Laying on of Hands
Note, this article is part of a topical study series.
Please notice in the book of Hebrews that the reader is exhorted to
leave the elementary principals of the teachings of Christ and go on to
maturity, not going back over the foundational truths of, among other
things, the doctrine of teaching of LAYING ON OF HANDS.
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of
repentance 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.
Hebrews 6:1-2
Being that there is a teaching or doctrine of the Laying on of Hands,
we will now go and look at the different places where the Bible speaks
on this subject beginning with the Old Testament. We will examine each
passage answering the following questions:
- who layed their hands on someone or something?
- what did they lay their hands on?
- for what purpose (why)?
After doing this, we should be able to understand the plain sense of
scripture concerning this topic.
| Verse |
Who? |
On what? |
Why? |
| Genesis 48:13-14 |
Israel |
Ephraim and Manasseh's head |
to bless them |
| Exodus 29:10,15,19 |
Aaron and his sons |
head of the bull (v. 10)
head of the ram (v. 15,19) |
to hallow them (29:1) |
| Leviticus 8:2,10,14,19 |
Aaron and his sons |
head of the bull |
to show that the sin had been placed on the bull |
| Leviticus 1:4 |
the priests |
bull (v. 1:5) |
picture of Christ's death |
| Leviticus 4:15,24,29,33 |
the elders |
bull |
to show that the sin had been placed on the bull |
Leviticus 16:3,21
Day of Atonement |
Aaron, Levites |
live goat, bullocks |
to symbolize Christ being the sinbearer |
| Leviticus 24:10-16 (v. 14) |
Children of Israel, Levites |
whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD |
to identify the blasphemer |
| Numbers 8:9-10 |
children of Israel |
Levites |
to show God's official decree |
| Numbers 27:18-22 |
Moses |
Joshua |
transfer authority to him (v. 20) |
| Verse |
Who? |
On what? |
Why? |
| Luke 4:40 |
Jesus |
sick |
To testify to Israel that He was the Christ
(Isaiah 29:18,35:5, Matthew 11:3-4).
However, Jesus also healed without the laying on of hands.
See, for example, Luke 7:7, 8:44, John 4:50, and Acts 6:1-6.
|
| Acts 8:5,12,17 |
Peter and John |
the Samarians |
laid hands on them so it would be clearly identified that their is no schism between Samarians and Jews |
| Acts 9:17 |
Ananias |
Saul |
an understanding??? |
| Acts 13:2 |
Simeon (Niger), Lucius, Manaen (the church at Antioch) |
Barnabas and Saul |
So everyone would know who God chose. |
| Acts 19:1-7 (v. 6) |
Paul |
about 12 new disciples at Ephesus |
??? |
| Acts 28:8 |
Paul |
the father of Publius |
to identify that Paul's message was of God |
| 1 Timothy 4:14 |
the presbytery |
Timothy |
to recognize the gift that was in Timothy??? |
| 2 Timothy 1:6 |
Paul |
Timothy |
to remind him that many men publicly appointed him for the Lord's work |
Therefore, we find consistently throughout the Scripture that the
Laying on of Hands was performed for the case of identifying, or
to publicly let the people see that there was a transfer of authority.
There is one final exhortation that Paul gives, and that is that we
should not be too quick to lay hands on someone (that is, to appoint
someone to quickly):
Lay hands suddenly on no man,
neither be partaker of other men's sins:
keep thyself pure.
1 Timothy 5:22
Related Articles
Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ,
let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation
Hebrews 6:1-2
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