context tell us. The
compilers of the Amplified Bible added the words “at your
ordination.”
The fact remains, a special gift was bestowed on Timothy
and the laying on of hands was involved.
Sometimes when certain ministers of the Lord are called
to do a certain task WITHIN their ministerial work, other
ministers will be led by the Spirit to set them apart for
that specific job and lay hands on them and pray. This example is
recorded in Acts 13:1-3.
In the New Testament, deacons were set apart for
handling the physical administrative details of the church by the
laying on of hands (Acts 6:1-6).
The laying on of hands ceremony for ordination to eldership
and deaconship is not to be taken lightly, or done in haste.
Paul warned Timothy to take it very seriously: “Lay hands
suddenly on no man” (1 Tim.5:22). In the Revised Standard
Version this phrase is translated: “Do not be hasty in the
laying on of hands.” We see from Acts 14:23 that the laying on
of hands for ordination should be accompanied with prayer and
fasting.
LAYING ON OF HANDS IN NEW TESTAMENT BAPTISM
I have left this last example of the New Testament for the
end of this article. It is the one aspect of the foundational
doctrine that many do not practice, nor see the necessity to
do so. Is the laying on of hands “mandatory” and a part
of the overall rite of water baptism?
You will notice in Hebrews 6 verse 2, the laying on
of hands comes after the mention of water baptism. In this
section of scripture I believe it is significant when we
consider the imperative examples found in the book of Acts.
Turn to chapter 8. The people of the Church, except the
apostles, were scattered abroad and went everywhere preaching the word (the preaching of the word is not just for the
ministers of the church).
Philip went down to Samaria and preached Christ
(verses 4 – 6). Many believed Philip’s preaching about the
Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ, and were BAPTIZED (verse
12). The apostles on hearing this good news from Samaria
sent Peter and John to them. When these two apostles
came they found that although many had been baptized
in the name of Jesus, they had not received the Holy Spirit
(verses 14 -16).
Now notice verse 17, “Then LAID THEY THEIR HANDS ON THEM,
and they received the Holy Spirit.” Turn to Acts chapter 9.
Saul or Paul is struck blind by Jesus and is brought to
Damascus where he is for three days without food or water. God
sends a disciple by the name of Ananias to Paul. He was sent to
restore sight to Saul, to pass on the gift of the Holy Spirit to
him, and to baptize him (verses 10 – 18).
I especially want you to notice verse 17. “And Ananias
went his way, and entered into the house; and PUTTING
HIS HANDS ON HIM said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that
appeared unto thee in the way as thou comest, hath sent me,
that thou mighte receive thy sight, and be FILLED WITH THE
HOLY SPIRIT” (emphasis mine).
The great apostle Paul started his Christian life with the
laying on of hands and baptism. I have commented in
detail in my article on WATER BAPTISM as to why in this
instant the laying on of hands came BEFORE baptism, which
is not the usual case (the reader is asked to study my study
paper on water baptism if they have not done so). We see again the ceremony of laying on of hands in connection with
baptism.
Still a third example is found in Acts 19. Paul came to
Ephesus and found certain disciples who were baptized
only with John’s baptism - John the baptist. They had not even
heard that there was such a thing as the Holy Spirit. Paul
explained the truth to them and they were baptized in the name
of Jesus (verses 1-5). Now we come to verse 6, “And when
Paul had LAID HANDS UPON THEM, the Holy Spirit came on
them.”
Some may argue that on the day of Pentecost when
3,000 were baptized, nothing is said about the laying on of
hands. My answer to that case is that silence does not prove it
was not carried out. The doctrine of the laying on of
hands was a well know practice from the time of Abraham, and
the apostles, it would seem automatically used the laying on
of hands for ordaining the men of Acts 6 to the office of
deacon. Then on the other hand the out pouring of the
Spirit on the day of Pentecost was a special once in all
history occurrence, and God does make exceptions to the norm at times and when He deems fit, after all He is God and can do
with His Spirit, what, where, and when, as He chooses.
My contention is: God has through the three examples given
above, a BASIC plan and outline to follow for all who desire His
salvation, repentance, faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for sins,
baptism in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, laying
on of hands, the receiving of the Holy Spirit.
There may be some exceptions now and then by God to that
basic 4 steps, but the overwhelming scriptural evidence builds
those foundational steps.
Is it not true that it is “better to be safe than
sorry”? Yes indeed! Better to do something that Jesus upon
His return tells us we did not have to do, than NOT DO
SOMETHING Jesus tells us when we see Him, that we SHOULD HAVE DONE. I personally will advise all who are baptizing
to have the ceremony of the laying on of hands for those
baptized.
The laying on of hands may seem unimportant to us. We
may say, surely God can do all things without such a
ceremony, and yes He can, if He desires to. But it is not
left to us to decide HOW we will worship God or serve Him.
The Eternal says in Isaiah 55: 8, 9, “For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. For as the
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We may not always understand the ways of the Lord, they may even seem somewhat “strange” to our human carnal mind, but we need to be of the mind Jesus was and always be willing to say, “Not my will but your will be done.”
Our heavenly Father has seen fit to make the “laying on
of hands” one of the FOUNDATIONAL DOCTRINES.
Amen – so be it!
Written February 1995
by
Keith Hunt