Laying on of hands in the Bible is the transference of a blessing. We find numerous places where it is mentioned in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. We don’t intend to show every one of them, just enough, to show the transference of a blessing from God. It is used to transfer blessings to elders, and the laity, all that are saved. And to people that God wants to bless, which is the whole world.
We find in Genesis, where Jacob is transferring Abraham’s blessing to Joseph’s two sons. He tells Joseph that his two sons are now Jacob’s two sons, which will be part of the 12 tribes of Israel. The right hand always contains the greater blessing whereas the left-hand contains the lesser blessing. A blessing from God none the less.
Jacob crosses his hand and puts his right hand on the younger son. Joseph is not happy about this because he knows the right hand should go on the older son. But God is directing him to put his right hand on the head of Ephraim. God is the one that does the blessing. Because He knows the future and has a plan, He will bless whom He wants to bless.
Genesis 48:9;14 (KJV) (please read the whole chapter)
9. And Joseph said unto his father, They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them.
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.
So God does the blessing, but He uses people for that transfer.
We find in Leviticus where the transfer of sin is onto an animal that’s being sacrificed. Two goats are brought to Aaron, where he lays his hands on their head. This is to transfer the sins of the people onto the goats. One is to be sacrificed on the altar, and the other one is to be set free. When Aaron lay’s his hands on it’s head, and takes it to the wilderness to let it go, it is bearing the sins of the people away from them. This is where we get the term “scapegoat”.
The scapegoat is taking the sins away from the people. This is a symbol of Jesus, taking our sin and bearing it away from us. It is a marvelous symbol of Jesus, setting us free from sin. All our sin was placed on Jesus and He bears it away from us. He took the sin of the whole world on Himself, so now we stand before God sinless, (if we accept His sacrifice). So the scapegoat is an extraordinary symbol of God giving us a blessing. But people must accept what God did in Jesus to be saved.
Leviticus 4:24;29 (KJV) (please read the whole chapter)
24. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the goat, and kill it in the place where they kill the burnt offering before the Lord: it is a sin offering.
29. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin offering, and slay the sin offering in the place of the burnt offering.
Leviticus 16:21 (KJV) (please read the whole chapter).
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:
Now let’s look at the New Testaments examples of “the laying on of hands”. Jesus said in Mark 16:17-18, and this was after his resurrection they shall lay hands on the sick and they will recover. This was a directive towards all his disciples, even for today. Throughout the gospels, we find many places where Jesus laid hands on the sick and they recovered. So He was showing us how to do it. But it must always be done in the name of Jesus.
Mark 16:17-18
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.
We also see in the book of acts where the disciples laid hands on people to be healed, and they were. Can we all agree that being healed of something is a blessing? Jesus said it, they did it, and people were healed.
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
We have seen a couple examples where people laid hands on the sick and watched them recover, now let’s look at other examples of what “laying on of hands” is for.
Being sent out for ministry, like a missionary, the elders lay hands on people to anoint them with the Holy Spirit to do what God has called them to do.
Acts 13:2-4
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.
And laying on of hands for those whom are called into ministry.
1 Timothy 4:14
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.
The Bible does give direction on who is to be called into ministry and what their life should be like. So there is an admonition to be careful about who you lay hands on for the ministry.
1 Timothy 5:22
22. Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
Laying on hands can impart a ministry gift to an individual. The church needs leaders and this is the way leaders are ordained into the ministry. As first Timothy 5:22 says, be careful about who you lay your hands on for ministry. Titus and Timothy tells us what the qualifications are for someone called to ministry.
We can see another transference of a blessing by the laying on of hands in Acts 8:18. Simon had no idea what he was asking for. This is a free gift from God and cannot be bought, it’s a transference of a blessing from God. However, we just want to see the fact that the apostle laid hands on people and the Holy Spirit was transferred to them. What a blessing!
18. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,
Remember, it’s a free gift it cannot be bought. God cannot be bargained with for this gift of the Holy Spirit.
One more example of laying on of hands to receive the Holy Spirit.
Acts. 19:1-6
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.
In verse 4 Paul is telling them about being saved, in verse five they are baptized, so therefore they are saved. Paul lays his hand on them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. When you are saved, the Holy Spirit comes within you. So verse five shows their saved. And then verse 6 Paul lays his hand on them to receive the Holy Spirit. They received Jesus as savior, and then Paul lays hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit. This is entirely two different experiences. No one needs to have hands laid on them to become a Christian (or to be saved). You just ask Jesus to be your savior and He will save you. So laying hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit is a blessing, a whole different experience than being saved. However, being saved is the best thing.
With the baptism of the Holy Spirit it is a whole lot easier to live a Christian life. Because the Holy Spirit helps us in every way. That’s why Jesus said in the book of Acts 1:8, wait for the promise of the Father, which would be the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
(Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.)
There are many more blessings that “laying on of hands” can transfer. But we have shown a few of them. God’s blessings are given to those that we lay our hands on. Please read the whole chapters that I mentioned, to get the context of all the verses that we have shown you. It makes a tremendous study for the Christian today. You won’t be sorry that you studied it, because God will use you to bless many many people. Especially those that are hurting, those that need comfort and those that need encouragement. Amen!
MARANATHA