Bible Study: The Laying on of Hands Gen 48:14-16 14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. 15 And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long unto this day, 16 The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. (KJV) Jacob laid his hands on Ephraim and Manasseh when he conferred the birthright blessings of the Abrahamic covenant upon Joseph and his descendents. In previous instances where the blessings were transferred laying on of hands was not used. Ex 29:1 And this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them, to minister unto me in the priest's office: Take one young bullock, and two rams without blemish, (KJV) Ex 29:10 And thou shalt cause a bullock to be brought before the tabernacle of the congregation: and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the bullock. (KJV) Ex 29:15 Thou shalt also take one ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. (KJV) Ex 29:19 And thou shalt take the other ram; and Aaron and his sons shall put their hands upon the head of the ram. (KJV) The commands here issued to Moses were carried out in Lev 8. Lev 4:13-15 13 And if the whole congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the assembly, and they have done somewhat against any of the commandments of the LORD concerning things which should not be done, and are guilty; 14 When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the congregation shall offer a young bullock for the sin, and bring him before the tabernacle of the congregation. 15 And the elders of the congregation shall lay their hands upon the head of the bullock before the LORD: and the bullock shall be killed before the LORD. (KJV) The laying on of hands was used to symbolically transfer the guilt of Israel to the bullock offered in their stead. Lev 8:14 And he brought the bullock for the sin offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the bullock for the sin offering. (KJV) Lev 8:18 And he brought the ram for the burnt offering: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. (KJV) Lev 8:22 And he brought the other ram, the ram of consecration: and Aaron and his sons laid their hands upon the head of the ram. (KJV) Three sacrificial animals, a bullock and two rams, as commanded in Ex 29, were sacrificed by Moses after Aaron and his sons had laid hands on them, symbolizing their purification by transfer of their sins to the animals, so that they might serve before the Lord as His priests. Lev 16:21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness: (KJV) Here Aaron, acting on behalf of God, places the sins of the of the people symbolically upon the head of the live goat by the laying on of his hands. Lev 24:14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him. (KJV) This laying on of hands symbolized that the man's sin rested upon his own head. Num 8:9-12 9 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the congregation: and thou shalt gather the whole assembly of the children of Israel together: 10 And thou shalt bring the Levites before the LORD: and the children of Israel shall put their hands upon the Levites: 11 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. 12 And the Levites shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and thou shalt offer the one for a sin offering, and the other for a burnt offering, unto the LORD, to make an atonement for the Levites. (KJV) Laying on of hands is done twice in this passage. The people laid hands upon the Levites, that is the entire tribe of Levi, to symbol- ize their commission as servants of the Lord. The Levites in turn laid their hands upon the bullocks as a symbolic atonement for for their sins. Num 27:18-23 18 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20 And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation. 22 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: 23 And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses. (KJV) Moses laid his hands upon Joshua, a man in whom was the Spirit, to give him a charge, and some of his own honor to carry it out. This was his commission to lead the people into the Promised Land. Jos 18:7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them. (KJV) The priesthood is the Levites' inheritance, much as Judah's in- heritance was the scepter and Joseph's the birthright. Deut 34:9 And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands upon him: and the children of Israel hearkened unto him, and did as the LORD commanded Moses. (KJV) In Num 27:18 it says that Joshua was a man in whom was the Spirit before Moses laid hands upon him. The laying on of hands was done to symbolize his charge or commission to lead the people. 2Chr 22:10 But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. (KJV) 2Chr 23:13-15 13 And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason. 14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD. 15 So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there. (KJV) In this instance the laying on of hands means that they appre- hended Athaliah and brought her to execution for her crimes. 2Chr 29:23 And they brought forth the he goats for the sin offering before the king and the congregation; and they laid their hands upon them: (KJV) These were among the sacrifices made by the priests when Hezekiah sanctified the House of the Lord. Mat 19:13 Then were there brought unto him little children, that he should put his hands on them, and pray: and the disciples rebuked them. (KJV) Mat 19:14-15 14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. 15 And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence. (KJV) Parents had brought their little children and asked Jesus to lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples thought this was a nuisance, but Jesus corrected them and did as He was requested. Mark 5:23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. (KJV) Mark 5:38-42 38 And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly. 39 And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth. 40 And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying. 41 And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise. 42 And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment. (KJV) Jesus raised her from the dead. He did not lay hands upon her as Jairus had requested, but took her by the hand and spoke to her. Mark 8:23-25 23 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought. 24 And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. 25 After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. (KJV) Jesus used hands when healing. Here again he took the person by the hand. He likely placed his hands over the man's eyes, on the eyelids, forehead, and temple area as He healed him. Mark 16:15-18 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (KJV) Jesus tells us that laying on of hands by believers in Him may be used for healing of the sick. Luke 4:40-41 40 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. 41 And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ. (KJV) Jesus healed and cast out demons by laying hands on the sick. The demons knew he was Christ the Son of God. Luke 13:10-16 10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. 11 And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself. 12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity. 13 And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. 14 And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day. 15 The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? 16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day? (KJV) Jesus laid hands upon the woman and cast the spirit or demon of infirmity out of her on the Sabbath day. This healing was effected by casting out a demon who was distressing her. Acts 6:1-6 1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. 2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. 3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. 4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. 5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: 6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them. (KJV) These seven men were "looked out," or elected by the assembly of believers, and the apostles laid hands upon them after prayer. These men were full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom before hands were laid on them, v.3. The laying on of the apostles' hands symbolized their appointment to the task of looking after the widows. This is often viewed as "ordination of deacons," but it was not. Acts 8:14-20 14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: 15 Who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: 16 (For as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) 17 Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. (KJV) In answer to prayer these believers were given the Holy Spirit, v.15,17. Laying on of hands was a symbol of receiving the Holy Spirit. Simon the sorcerer thought the Holy Spirit was transferable by the laying on of hands, and wanted to buy this power. Acts 13:1-4 1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. (KJV) The laying on of hands symbolized the separation of Paul and Barnabas to get on with their commission to the gentiles. Acts 19:1-7 1 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. 3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism. 4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. 5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And all the men were about twelve. (KJV) Cf. Acts 2:38. Upon repentance and baptism believers are promised that they will receive the Holy Spirit. Two baptisms are mentioned, John's and Jesus'. John's was with water unto re- pentance. Now they recieve Jesus' promised baptism of the Holy Spirit as well. I Tim 4:14 Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (KJV) 4244 Gr. presbuterion--a word used to refer to the council of the Sanhedrin, or simply to elders [elders]. Elders had laid hands on Timothy and he had received the Holy Spirit, much as had occurred in Samaria, Acts 8, when the apostles laid their hands on the believers there. We need not assume that these elders were all ordained persons or church officials. I Tim 5:21-23 21 I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. 22 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men's sins: keep thyself pure. 23 Drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities. (KJV) Paul advises Timothy to make sure of a person's sincerety before laying hands upon him. II Tim 1:6-7 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. (KJV) Paul had been among the elders who laid hands upon Timothy for his receiving of the Holy Spirit, the gift of God, Power from on high. Heb 6:1-2 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of re- pentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. The laying on of hands is a foundational principle of the doctrine of Christ. Jesus used it for healings and blessings, and the apos- tles used it as a symbol of the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the Samaritans, and to confirm the commission of the seven elected to serve the widows. Summary When the birthright promises were conferred upon Ephraim and Manas- seh, the transfer was accompanied by the laying on of Jacob's hands. In Ex 29 and Lev 8 Aaron and his sons lay their hands on the sac- rifcial animals before Moses kills them. If the entire nation of Israel sinned, transfer of their guilt could be made by their elders laying their hands upon a sacrificial bullock before it was killed. On the Day of Atonement the sins of the people were placed upon the head of the Azazel goat by the laying on of Aaron's hands. When the blasphemer of God was stoned, hands were laid on him by the witnes- ses, indicating his guilt was on his own head. All Israel laid their hands on the tribe of Levi when they were offered to God for His service. The Levites in turn laid their hands on the sacrificial animals, offered to purify them for service. Moses laid hands on Joshua, a man in whom was God's Spirit, to dedicate him as the new leader of Israel. Athalia had hands laid on her to bring her to ex- ecution for killing the royal heirs. Jesus laid hands upon little children at the request of their parents. Jesus did not lay hands on Jairus' daughter, but took her by the hand when he raised her from the dead. Jesus healed the Centurion's servant without the need to lay hands on him. Jesus said His disciples would employ laying on of hands to heal the sick. In Acts 6 the seven were men filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom before hands were laid on them to confirm their commission to take care of the widows. The laying on of hands symbolized the receiving of the Holy Spirit by the Sam- aritan believers, which Simon Magus misunderstood. Paul and Barnabas were separated for Christ's work by the laying on of hands. The laying on of hands symbolized the Ephesians' receiving of the Holy Spirit. Timothy's receiving of the Holy Spirit came with the laying on of hands of elders, including Paul. Timothy was not to cheapen the laying on of hands by doing it without due consideration. The laying on of hands is one of the foundational doctrines of the church of God. Why has it not been definitively treated? Comment Nearly every time we do some physical act we lay our hands on something. In the Scriptures laying on of hands is sometimes used as a symbolic gesture. It is not some kind of magic whereby the Holy Spirit is transferred from one person to another, as Simon Magus believed, and as many others seem to think. Since the Holy Spirit is the gift of God and not of men, it comes only from God, albeit sometimes at the request of men. It need not always be accompanied by the laying on of hands, as it was not in the case of Cornelius' household, the thief on the cross, and indeed in the case of Jesus when he was baptized by John and the Spirit descended like a dove upon Him. Neither were hands laid on the apostles and disciples at Pentecost in Acts one. It would seem that in the general case of conversion, the laying on of hands may and perhaps should be done if the fruits of repentance are evident, but that it is not done for the purpose of transferring the Holy Spirit, but, like baptism, as a symbolic act. Does the laying on of hands, in order to be valid, have to be done by a priest or by a representative of some Church organization? Apparantly not, because in the Scriptures the laying on of hands was done by various people for various reasons. It seems in gen- eral to be a gesture symbolic of some spiritual act or event. Elders laid hands on Timothy for his receiving of the Holy Spirit, and we have seen in the file on ordination that elders need not necessarily be "ordained" persons. Jesus had His disciples do His baptizing for Him (John 4:2). The attitude of the believer is what is important, not the person who performs these symbolic offices for him. Baptism and the laying on of hands may be effected by any mature Christian who knows what he or she is about. The Bible does not say specifically that all elders need be men. Women, of course, mature in the faith just as men do and become elders just as they do by virtue of the fact that they grow older. "Elder" simply means "an older person," regardless of sex. A false min- ister, whether Nicolaitane or Balaamite, is not required in order to perform baptism and the laying on of hands. Jesus said that believers would lay hands upon the sick, who would then be made well. A primary use of the laying on of hands therefore is for healing. We find no instance of healing by the laying on of hands in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the laying on of hands is symbolic of the receiving of blessings, the transfer of guilt to a sacrifi- cial victim, or the conferring of a special commission, as in the case of Joshua. Jesus sometimes used the laying on of hands for blessing little children or in healing the sick and infirm. He said that believers in Him would be able to heal the sick by the laying on of hands, though He also asked if He would find faith on the earth at His return--good question. Where is healing today in the Churches of God? In Acts 6 the seven men were elected by the democratic process [cf. Acts 1 and 15] and their commissions confirmed by the laying on of the apostles' hands, much as Joshua's commission was given him in the Old Testament. The wording of this passage of Scripture does not make this ceremony an "ordination of deacons" (vs. 1-6). The word "deacon" (Gr. diakanos [1249], a minister or servant) is not scripturally used to designate an official ranking in a lower echelon of a religious hierarchy, as the term is customarily used in modern Churches, since the New Testament churches were locally autonomous--think about it. Simon Magus in Acts 8 superstitiously thought that the Holy Spirit was transferred by a sort of magic power from one person to another. Church organizations and priesthoods often seem to think that they have this ability, but only God can give of His Holy Spirit. The idea in many Churches is that the Holy Spirit has come down through the ages by the laying on of hands, beginning with the original apostles themselves. This is the same sort of superstition that Simon Magus was deceived by--that the Holy Spirit is trans- ferable from one person to another. Coincidence? The WCG used to believe that Herbert W. Armstrong was God's latter day Apostle in a direct line of succession from the original apostles by this method. In point of fact the Holy Spirit comes from God at His discretion, without any need for human intermediaries, though He doubtless honors sincere prayer as He will. The laying on of hands is a foundational doctrine of the church of God, one of the elementary principles that Paul says should be there to build on toward perfection (Heb 6:2). Why does it seem to be so little understood in the Churches? Is it that they are spiritual babes, or that they are unconverted? The reason it is so little un- derstood is that it is a tabu doctrine; the truth about it would upset their practice of authoritative ordination, so called, of Church elders, so called, by their unscriptural rites of ordination. They find it expedient to ignore definitive investigation of this sub- ject, among several others. This is one of the scriptural truths the COG organizations elect to ignore, if not to suppress. (Cf. Rom 1:18 NKJ.) There is no instance of the rite of ordination of elders by the laying on of hands to be found in the Bible. As a word study on ordination will show, such elders as were ordained in the New Test- ament were elected by the congregation, not appointed by a hierarchy of Church officials. Many, or even most, elders were not "ordained" and had no desire to be ordained. The only model for ordination given in the New Testament is that of Matthias to replace Judas in Acts one, which was a democratic election without the laying on of their hands by the apostles. The apostles were there, but they did not ordain Matthias by the laying on of hands. If there were such a rite of ordination, why was it not used? Religious priesthoods were officially ordained by religious or political authority, but such ordination was not of God. Jeroboam's false priesthood was in fact dedicated to his high places, demons, and idols (I Ki 12:32; II Ki 23:5; II Chr 11:15). Such may be said to be ordained in the sense of Jude 4, though they have not the Spirit of God, but a different spirit (Jude 11,19). Acts six is cited as justification for this practice, but it, too, relates a democratic election of the seven, who were then approved by the apostles. Hands were laid on the seven to confirm their commission to serve the widows, much as Joshua had been commissioned by Moses, and Barnabas and Paul by the church at Antioch. This study confirms the conclusion drawn in the study on ordin- ation, that rites of ordination as practiced in the Churches of God, and in other Churches for that matter, are unscriptural, and that hierarchical corporate religious organizations of such men, who are not elders at all, in the scriptural sense, are invalid. These or- ganizations are not "Churches of God," as they bill themselves, but are rather artificial religious bureaucracies that seek to maintain themselves at the expense of those whom they regard as the "laity." One wonders if indeed they may not constitute a modern counterpart of the sect of the Nicolaitanes, the synagogue of Satan mentioned by Jesus in His letters to the seven churches, and associated by Him with the followers of the doctrine of Balaam, which Peter in turn says characterizes the false teachers who were to appear in the Churches of God. Rather a stark concept, indeed, but one ought to follow where the Scriptures lead and not believe only what one might desire to believe. There are many so-called Christian re- ligions, but they fail to practice pure Christianity. (Cf. the associated files on the Nicolaitanes and on Balaam.)